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.

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Guided tours in English

Would you like to book a guided tour of the exhibition in english?

Then contact us by phone on 0911 230 88 230 or by email to anmeldung.mfk-nuernberg@mspt.de

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Smart World(s) / 25 Years of the Smartphone

New in the permanent exhibition

“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)

>Online-Exhibition smartphone25

Sounds, Images, Writing and the Internet

Welcome to our permanent exhibition!

Communication shapes our everyday life – and it does so in a variety of ways. That is why our permanent exhibition begins with a collage juxtaposing historical film clips, logos, images, letters and characters, and acoustic signals. It will get you ready for your tour through our exhibition rooms, each one dedicated to communication-based on sounds, images, writing or digital means, respectively.

Sounds

A room for the ears

Don’t be afraid! It is relatively dark in the room dedicated to sounds since your ears are the focus here. You will first hear sounds, tones, and noises – from the call of a postal horn to the ring of a telephone. The room also contains many objects to explore, things like a log drum or an answering machine. All of the objects produce or transmit acoustic messages. Human speech is an important topic. Have you ever thought about how you learned to talk? At our media stations, you can call up information about the learning process or find out how we use language to shape our personal and social relationships. Check out the room’s architecture: it forms a half-circle to imitate the sound waves that fill the space.

Images

A room for the eyes

Now you’ll need your eyes, as you are entering the bright, lightroom of images. After welcoming you, an actress will show you how many moods a face can express. Our body is a communicative all-around talent. We present ourselves through facial expressions, gestures, and even clothing. We absorb information about other people with our eyes and decode it. Visual signals are also disseminated via emblems, (traffic) signs, photographs, and television. Before going on to the next room, try out the logo game. You will be amazed at how many brands you recognize – even when you only see details.

Writing

A room for messages

How many characters or letters have you read today? Surely hundreds of them. Texts, whether written by hand or typed on a keyboard and information on signs and screens are our companions in everyday life. In a red space that is elongated like the ascender of the letter “h,” we show you how and why humans developed alphabets and the functions that written material has for trade, rituals of all types, and social order. Watch children as they learn to write and learn how difficult everyday life is for people who cannot read and write, and find out what they dream about.

A special highlight from the Valley of the Kings: the reproduction of the burial chamber of Sennedjem, an artisan from ancient Egypt. Hieroglyphics and illustrations are combined in splendid symbiosis here to show viewers the relationship between ritual and writing. With that in mind, experience yourself how difficult it is to put messages on paper using a quill pen and dip pen in our Writing Workshop.

Interconnection

But how did the messages reach their recipients? And what about the entire shipments and packages that you order today and receive tomorrow? Of course, we are happy to take advantage of this promise from logistics service providers. And actually, it isn’t new: “fast and faster” has always been important when transporting packages and people. That is why since the fifteenth century, the postal service has focused on well-organized networks of routes that overcome even long distances with as few interruptions as possible. It originally used stagecoaches to carry out its mission, and later added trains and special-purpose vehicles. When you try out our pneumatic dispatch system, you will be playing with another kind of network that sends small messages to their destination.

Networked Worlds

A room for all the senses

How often have you held your smartphone in your hand since entering the museum? Perhaps you have used it to take photos, send a text message or have a brief conversation. For 25 years, the small digital all-rounder has made it possible to communicate constantly and in real-time through sounds, images, and writing. It has made many familiar, everyday companions such as the atlas, camera, and radio expendable. The opportunities and options resulting from the digitalization of everyday life are the subjects of Networked Worlds, our last room. In the gallery of historical milestones, you can see how computers entered our everyday lives: when the Commodore 64 was launched and how long iPhones have been in the market, for example. In the networked world, services, information, and contacts are available without limits and we are all users and designers at the same time. Media skills are in demand here: we invite you to take a test and then find out how you can better deal with your digital everyday world.

Dialogue route #neuland

16 May 2021 until 9 January 2022

Let’s imagine digitalisation and its consequences for society and the individual as a large country: A terrain that is already familiar to us in parts – but in which there is also still an infinite amount to discover! The special exhibition “#neuland: Me, Us and Digitalisation” was an invitation to discover this terrain – some parts of the show will now be temporarily integrated into our permanent exhibition as a dialogue route.

Digital life challenges us: the familiar disappears, but we are also given the freedom to create something new. This field of tension challenges us as individuals and as a society. As if in a burning glass, this can be seen in Corona times, when digitalisation has suddenly and unplanned experienced a massive push in many fields. Video conferencing is booming, work is becoming mobile to an unprecedented degree, social exchange is shifting to chats, data donation apps and corona tracing apps are being used to investigate the spread of the virus. Digital tools are becoming established. At the same time, the internet is also creating space for disinformation.

The exhibition #neuland went on a discovery tour, showed practices and places of the digital in our everyday life and asked how we want to shape a digital society. But the theme #neuland accompanies us even further:

Selected pieces of the exhibition integrated into the museum’s permanent exhibition as a “trace” from 16 May 2021 to 9 January 2022. Digitalisation in the areas of “Identity”, “Orientation”, “Knowledge” and “Optimisation” enter into dialogue with the permanent show on human communication.

In our multimedia introduction to the exhibitions you will find detailed information on the contents of #neuland.

> EXPOTIZER (In German)

#neuland is a cooperation of the Museum Foundation Post and Telecommunications and the Nemetschek Foundation.

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