The Haus für Industriekultur Darmstadt (Germany) hosts an old and working letter fondry, but seems to intend to get rid of it. If you’re interested you may sign a
petition to support its further existence.
Or you may approach the dirctor in order to suggest another solution … ?
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There are several issues that one can read about in German media that relate the the threatened closure of Gerstenberg’s foundry. The first is that, as of last week, the museum building that the foundry is in was closed for structural safety reasons; according to a report, the exterior walls are in danger of collapse (take from this what you will). Mr. Gerstenberg is still permitted to access the building and has also had visitors in the mean time, but the printing museum elsewhere in the structure is closed, even to the volunteers who maintained it.
It has also been reported in the media that talks are underway between Mr. Gerstenberg and the Klingspor Museum, which for bureaucratic reasons is a more realistic solution than museums in Mainz or Leipzig could be.
Finally, the matter of the museum and the foundry is also being discussed in the Darmstadt city council. Although the building they are in is managed by a Hessian state museum, the two forms of government could conceivably come to some sort of solution. However, the Hessian state government is currently being reformed with a new governing coalition. Sine the Green Party will not be part of the new government, the minister responsible for museums will also change, but it may still be weeks until the new minister is agreed upon. Whether a new minister would bring positive changes is another matter in-and-of itself.
The success of the petition to date has been repeatedly reported on in the local media and has been mentioned both within the Hessian state parliament and the Darmstadt city council. Your signatures on the petition are indeed important! Without them, the foundry may have effectively been closed down weeks or months ago.
EDIT: The fact the building was managed by the government of the state of Hessen is also good news, given the circumstances. On reflection, I was concerned that, if the building was owned by a private charity, politicians could take the attitude: you bought a museum building on the cheap because it was expensive to maintain and legally protected from being torn down, and then you didn't maintain it either. And now you want us to bail you out of the consequences of your choice to cut corners.