The court furniture manufacturer Ludwig Alter (1847-1908) had the four-storey building constructed by the Darmstadt architect Karl Klee (1871-1927) as a furniture factory in 1905/1906. Klee chose a reinforced concrete construction, at that time considered innovative, and a classical outline for the now listed building. The façade is clad in yellow brick and has cast concrete, art nouveau reliefs in the windowsills, meaning that Klee designed the decorative exterior on an industrial scale. The company Alter, which was also to make a name for itself in aircraft and railway carriage construction, was forced to go into liquidation after the Crash of 1929. Adam Opel AG used the building as a storage warehouse for replacement parts and deliveries from 1939 onwards.
In 1992, the state of Hesse and the city of Darmstadt acquired the building from the company Donges Stahlbau GmbH. After renovation work was carried out, it was opened in 1996 as a house of industrial heritage by the association “Haus für Industriekultur”. It has been owned by the Hessian State Museum Darmstadt’s department of typecasting, typesetting and print technology since 2001. The collection dates back to the largest European type foundry, D. Stempel AG (1895-1985) in Frankfurt am Main. The museum demonstrates developments in the printing industry from the beginning of the 19th century right up to the mid-1970s with the help of printing workshops and numerous working historical machines.
Hessian State Museum
Abteilung Schriftguss, Satz und Druckverfahren
Kirschenallee 88
64293 Darmstadt
Germany
+49 (0) 6151 - 1657111
Homepage
Recommended duration of visit: | 2 Hours |
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Duration of a guided tour: | 90 Minutes |
Admission: | Charge |
Access for persons with disabilities: | Available |
Infrastructure for children: | |
Catering: | |
Visitor centre on site: | yes |
Gift and book shop on site: | yes |
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 10am-6pm
Wednesday 10am-8pm
Saturday, Sunday 11am-5pm