Ever wondered where the vibrant colors on your car, furniture, or even fingernails come from? Right here at the Deutsches Industrielack-Museum in Dortmund, we unravel that colorful mystery. This museum is dedicated to the history, development, and practical use of industrial paints. It’s a privately run museum.
The Deutsches Industrielack-Museum was founded in 2008 by Thomas Grüner and Volker Bach. Grüner owned a factory for industrial paints. Bach was an expert in exhibition design. Grüner’s private collection formed the initial basis. In 2009, the Friends and Sponsors of the Industrielack-Museum e. V. was founded. This helped gain further support. The German paint industry also supports the museum with exhibits and literature.
Inside the Deutsches Industrielack-Museum, a selection of exhibits is presented in four rooms. The entrance area also displays items. You’ll find business documents from paint companies dating back to the 19th century. These include invoices and orders.
Tours of the Deutsches Industrielack-Museum begin in the laboratory. Here, solvents can even be distilled. An original lab table from the Littal paint factory is set up here. Another exhibition room focuses on paint production and application. You can see mills from different decades. Dissolvers, dispersers, and spray guns are on display. There is also a 100-liter paint mixing container. Historic paint cans are exhibited. The tour ends in a room about the functions and applications of paints.
Imagine the scent of the lab. Picture the old machinery whirring. Feel the texture of the raw materials. The Deutsches Industrielack-Museum brings the history of paint to life.
Besides the exhibits, the Deutsches Industrielack-Museum houses a library. It contains specialist books, factory documents, reference works, and tables. There is also a journal archive.
The Deutsches Industrielack-Museum is located in an old brick building in Dortmund harbor. Volunteers have created impressive spaces here. The many exhibits offer a journey through the paint industry. Raw materials and pigments are shown. Technical devices and painted objects are exhibited. You will also find historical correspondence and advertising material. A nostalgic atmosphere is created.
The Deutsches Industrielack-Museum documents this diversity. It preserves the memory of how the colorful world was created. Binders, solvents, ground minerals, and secret ingredients were used. So next time you admire a glossy surface, remember the Deutsches Industrielack-Museum. It celebrates the history and science behind the colors that surround us.