Restoration of scientific instruments

The Deutsches Museum has a large collection of scientific instruments, including clocks, theodolites, telescopes, microscopes, calculating machines, etc., some of which can be seen in the timekeeping, geodesy, astronomy, optics and computer science departments and in the academy collection of our exhibitions. Others can be found in the so-called study collections and in the depots.

Necessary restoration work on the collection items is carried out in the restoration workshop. Depending on the objective, restoration can range from cleaning the visible surface to complete disassembly and restoration of function. In order not to reduce the objects to their function, but also to preserve their history and their status as a document of the history of technology, the traces of use are preserved. For this reason, no scratches are sanded out and no new paint is applied. Every restoration and conservation measure is documented in writing and photographically, including any damage and missing parts. Once the object has been dismantled into its component parts, as far as this is possible without destruction, dirt, overlying corrosion and all surface-damaging coatings are removed. Care is taken to act with caution and to work with gentle, reversible means. If missing parts are required to understand the function of the object, these are made according to old plans or illustrations. To make them recognisable as new additions, they are labelled as such and documented in the restoration report. This report also lists all the information gained about the object during the restoration through research, the measures carried out, the materials used and their manufacturers.

The maintenance of the running clocks in the exhibitions is one of the tasks of the workshop staff. This also applies to the astronomical tower clock above the passageway in the museum courtyard. On its 6.5 metre diameter dial, between the moon phase sphere and the day of the week display, it shows the month, hour and minute as well as the seconds. This is unusual for a tower clock. Do you know of another tower clock with a seconds display?