"Toilet & Co. - sanitary ceramics from outhouse to high-tech toilet" Special exhibition at Porzellanikon Selb from 13 May - 26 November 2023
For Porzellanikon - Staatliches Museum für Porzellan, the year 2023 is all about health, wellness and water. After "Luxury, wellness, porcelain - a day at the Bohemian spa" in Hohenberg a.d. Eger, the special exhibition at the Selb location with "Toilet & Co. - sanitary ceramics from the outhouse to the high-tech toilet" from 13 May to 26 November 2023 is dedicated to the one topic that really affects everyone without exception, but that hardly anyone talks about: the toilet.
While it was quite normal for the rather modern-looking Romans and Greeks to use toilet facilities with specially built watercourses, people in the Middle Ages often collected their waste in outhouses and chamber pots or left it on the dung heap. Many amenities were lacking and instead of lavishly equipped bathrooms, wash sets were common in the sleeping chambers. However, there are some particularly beautiful pieces, such as the travel bidet of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as "Sisi", or the wash set of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, which was made for his dream castle Neuschwanstein. Richly decorated and refined with gold, these objects clearly showed the status of the person commissioning them.
Finally, in the 19th century, the water-flushed toilet began its triumphal march from England. The "quiet little toilet" was given its own room and connected to the newly emerging sewage system. Selected WCs from over 120 years show how the toilet developed from an opulent ornament to an elegant wall-hung WC. And a lot has changed technically, too: in the latest models, toilet paper is a thing of the past thanks to the built-in pop-up shower and hairdryer. The cultural background also determines what the "quiet little toilet" looks like today, so it is not surprising that there are a wide variety of toilets all over the world. The exhibition not only shows the examples on land, but also in the air and even in the vastness of space, the toilet theme occupies mankind. Guests learn how to pee on board a spaceship and why the collection bags for urine are radioactive from original objects from space travel.
A separate area with historical and current chamber potties for children as well as diaper-changing systems is dedicated to the smallest among us. Here, our guests can try their hand at two diapering stations - and stop time in the process. Meanwhile, the hands-on area for children and the young at heart has all the utensils needed to build your own sewage treatment plant.
The most intimate topics are presented in the "Taboo Room". In it, artist Anni von Bergen addresses points such as menstruation, gender discussions and the misappropriation of public toilets. Around 200 objects from the special exhibition await the guests with their most bizarre, funniest and most unbelievable stories about the "quiet room", which in the end is always also a mirror of our civilisation.
Event dates for the special exhibition:Sun., 14.05.Curator's tour with Dr. des. Joana Mylek3:00 p.m.Price: 3.50 €, plus 1 € Sunday admission for adults, with registrationSun, 21.05.Guided tour of the special exhibition3:30 p.m.Price: 1 € Sunday admission for adults, with registrationTue, 30.05.Whitsun holiday programme: Toilets in the past, today and tomorrow10:00 am | Duration: 2 hoursPrice: 3 € material costs | from 6 years, with registrationTue, 06.06.Whitsun Holiday Programme: Colourful Places10:00 am | Duration: 2 hoursPrice: 3 € material costs | from 6 years, with registrationTue, 13.06."Kangaroo tour": For parents and their babies (in a carrier)11:00 a.m.Price: 3.50 €, plus 5 € museum admission for adults, with registrationThu, 15.06.Lecture: "I would love to be an astronaut", Tasillo Römisch, lecturer in space history and owner of Space Service International18:00 hPrice: 5 € Museum admissionSun. 18.06.Family afternoon. Designing tiles14:30 hrs | Duration: 2 hoursPrice: 3 € material costs, plus 1 € Sunday admission for adultsfrom 6 years, with registrationSun., 18.06.Curator's tour with Dr. des. Joana Mylek3:00 p.m.Price: 3,50 €, plus 1 € Sunday admission for adults, with registrationSun. 25.06.Researcher's Afternoon: Toilet & Co.2:30 p.m. Duration: 2 hoursPrice: 3 € material costs, plus 1 € Sunday admission for adults | from 6 years, with registrationSchool programme:Adapted to the Bavarian curriculum for grades 1 - 4, pupils learn how toilets have changed over the centuries, why we no longer use outhouses today and what happens to our small and large businesses after flushing.Duration: 2.5 hoursCost: 5 € per pupilOpening hours:Porzellanikon Selb opens from Tuesday to Sunday and on public holidays from 10:00 to 17:00. Admission to Porzellanikon Selb costs €5.00 (€4.00 reduced) or €3.00 (€2.00 reduced) in Hohenberg a.d. Eger, where the special exhibition "Luxury, Wellness, Porcelain - a Day at the Bohemian Spa" is on display. A combined ticket for visitors to both locations is also available (€6.50 and €5.00 reduced). Admission on Sundays always only €1.00; children up to 18 years free.A second life for your admission ticket? And do something good for yourself? Of course! With your museum ticket you get a 10 % discount on the day ticket in three baths in the region: Siebenquell GesundZeitResort in Weißenstadt, Alexbad in Bad Alexandersbad and Sibyllenbad in Bad Neualbenreuth.Further information on the special exhibition at www.porzellanikon.org.Porzellanikon SelbWerner-Schürer-Platz 195100 SelbPhone: +49 9287 91800-0besucherservice@porzellanikon.orgDuration of the special exhibition13 May - 26 November 2023Responsible curator:Dr. des. Joana MylekCurator for Economic, Technical and Social Historyjoana.mylek@porzellanikon.org+49 9287 918 00 314
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