“What do you want to be?” is written in big letters on the wall at the entrance to the exhibition. It is one of the essential questions in life that every person asks at a young age. And then at a later age: «Did you become what you wanted to be? What would you do today if you could start all over again? “
The exhibition “Zeitsprung Bildung”, which can be experienced in the Historisches Museum Baden until July 31, 2021, shows the paths of people in training over the past 100 years with a wide variety of technical careers. The audience can use film sequences and listening stations to let the protagonists tell them about their careers and learn what has become of them. It’s about self-discovery, fulfilled and unfulfilled dreams, picture book careers – and sometimes also about failure.
The starting point of the exhibition is the history of the BBC Werkschule, which did pioneering work in the field of apprenticeship training across Switzerland and was a pioneer for the dual education system. A leap in time is made in today’s educational landscape to old original workpieces and photos of BBC apprentices. The change from the analog to the digital world is striking. The longing for identification and meaning in the job has remained constant to this day.
“A factor that still shapes the industry today”
“Zeitsprung Bildung” is part of the cantonal project “#ZeitsprungIndustrie”. Aargau has developed from a former farming cantons to one of the leading Swiss industrial cantons, where, among other things, sugar lumps, aluminum foil and the electric toothbrush were invented. “We are taking on a factor that shapes industry to this day and is important for the future: the training of highly qualified people who advance industry and business,” says museum director Carol Nater Cartier. At the same time, part of the exhibition can be seen in the garden hall of the BBB vocational school on Martinsberg.
Work programs and other original documents from former BBC apprentices in the Historical Museum provide information about everyday life at the time, which was strictly timed including compulsory gymnastics lessons (introduced by the BBC in 1952) and 15-minute breaks. Visitors can also get intimate insights thanks to pay slips or application letters.
Respect for the superior and the fulfillment of duties came first. But the identification of the apprentices with their company was also important to the BBC. Various photos and trophies, sports clubs such as the model flying group, shooting and bowling clubs are evidence of this. Urs Stalder, site manager of “libs industrial apprenticeships”, makes the leap into the present and tells us which offers and measures the youngsters identify with the training place today.
Playful preoccupation with the past
A centerpiece of the exhibition was the result of the collaboration between six BBC retirees, who each teamed up as a tandem pair with a current apprentice from the BBB vocational school. Using objects such as an old measuring bridge and a new digital measuring device, they tell a story together that shows the differences or similarities between the past and the present. Visitors can click into the various episodes via iPad. Can the retired engineer fix the young polymechanic’s radio?
Different workshop atmospheres make «Zeitsprung Bildung» appear lively. Often it seems as if someone has only left their job for a short time. Flow charts of six personalities show the sometimes unpredictable turn their lives have taken. And at the end, the visitors themselves are challenged: They can sit down at the tables with the material provided and assemble a pump, test their spatial and logical thinking or imitate old tests of the BBC. And use the job finder to playfully find out which technical training they would be suitable for today.
The special exhibition “Zeitsprung Bildung” in the Historisches Museum Baden is bilingual (G / E) and can be visited until July 31, 2021. Opening times are Tuesday to Saturday, 1pm to 5pm, Thursday, 12pm to 7pm and Sunday from 10am to 5pm.
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