Curious Communication. Unusual objects and stories from the collection
March 4 to June 22, 2022
The Museum Foundation Post and Telecommunication possesses one of the world‘s largest and richest collections on the subject of communication. For about 150 years, objects have been collected there that document the historical development of postal and telecommunication services as well as the multifaceted manifestations of communication in the present and the future. But time and again, the depots also contain curious objects that surprise us with their unusual use, have an unusual history or a special design. They tell of creativity and wit, sometimes also of need and want. They show the variety of things and ways that technicians, inventors and amateurs develop to convey messages.
In the exhibition, we have curated a selection of these objects and arranged them in six thematic areas. Exhibits from all collection locations, different epochs and contexts encounter each other.
“Happy Birthday Smartphone” is the motto for 2021, as our mobile everyday companion celebrates its 25th birthday. The Nokia 9000 Communicator was the first internet-capable mobile phone to be launched on 15 August 1996.
The combination of mobile phone and pocket computer made it possible for the first time to use the telephone, fax, SMS, e-mail and an Internet browser in a single device that was completely mobile. The Communicator thus initiated the success story of multifunctional and internet-capable mobile phones, which today bear the name “smartphone”. These powerful little computers, which now accompany us day and night, have a significant impact on our communication behaviour, because they make our networked everyday life ever faster and more borderless.
In the three newly installed showcases on the topic of “Smart World(s)”, we present to you, as a supplement to the existing presentation on the history of the telephone, what actually makes the smartphone so smart and how a gadget of the business world became an indispensable everyday object. This is also reflected in our language, as many terms such as emoji, FOMO or PUK come from the field of mobile communication. A word cloud shows a selection of new terms, a small lexicon explains them.
Those who want to learn even more about smartphones can find out more with the help of the digital exhibition “Smartphone.25 – Tell a story!” by the Museum Foundation Post and Telecommunications. (Only in German)
