At the Deutsches Museum in Munich, visitors can see a Wright Brothers’ Model A biplane from 1909, the Magdeburg hemispheres with which Otto von Guericke performed his pioneering vacuum experiments in the 17th century, and some 28 000 other emblems of progress. Since it opened in 1906, the museum has showcased and explained science and technology with an emphasis on advances that impact society. “We don’t show every Apple computer,” says museum director Wolfgang Heckl. “We show the first one, and the first iPhone, because they are iconographic of revolutions.”
Now the museum is in the midst of a head-to-toe overhaul. The renovations were officially launched in 2006, after local authorities said the buildings had to be updated to meet modern safety codes—or be shuttered. Among the upgrades are improved emergency egress and a €10 million ($11.4 million) skirt that extends 12 meters deep to bedrock to prevent water seeping...
