Not much is left of what is probably the oldest chair in Saxony: a few bony wooden parts of the backrest are draped in a display case. They were recovered by archaeologists from a waste pit in Zwickau and are dated to around the 13th century. "Furniture has not usually been preserved because wood rots over the centuries," explains Sabine Wolfram, director of the State Museum of Archaeology in Chemnitz. Nevertheless, the museum has set out to take a look through the keyhole into the living world of earlier times and cultures with a special exhibition. The new show opens this Friday for visitors.
Dwelling began when the first people no longer spent the night outdoors, but in caves for protection from wild animals, as Wolfram explains. In addition to protection, other functions such as warmth, food preparation, storage of supplies and hygiene and personal hygiene were added later. The show traces these and other topics with around 450 exhibits - some with prominent reference.
There is, for example, a porcelain chamber pot decorated with roses, which Napoleon and later Kaiser Wilhelm I are said to have used. Or a kitchen chair, built by Walter Ulbricht - a skilled carpenter and later chairman of the GDR's Council of State. A mobile cooking unit complete with pot, pan and grill from ancient Greece has made an elaborate journey. According to information, it was brought from the island of Delos under police protection, first by ferry from island to island and then by plane and truck to Chemnitz. Also shown are rental contracts, as they were already written in antiquity on papyrus or parchment, as well as the model of a Mongolian residential yurt.
