The Friedrich Mielke Institute for Scalalogy, headed by Prof. Dr Elke Nagel, Prof. Dr Daniel Buggert and Dr Sophie Schlosser, is dedicated to research and teaching in all fields relating to steps and staircases from technical, sociological, artistic, literary, philosophical, material, historical or intellectual perspectives.
The Institute has an extensive collection comprising both physical objects, such as models and staircase components, and graphic and written sources in the form of dossiers, photographs, plans and drawings. With regard to the study of stairs, the focus is on the systematic documentation, typological classification and precise naming of stairs and their individual components. Staircase research complements the analysis of staircases and steps by addressing technical, technological, design-related and social issues. The Institute makes its collection and body of knowledge available to all researchers.