Tavallisesta kuriositeetiksi : kahden Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseon Messerschmitt Bf 109 -lentokoneen museoarvo

Abstract

The dissertation is based on three books by Hannu Valtonen formerly published in the publications of Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseo (Central Finland Aviation Museum): Lapin lentokoneenhylyt - Yli 20 vuotta pohjoista lentokonearkeologiaa (Eng. Aircraft Wrecks of Lapland - Over 20 Years of Northern Aircraft Archeology), Luftwaffen pohjoinen sivusta - Saksan ilmavoimat Suomessa ja Pohjois-Norjassa 1941-1944 (Eng. The Northern Flank of Luftwaffe - German Air Force in Finland and Northern Norway in 1941-1944) and Messerschmitt Bf 109 ja Saksan sotatalous (Eng. Messerschrnitt Bf 109 and the War Economy in Germany), Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseon julkaisuja 4, 6 ja 8 Publications of the Central Finland Aviation Museum 4, 6 and 8). The dissertation approaches the phenomenon of something ordinary becoming rare in the course of time and discusses from the point of view of museology why this happens. Fighter plane Messerschrnitt Bf is used as an example. This particular plane was selected as the main type for light fighters in the national socialist Germany, was kept in production until the defeat of Germany and is the most produced fighter in the world until today. Due to the defeat of Germany, a genuine Bf 109 is a rarity today considering the amount of produced, even when considering planes that are nowadays in museums. The three books written previously on the subject together with this dissertation provide a lot of background information for these two Messerschrnitt-fighters. The information helps to understand that Messerschrnitt-fighters are not merely objects, but a part of the phenomena and of their era. The museum value of these two objects increases as they are placed in a context of research and more information is found on their background. The concepts of authentic and original will be analyzed. How do they apply when assessing the state of an object, part of which life cycle is the element of continuous fixing and changing? An airplane, which is at use as an aircraft, this at its best means almost rebuilding the plane. How to relate to conservation and restoration as measures? Especially restoration inevitably changes the object, diminishing the originality, no matter how well and carefully it is reconstructed. The desired representation (how the spectator perceives the object) can play a major part when considering conservation measures, which can even lead to action changing the object. A well-reconstructed object may have lost so much of its genuineness that the reconstruction may be questionable altogether.