Saxon Museum of Industry
The Saxon Museum of Industry is a museum with four locations in Saxony. It is organised as a "special purpose association" (German: "Zweckverband"), the members of which are the towns of Chemnitz, Crimmitschau, Ehrenfriedersdorf and Hoyerswerda. The Chemnitz Tar Mummy is a mummified human body which has been on display at the museum since 2003. Work of the museum. Within the scope of researching and presenting the industrial and economic history of Saxony, the association's remit includes collecting and preserving cultural artefacts, preserving Saxony's industrial heritage, and using the buildings as museums. Individual museums . The individual museums of the association are: Chemnitz Museum of Industry () West Saxon Textile Museum in Crimmitschau () Ehrenfriedersdorf Tin Mine () Knappenrode Energy Factory () The museums present Saxon industrial history in different ways: as a conventional museum, a textile factory, a "show" mine, and a special museum for the whole spectrum of Saxon industry, from mining via the textile industry and textile machinery manufacture, to machine tool manufacture. Reception. By April 2003, the Chemnitz museum had welcomed 500,000 paying visitors. In 2008, "Freie Presse" reported that although the Chemnitz museum had had its best year with up to 100,000 visitors, its  future remained uncertain with arguments over its funding. A compromise suggested additional European Social Fund money, tied to education projects. The museum hosted a design exhibition in 2010. Awards. In 2005 the Saxon Museum of Industry in Chemnitz was given a Special Commendation of the European Museum Forum. Notable exhibits. Chemnitz Tar Mummy. The Chemnitz Tar Mummy is a mummified human body which has been on display at the Saxon Museum of Industry in Chemnitz since 2003. In 1884 a body of an unknown, 1.66 m tall workman was found in a tar container of the Chemnitz Gasworks 1. The  cause of his death could not be ascertained. Because there were no signs of violence found in his body, the man was buried in the ground. After 23 years, in 1907, the body was exhumed for re-examination at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Leipzig. A further examination revealed that the body was completely mummified. Because of tar, a gas-plant-by-product, and its preserving action on the body and the working clothes, the Chemnitz Tar Mummy is well preserved to this day.