The ELA World Cup Box Returns with the Miracle of Bern Exhibition

The World Cup box inside the mobile exhibit is engaging. The photo shows the key handover with officials and curator Han
Details
Location

Frankenberg, Saxony

ELA site

Frankenberg, Saxony

Container quantity and type

1 special container

Usable space

30 m2

Usage

museum container

Outer walls

RAL 7032 (Pebble Gray); inner walls and floor: OSB, artificial turf floor covering

Purchase or rental

rental

Usage term

5 years

About ten years ago, we housed the "The Miracle of Bern" exhibition by curator and football expert Hans Schlüper in a mobile museum based on an ELA exhibition container. After touring for some time, the container was kept in Spiez, Switzerland, until recently. The exhibition has now been moved to ZeitWerkStadt, an interactive museum of urban and industrial history in Frankenberg, Saxony, where it has reopened for an initial period of five years.

 

On an area of around 30 m², the ELA exhibition container houses a small but impressive exhibition on West Germany's 1954 World Cup victory, bringing visitors closer to the unforgettable moments of the tournament and its heroes. Among the exhibits are documents, photographs and videos, as well as items used during the five final-round matches and the final itself, including a jersey, tickets, the goal net from the Wankdorf Stadium and seat marker number 272 from the main stand.

 

A gallery featuring large posters, photographs and graphics provides an authentic impression of the final in Bern. Photographs from each of the 96 minutes of play bring the match between Hungary and West Germany to life before visitors' eyes. Curator Hans Schlüper maintains the world's largest film archive dedicated to the World Cup final of 4 July 1954. A fascinating compilation of these films can also be seen in the exhibition. Another highlight is a contemporary H0-scale (1:87) replica of the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern.

Curator Hans Schlüper maintains the world's largest film archive dedicated to the World Cup final of 4 July 1954.
The video material from the world's largest archive of the 1954 World Cup final is just as fascinating today as it was t

"It is amazing how many impressions and how much information can fit into the relatively small space of the ELA exhibition container," says Erik Geidelt, Head of the ELA branch in Frankenberg. "I am very pleased about the reopening of the ELA World Cup Box, which is a great addition to our ELA location in Frankenberg."

The exhibition on the 1954 World Cup belongs in Frankenberg like the ball belongs in the back of the net.
Franziska Bäßler
Museum Director, ZeitWerkStadt

Frankenberg has a long football tradition, and SV Barkas Frankenberg recently celebrated its 40th anniversary.
 

 

Mayor of Frankenberg, Oliver Gerstner, confirms:
 

"The active participation of our clubs and primary schools in this opening event shows the great interest the people of Frankenberg have in sport and in the Miracle of Bern exhibition. The World Cup Box is an excellent fit for ZeitWerkStadt as an experience-oriented museum."

The photo gallery documents each of the 96 minutes of the 1954 World Cup final between Hungary and West Germany.
The photo gallery documents each of the 96 minutes of the 1954 World Cup final.

The opening programme for the World Cup Box was organised by SV Barkas Frankenberg 1984 e.V. It included a football tournament, a shooting accuracy competition and a shot-speed challenge. "We took the exhibition opening as an opportunity to include the event in our holiday programme," says Gerstner. More than 80 children took part.
 

"Football doesn't mean everything. But without football, everything means nothing," is curator Hans Schlüper's tongue-in-cheek summary of the significance of his exhibition. Football is still the most important unimportant thing in the world, he adds.

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