The measure of all things

Measurement is the determination of size, length, weight, capacity or other aspects of an object, and man has always endeavoured to summarise the world in systems that are universally valid and make everyday life easier.
These systems are based on numbers, whereby counting is not an innate characteristic but a cultural achievement. Tally lists can be found as early as the Neolithic period; the first signs for numbers in the form of pictograms emerged in the early advanced civilisations, as the management of people and goods required bookkeeping.
From India, the decimal system finally conquered Europe via Arabia in the 16th century and replaced Roman numerals. Counting sticks, counting boards, clocks, scales, metre sticks, maps, Geiger counters, calorie charts, measuring cups, barometers, clothing sizes, calculators, calendars and much more are the material expression of the measuring systems developed over the centuries. From the consultation of a higher authority with the help of the oracle in early times as a decision-making aid to the binary code of the computer and its calculation of action models: the cultural-historical development of counting and measuring and how it determines our daily lives is vividly and excitingly told in the exhibition.

Last edited on 12.01.2026