3rd shift – LEISURE AND ACTION
INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE
Factories, chimneys, warehouses and workers are testimonies of different industrial activities. Today, all over Europe it is possible to find memories of progress linked to Architecture, Science and Technology. Can you indicate what types of industrial heritage are associated with the robotization of industrial processes?
76. The brick factory of Gabrovo. Ca. 1920. Interactive Museum of Industry, Gabrovo, Bulgaria.
Worn gear is essential evidence to understand the industrial past. Their presence in many factories has determined, and still determines, an increase in production. Can you identify any kind of gear in your city?
77. Netting and knitwear departments in a flannel factory. Beginning of XX century. Interactive Museum of Industry, Gabrovo, Bulgaria.
Industrial heritage refers to the remains of industrial culture which are of historical, technological, social, architectural or scientific value: buildings and machinery, workshops, mills and factories, mines and sites for processing and refining, warehouses and stores, places where energy is generated, transmitted and used, transport and all its infrastructure, as well as places used for social activities related to industry such as housing, religious worship or education.
The Industrial Revolution changed the face of Europe. It left us with a challenging industrial heritage. The historical period of industrialization considered for heritage organisations extends forward from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the second half of the eighteenth century up to and including the present day, while also examining its earlier pre-industrial and proto-industrial roots. In addition, industrial heritage is a field that includes technologies and, therefore it draws on the study of work and working techniques as encompassed by the history of technology (adapted from The Nizhny Tagil Charter For The Industrial Heritage, 2003).
The European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is a giant network of sites across Europe that we must get to know.