Surreales Museum für Industrielle Objekte

It's hard to walk around Berlin without running into a museum. There is a lot of history and culture in this city and 

 The entry draws you in, giving just a taste of the wonder found inside.

The space is a combination of museum and art gallery. Each piece is a functional object that was used in its particular field before being obtained for this place, but you are given no explanation and are encouraged to imagine the purpose.

Reminders of our past and how technological advances can lead to trouble as well as benefits for humanity.
Toward the end of my visit, a group of French tourists wandered into the space and the attendant gave a little talk about the history of the Iron Lung. The three men had no idea about the history of polio, so the attendant and I told them about the beneficial developments in clean water after WWII directly lead to the epidemic. And I was surprised to learn that an Australian woman spent 60 years inside one, only leaving for 1-2 hours a day to prevent muscle atrophy.

The camera technology especially caught my eye. It's fascinating seeing the development of a technology through the ages, without being told how that technology developed.

One is left to discover and think of how the people of the time took existing technology and improved upon it. There are no signs telling you what something is, everything is up to your mind, connecting to the minds of the past in examining the tools that create our modern world.

Some objects are kept our of reach in alcoves. We are asked not to touch anything in the museum, but making these rooms so off limits makes the objects even more interesting. Why do they get special protection from the masses?

The final space I walked through was a gallery of the artist's original project with these objects. Photographs that combined the human and machinery, one piece designed for a specific purpose. Most of the photographs feature the artist and bring to the forefront of one's mind the dependence we experience for machinery.

After a little while wandering the place by myself, the attendant on duty came over to say 'hi'.
Meet Nikolas from Cologne. He came to Berlin to study art and has been working at this museum for the past 1.5 years. It's taken some time to get familiar with all of the objects, as the place is teeming with the history of our technical past. Once a visitor asked him about a particular object and he had to call the artist to get the correct information. He told me he comes in every day before opening to wander the place and reinvigorate his love for the pieces. It's easy to get jaded and think of this as just another job, but thinking about the history of the people who made each piece and the amount of work that went into its creation, along with the history of all the previous versions of an object, gives them new life.
We were the only people in the museum for about an hour and talking with Nikolas was a great way to start the day. He has a great passion inside him and I hope to hear of an opening with his own pieces one day.

The pictures displayed here are but a small sample of the wonder one experiences walking through the space. Located at Torstraße 201, 10115, this should be a must visit for anyone traveling to Berlin.