Germany: Engels-Haus museum reopens in Wuppertal

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The house of communism co-founder Friedrich Engels recently reopened its doors to visitors, marking his 200th birthday in Wuppertal, after a hiatus due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as seen on Monday.
The late baroque house where philosopher Engels grew up between 1820 and 1895 displays an array of objects, books and archives, along with an art exhibition. The museum is also a constitute member of the Museum of Industrial Culture.

SOT, Dr Lars Bluma, Engels-Haus museum director (German): “We closed the house in 2016, and needed five years. But that was necessary because the last restoration was half a century ago, so fifty years. And we put a lot of effort into renovating the house, which dates back to 1775, in a way that would be appropriate for a heritage site. We carried out extensive building research to find out about the history of the house. Then we had to set up a permanent exhibition and that takes time if you want to do it well and I think the result speaks for itself.”

SOT, Dr Lars Bluma, Engels-Haus museum director (German): “We have, of course, redesigned the entire permanent exhibition on the life and work of Friedrich Engels. We have taken great care to ensure that we have exhibits and objects by Friedrich Engels that are here in Wuppertal, from these, we have some of these that are on display. So we have largely avoided borrowed items, but instead show what is really left of Friedrich Engels in Wuppertal. Of course, many changes have been made to the house. Basically, we have tried to restore the house to its condition of 1775, especially as far as the colours are concerned, e.g. the staircase, everything has been changed, we have also found a lot of wallpaper during the building research, it has been conserved and we are also showing some of it. So, we have changed a lot, whoever has been here before will discover a lot of new things and I am happy if you can come by.”

SOT, Dr Lars Bluma, Engels-Haus museum director (German): “Since the reopening on 11 September we have already welcomed over a thousand visitors. I think it is exactly 1,083 visitors. We have a ticket system and I am very proud of that, because it is very difficult to play the house under the corona conditions we still have, but I think it is a nice number.”

SOT, Dr Lars Bluma, Engels-Haus museum director (German): “We have taken the first step here in Wuppertal with the Engels-Haus. What we are currently doing is building a new visitor centre, which will then create a link between the Engels House and the Museum of Early Industrialisation. This is a museum in the building directly behind the Engels House, which will basically show this pioneering period of industrialisation here in Germany. We hope to be able to open it at the beginning of 2024. This means that we will have a large museum that will then have a very strong correspondence with Friedrich Engels. What he experienced in industrialisation, what he saw here in Wuppertal, in his youth, and what he took with him to found scientific socialism with Karl Marx.”

SOT, Dr Lars Bluma, Engels-Haus museum director (German): “That is still a big task that we have ahead of us. Apart from that, we will see whether we can also participate in the 1848 revolution - which is now the anniversary in 2023 - because that was also a decisive event for Friedrich Engels, the 1848/49 revolution. He stood on the barricades in Wuppertal and fought for the revolution - of course we have to show that too.”

#Engels #Marxism #Wuppertal #Communism #FriedrichEngels #EngelsHaus

Video ID: 20211011-036

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