Museum of Industrial Heritage

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description

Located in the gallery of the Hoffmann kiln, this section features models, machinery and technical and scientific instruments from the collections of the Aldini-Valeriani Institute, the city’s oldest technical school. It offers an original itinerary featuring the main technological milestones in the industrial revolution that took place in Bologna, documenting the city’s deep bonds to industrial development in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

The irreversible collapse of the silk industry in the late 18^th century brought a deep crisis of deindustrialization. In an attempt to boost Bologna’s fortunes, intellectuals and leaders in economics and industry sought to introduce innovations to allow the city to keep abreast of local and international development. Particularly outstanding among them were Luigi Valeriani (1758-1828), professor of public economy at the University of Bologna, and Giovani Aldini (1762-1834), experimental physicist at the University of Bologna and nephew of Luigi Galvani. The two luminaries bequeathed funds and instructions to the City of Bologna for a new technical education program, believing that this was the most effective way to bring workers and production systems up to date with the new industrial reality.

The Aldini-Valeriani Institute, created by the city administration, was one of the outcomes, opening up forms of instruction that would go far towards making Bologna a modern industrial city.

This exhibition section illustrates the development of teaching methods at the Aldini-Valeriani Institute that moved forward arm in arm with the modernization and progressive economic development of the city with the birth of the first machinery producers such as Calzoni, De Morsier, and the Officine Meccaniche of Castel Maggiore.