Audio tour Didactic mechanisms

The Museum has an ancient collection of educational mechanisms dating back to the second half of the 19th century.

The collection includes over one hundred metal or wooden models of elementary machines, kinematic systems, transmission parts and mechanisms for describing coupling profiles between mechanical elements. Still others represent the main types of steam engines, which in the 19th century were used in various sectors of civil and industrial engineering. Most of these models were built for educational purposes by specialized German and Italian companies including Schröder of Darmstadt (Germany) and Eisentraeger of Milan.

Over time, this collection has been progressively updated thanks to the acquisition of didactic mechanisms created to illustrate newly developed mechanical systems, including modern transmission systems, some hydraulic machines and, above all, the various types of internal combustion engines . The latter are mainly small motors for dynamic model making, fully functional. These include steam, spark-ignition, and compression-ignition engines, both two-stroke and four-stroke, as well as two jet engine models.

The oldest samples date back to the beginning of the 1900s and are unique pieces of handcrafted construction, while others, quite rare and sought after by collectors, were produced by specialized companies, foreign and Italian, including the American McCoy and Micromeccanica Saturno of Bologna.

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