The donation includes a model of a chocolate factory and several models of machines used in chocolate production.
The exhibits originate from the VEB Maschinenfabrik Heidenau, formerly Maschinenfabrik J. M. Lehmann Dresden, Heidenau factory. They were manufactured between 1970 and 1985 and were used in particular for presentation at Leipzig trade fairs. Since the end of the 1990s, the models have been in the possession of the WIMAD e. V. (Association for Scientists and Engineering Staff Dresden).
The objects complement the museum's collection, which already includes exhibits from Kathleen Schokoladenfabrik GmbH, including chocolate moulds, tin foil rolls, plaster models and packaging. The board members of WIMAD e. V., Dr Jürgen Rieß and Karl-Heinz Kunert, as well as Uwe Hessel, a long-standing researcher into the history of the chocolate and confectionery industry in Saxony, handed over the exhibits to museum director Jürgen Kabus.
Some of the objects were already on display between 27 November 2011 and 15 April 2012 in the exhibition "The Sweet Heart of Germany" at the Chemnitz Industrial Museum. As part of the dissolution of WIMAD e. V., the models will now be permanently transferred to the collection of the Museum of Industry. WIMAD e. V. was dedicated to researching the history of industry, technology and companies, in particular the chocolate and confectionery industry in Saxony. The results of this research work contribute, among other things, to a reassessment of the history of the origins of milk chocolate, which, according to current knowledge, dates back to 1839 in Dresden.