Moving museum at drupa 2024 - Museum of Printing Arts Leipzig

Visitors to the world's leading trade fair, drupa, will be able to experience the history of printing at first hand this year: In Hall 14, the Museum of Printing Arts Leipzig will be exhibiting, among other things, an old printing press like those used in Gutenberg's time. A member of the museum staff will give a live demonstration of the historic machine.

The Museum of Printing Arts in Leipzig has been preserving and presenting historical printing technology since its founding in 1994. On four floors, visitors can discover more than 550 years of printing culture and see the venerable machines in action. With around 90 machines in working order, the history of printing is brought to life.

The combination of a working workshop and an exhibition makes the Museum of Printing unique. Here, the machines and presses are not just silent historical objects but bring old working methods back to life in a practical way. Ideal conditions for printing courses and workshops! Visitors can design and produce their own print products. And now drupa visitors can experience this at the museum's booth in Düsseldorf.

The museum preserves and promotes the artistic printing techniques of relief, intaglio and lithography, which have been included in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage by the German UNESCO Commission. This recognition was initiated by the museum in 2018. 

At this year's drupa, visitors will also be able to see how innovations have developed. In addition to the well-known printing technique invented by the goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg around 1450, visitors will be able to admire an even older model: a Japanese printing press using a technique dating back to the 9th century. 

Looking further ahead, you can see the latest machines, which aim for zero waste and ever faster processes.

The Museum's collection includes internationally significant printing machinery and presses, such as an 1842 Columbia Press, an 1832 Paragon Press and an original 1926 Heidelberg Tiegel. The museum's type foundry illustrates the development of type casting using stencils, steel punches and moulds.

A special attraction is the collotype workshop, one of the few places in the world where this rare printing process is still in use. Developed in the 19th century, collotype makes it possible to produce facsimiles that are strikingly similar to the originals. 

Another highlight is the music printing department, which demonstrates the unique challenges and techniques of this specialised form of printing. The xylography workshop, which originated with Rudolf Riess in Nuremberg, shows the high art of wood engraving, which was widespread in the 19th century.

The Museum of Printing Arts Leipzig is not only a place of remembrance and preservation, but also a vibrant place of creation and dissemination. It offers a unique insight into the history of the printing arts and invites visitors to experience it at first hand and get creative themselves. It is well worth a visit for anyone interested in the history of the media, the development of printing techniques and the art of printing. And for those who cannot make it to Leipzig, there is the opportunity to experience this special museum in mobile form at drupa 2024.