War. Crisis. Scarcity. In Böblingen.An exhibition through five moments in history
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Introductory view into the first part of the exhibition called »From Inflation and Famine« -
View into the exhibition space called »From Inflation and Famine« that shows an infographic about the sun’s activity in the last 1000 years -
Besides texts and images we also provided illustrations to set the scene -
»From Inflation and Famine«: A pop-up display shows additional information
The Deutsches Bauernkriegsmuseum Böblingen [German Peasants’ War Museum Böblingen] documents the living conditions of the »common humans«, their goals, hopes and everyday life as peasants during the beginning of the 16th century, such as in the special exhibition »Krieg. Krise. Knappheit. In Böblingen« [War. Crisis. Scarcity. In Böblingen] that we designed, as well as the new identity of the museum.
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The exhibition introduction showing main title and the exhibition’s intentions
The 2023 annual exhibition of the Deutsches Bauernkriegsmuseum Böblingen centers on urban history, tackling winners and losers of crises, re-evaluations, value losses, scarcity, crisis management, and even toilet paper – a timely and thought-provoking theme.
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The lower exhibition space connects historical and current affairs and asks the questions: »How can one rethink the term crisis?« -
This wall provides information about »the scapegoats in history« -
Another view of »the scapegoats in history« -
An excerpt that shows, how crisis generates hate towards minorites and how people counter that hate -
Fake news and superstition are returning themes of the exhibition -
After visiting the exhibition, visitors can take a leaflet that shows how each topic is interconnected
The special exhibition focuses on various times of crisis in history in the city of Böblingen. Identically and in addition to current references, it depicts individual protagonists and their actions, their efforts to overcome and escape crises or even profit from them.
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Measures that help prevent crisis or help to end them is a theme discussed in the second exhibition space downstairs -
Infographics emphasise and illustrate certain phenomena -
Different sizes of typography are used throughout the exhibition to provide different levels of storytelling
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Close-up of the second exhibition space showing the oil crisis in the 70s -
Close-up of the exhibition’s captions -
Typographical variety offers plenty of access to the exhibition’s content
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Accessing the exhibition can be achieved by both linear or cross-reading -
Close-up showing a reproduction of old documents
How did people deal with crises in their own unique way? How did people attempt to cope with them, escape them or even profit from them? Do we recognise similarities to today? These questions will be examined by focusing on five periods of crisis in the history of Böblingen with different protagonists.
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A small signage in the entrance hall shows visitors the way to both exhibition spaces up and downstairs
Starting with crop failures and grain price fluctuations in the early 16th century, and extending to the upheaval of the Thirty Years’ War and the prevalence of natural disasters and widespread poverty in the 19th century, these factors collectively propelled emigration as a hopeful escape. This circumstance not only influenced Eva Barbara Klein, one of the protagonists, but also drew her into a new life.
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Illustrations, artworks, historical relics, photographs, reprints, infographics and texts navigate the visitor through the exhibition -
The 19th century was characterised by poverty and hope -
A series of illustrations and texts show the lives of immigrants in the 19th century -
Together with reprints and artworks, an infographic shows the redistribution of Böblingen’s population into the world -
Historical relics are an important part for this exhibition’s display
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Each topic has an assigned colour theme pointing out the different storylines -
The workers' revolt of the early 20th century is mainly shown through old posters and original prints -
Stuttgart in the 1920s is caught between revolution and radicalisation -
The last part of the exhibition deals with post-war Germany… -
…and the associated crisis
A crucial segment lies in the hyper-inflation of the 1920s, which transformed securities into mere play money and nurtured the growth of political extremes. Moreover, in the post-war period and housing shortage of the 1950s, Böblingen appeared to transcend crisis, progressing towards an awakening that was both progressive and unconditional.
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Temporary exhibition pop-up stand -
A lot of the installments can be reused for another exhibition -
Inexpensive materials such as cable ties -
Mounted captions for showcases
Whether as a lesson or a reminder, the crises of Böblingen’s past show one thing: we have overcome them.
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Brochure filled with illustrations, quizzes and stories -
The brochure is intended to help bring the topic closer to school classes -
Texts and illustrations make up the brochure’s visual language -
Inforgraphics are also included -
Cloze texts can be filled in by the pupils -
Large areas of colour separate the brochure segments from each other -
Double page: »On the Run« / »Sweets Against the Plague« -
The illustrations of the exhibition are picked up again in the booklet -
Double page: »1817, The Year in Which…« / »A Medal of Remembrance«
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The table of contents uses graphics that are already established in the exhibition -
Brochure filled with illustrations, quizzes and stories -
Texts, illustrations, and infographics make up the brochure’s visual language -
Brochure filled with illustrations, quizzes and stories -
Historical scans are included throughout the brochure -
Quizzes and stories help the students reflect on the exhibitions main topics -
The forms of the exhibition are also used in the accompanying booklet -
»Signs of Bad Luck« / »Pack Your Bags« -
»Cycling Against the Crisis« -
»Your recipe against the crisis« asks pupils for their ideas -
The last page shows all the solutions to the quizzes’ questions
Furthermore for the museums’s youngest visitors (and those young at heart), we designed a special brochure to engage them with the exhibition and the content, offering stories, illustrations, quizzes, and riddles.
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5×4m displays are visible at several highly frequented entrances to the city and draw attention to the exhibition
Besides the scenography for the special exhibition, we redesigned the visual identity to prepare it for the upcoming 500th anniversary of the peasants’ war that will take place in Böblingen in 2025.
Details
| Client | Deutsches Bauernkriegsmuseum Böblingen [German Peasants’ War Museum] |
| Partners | Lea Wegner, Johannes Hucht, Steffen Knöll, Sven Tillack |
| Photo credit | Studio Tillack Knöll |