ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the machines and technical objects made within the industriekultur, the society created by the Industrial Revolution, and especially those of special technical interest such as tools, instruments, machines, engines and vehicles. It deals with some of the practical and ethical issues relating to the conservation of technical objects in museum collections. The first technical collections were started by the Conservatoire d'Arts et Mtiers in Paris in 1794, followed half a century later by the Science Museum in London. Heritage objects are not only witnesses to history but are also documents. Movement is an essential part of a great deal of technical heritage, especially machines and engines. Industrial museums and industrial heritage preservation organisations often face the problem of restoring very large machines or gigantic industrial structures. Industrial technical objects have characteristics that make them different from other man-made artefacts'.
