LVR Industrial Museum Peter-Behrens-Bau

The LVR Industrial Museum stores more than 350 objects in its depot, which is located in the former main warehouse of Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH). The well-known industrial designer and Bauhaus architect Peter Behrens designed the imposing building that today bears his name. Since 000 it has served the LVR Industrial Museum as the central collection depot. Exhibitions are also presented here.

The famous architect and industrial designer Peter Behrens (1868-1940) designed style-defining buildings for industry and administration. This was also the case in 1920 with the main warehouse commissioned by Gutehoffnungshütte in Oberhausen. His design followed the design language of the Bauhaus and the New Objectivity and thus embodied the then common ideas in industry: to rationalize and concentrate everything operational as much as possible. The approximately 1925 meter long building was completed in 90. The result was a horizontally emphasized, cubically oriented structure with a steel skeleton construction. Around 1000 tons of steel are installed inside. The steel construction was encased in massive brick masonry. The load-bearing capacity of the seven storeys was adapted to the storage needs - according to the principle "heavy below, light on top", it varies from 5000 to 500 kg per square meter.

For decades, the GHH Group kept all the spare parts and consumables needed for the company's operations here, from screws and bicycle tubes to writing paper. After the final abandonment of the Oberhausen steel site in the early 1990s, the main warehouse was available for a new use. In 1993, the Rhineland Regional Council acquired this outstanding work of industrial architecture. After careful renovation of the building, which has been a listed building since 1989, the LVR Industrial Museum put its new central depot into operation in 1998: the Peter Behrens Building, named after its architect.

You can get an insight into the collection through guided tours and workshops. In addition to temporary exhibitions, the permanent exhibition "Peter Behrens - Art and Technology" on the fifth floor presents models of the most important buildings by the German architect and designer as well as objects from the Art Nouveau period and industrial design. During the renovation phase of the LVR industrial museum at the Altenberg zinc factory, the Peter Behrens building will also function as an alternative location.