The manufacturers
F.A. Schumann and
L.H.A. Schmidt in Berlin-Moabit (1832-1886)
Digitisation of objects from the Mitte Museum's porcelain collection
Manufacturing porcelain was in important industry for Berlin in the 19th century, and the district of Moabit developed into its main production site. Support by the Research and Competence Center Digitalisation Berlin (“digiS”) 2020 enabled the Mitte Museum to digitize some of its ceramics collection.
In the 1830s, Berlin gained nationwide importance for its porcelain production. The Mitte Museum owns a large collection of porcelain made by the manufacturer F.A. Schumann (1832-1880) as well as a collection from the smallest Moabit manufacturer L.H. Schmidt (1854-1886). What is specific about this collection is the crockery for everyday use. The objects show clearly visible traces of wear, which makes them important testimonies of Berlin’s everyday culture. Tableware rarely survives being used for more than 150 years, which makes it even more precious to have these objects in our collection.
In the context of the programme “Digitization of cultural assets held by heritage institutions located within the state of Berlin”, the Senate Department for Culture and Europe supports institutions including museums, archives and others with funding. The Research and Competence Center Digitalisation Berlin (digiS) is the project partner.
In the context of this project, the Mitte Museum scientifically analyzed and digitized 322 objects from both Moabit manufacturers and made them available to the public on the websites of museum-digital, the German Digital Library (DDB) and the Europeana.
The final project report was published on the digiS website.
Project coordination: Sigrid Schulze
Project team: Dr. Mayako Forchert, Julia Pomeranzewa, Anke Steinfurth and Stephanie Wintermann