Guide
DESCRIPTION
Design is a fairly recent discipline in art history. It only emerged in the 19th century with the possibilities afforded by the industrial production of goods. We have this early period to thank for many products that have become an integral part of our day-to-day life, for example safety pins and papers clips. These products are bought mainly because of their usefulness, not because of their looks. However, this attitude towards industrially produced everyday goods would soon change: Raymond Loewy, one of the most significant French-American product designers from the 20th century, summed it up with his famous statement “Ugliness doesn’t sell”, a statement that still holds true today.

With its internationally renowned collection, the Cologne Museum of Applied Arts has one of the largest and highest quality collections in Europe. Almost all important designers are represented with signature pieces. Additionally, there are special thematic foci such as: the collection of innovative halogen lamps, considered to be the most extensive collection from the early days of this technology; a large selection of diverse technical appliances, for example from Braun, Olivetti and Apple; American and European radios from the 1930s up to the present day, as well as table services and drinking glass and cutlery sets from all leading producers and manufacturers.

The museum was founded in 1888 as a museum for arts and crafts. As early as the 1920s, besides collecting craft products, the museum also turned its attention to industrially produced appliances. In the 1970s, at the latest, the museum specifically collected exemplary industrial products, as well as objects that were innovative in both form and technology. The design collection mirrors the changes in taste and technology that occurred in the 20th and 21st centuries.
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