The many highlights to be discovered here do not involve bits and bytes. In the Freudenberg Technology Museum, you can get a close-up look at what it was like 100 years ago in an industrial plant in the Siegerland region. It hums and groans, the forge hammer cracks, it smells of hot oil and you can hear the transmission belts clattering.
Here you can understand mechanics and experience it with all your senses. On display is Germany's largest collection of 25 old machine tools, driven by a steam engine steeped in history. Visitors are expressly allowed to touch and participate, for example in blacksmithing activities at museum festivals. The most important exhibits also include historic vehicles, looms and steam engine models. Experience the machine demonstrations or let your children take a few laps on the steam train in the outdoor area.
The centerpiece of the Freudenberg Technology Museum is a large half-timbered hall that was rebuilt in Freudenberg. A 100 HP steam engine from 1904 can be seen there. It is the last document still standing in its original place from the Otto Nöll table glue factory, which closed its doors in 1972. When the (now) electrically powered steam engine starts up, it drives numerous machine tools over 100 years old via transmissions. The belts clatter and there is the smell of hot oil when planing, turning, milling or drilling. An old forge completes this exhibition area.
Next door you will find some stationary engines and power generators, including one of the largest historical engines in Germany, a 6 ton French Pruvost engine and various other machines. On the gallery you can see a weaving room with a 250 year old loom, where weaving is still done regularly.