Conservation and utilization of Qingdao Germany Prison Site

LIU Chen

Abstract Qingdao Germany Prison Site is a theme museum which specializes in the relics and the site. It has been repaired with high standards. The exhibition is run with high quality. The operation is organized with regulations. Qingdao Germany Prison Site provides a good example for the conservation and utilization of the historical relics and also a successful exploration about methods for a theme museum to serve the public.

Keywords Qingdao Germany Prison Site， museums， conservation and utilization

0 Introduction

Qingdao Germany Prison Site is a good example of prison-themed museums which is rare in China. Difficulties exist in every step of the museum development like what is the museum designated as， how to use its resources and functions and how to make profits.

The history of the prison site is almost equal to the history of the establishment of Qingdao. It was built in 1900 during the period of German invasion of Qingdao， covering over 2 000 m2. Afterwards， rulers in every historical period continued to use the building as a prison or detention center and expanded it to 8 220 m2. It has ceased to function in 1995. After refurbishment， the site opened to the public in 2007 as a theme museum， which lists in National Protection Units of the Key Relics and gained the title of National AAA Tourism Attractions. It is also approved as the Model Museums for Teenagers by both Shandong Province and Qingdao city. In the last three years， the visitors and economic benefits have been increasing year by year. The museum achieved the record that no complaint over a thousand days.

1 High protection awareness of the society is the main reason for the museum preserved

The prosperity of real estate industry causes the land price soaring up. In such a situation， it is no wonder that many cities turned historical sites into commercial residential buildings. However， Qingdao Germany Prison Site is preserved and full used as a theme museum， which thanks to the joint efforts from different parties.

Firstly， Qingdao Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China played a great important role in the conservation of the museum. It paid a lot of attention to culture sites conservation， stressing that the policy must be forward-looking and an overall conservation plan is necessary. Qingdao then won the title of "National Famous Historical and Cultural City" in 1995. After that， Municipal Committee set a specific chapter about the protection of historical and cultural cities and urban scenery in the Overall Plan for the Qingdao City. All the measures taken by Municipal Committee provide a proper environment for historical sites conservation including Qingdao Germany Prison Site.

Qingdao National Peoples Congress prevented the prison site from being destroyed. When Qingdao Germany Prison Site had been no longer functioning as a jail， it was sold to a real estate agent who would rebuild this area followed by the city plan. However， Qingdao National Peoples Congress， the highest organ of the city power， suspended the project. 33 representatives of the people's Congress deputies jointly introduced a bill that we should protect the site which has both historical value and art value or we would suffer the irretrievable loss that the city would lose a symbolic feature.

According to the proposal of the Qingdao Municipal Peoples Congress， and came to a conclusion that the conservation of historical site cannot be valued with commercial standards. Then the Qingdao Municipal Peoples Congress relisted the prison site into the protection name list. The Mayor Xia Geng held a meeting to discuss a plan for the refurbishment of the prison site， aiming at combining protection with tourism.

The public full involved in the conservation. Under the leadership of Comprehensive Management Office， a joint committee combined with 9 related departments achieved designing， constructing， supervising， and exhibiting by inviting bids. Over 20 museums from domestic and overseas offered their supports to its construction. Experts specialized in construction； designing and history became a consultant group to offer professional suggestions. More than 180 insiders who had had some contact and understanding of the prison site had provided information， donated information， and provided advice and suggestions. This made the previously isolated， previously unknown， old and missing information prison site used for only two and a half years to complete the overall repair and the first stage of the exhibition.

2 High standard refurbishment and excellent exhibition design are highlights

Use is the best protection for the building. However， the prison site was abandoned a decade， with weathered exterior and damaged or missing interior. After the refurbishment， it is hard to imagine the long neglected situation.

The conservation is selective， which sets a good example for historical sites preservation work. The prison had never been expanded when its exterior wall was finished in 1926. However， wardens in different periods crammed 26 buildings in the area of 8 220 m2. If the conservation committee preserved all the buildings， the museum would be in a mess， which would visually weaken the importance of the main prison cell. With serious repeated argumentation， the committee finally decided to divide the prison site into surveillance zone and administration area. All the buildings in surveillance zone were preserved while temporary houses built before and after the founding of the People's Republic of China were demolished. The selection standards involved many factors； it not only values its construction years， but also values its historical values， characteristics of the times， and the level of craftsmanship. It provides a typical model for historical sites conservation in Qingdao.

New technology helps to repair the sites with a retro way. The repair does not aim at rebuilding a prison as same as it is in history， but at repairing what can be done in current situation. In terms of historical records and related people recalling， the museum repair something that existed in history but missed now， which makes sure that all that has historical meanings was preserved. The water dungeon in the main surveillance building which is left by Japanese troops when they invaded Qingdao second time is a good example. The water dungeon is an evidence about the brutality of Japanese troops. The reconstruction uses the international advanced technology to repair the seriously weathered wall and installed geothermal air conditionings produced by America that is environment friendly and economical. The two technologies are first used in Qingdao.

Qingdao Germany Prison Site has strong characteristics. It has 4 features. Firstly， the theme of the exhibition， mainly restoration of the prison accompanied with the history of the modern legal system development in Qingdao， is about judiciary， this makes it become the first judicial museum in Qingdao. Secondly， the exhibition involves a long period of history. It covers 7 historical periods including the time when Qingdao was confirmed as a city， when Germany and Japan occupied Qingdao and when it was governed by the old regime. Every period was showed in detail from politics， military， economy and culture. Thirdly， the exhibition collected some historical records about the period when Germany and Japan occupied Qingdao， which filled the blank in the history. Finally， the exhibiting approaches are various. It is not only showed with traditional pictures， texts， models and real objects， but also showed by virtual reality. The virtual imaging technology used in showing the history of the prison is first applied in Qingdao.

3 Keeping functional is the key for the site to be protected

Museum is a shared school that everyone can attend. The foothold of all its work is to play a good role in social education. For this reason， we attach great importance to strengthening the management and operation of museums in terms of functional orientation， self promotion， and service guarantee. Firstly， the museum should have a public function. When it opened to the public at very beginning， the designers believed the museum should have educational function， relic conservation function and tourism function. This is because the people of Qingdao have written many awesome chapters in the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal struggle. Many people with lofty ideals have been detained on the site of the prison. The exhibition includes many revolutionary themes about those people， which is an important educational function of the museum to encourage patriotism. We got funds from related departments and conduct regular maintenance on the sites building， which protects the site. The architecture landscape area of the museum was designed as a free tour attraction where tourists can enjoy their time in those historical sites and that is the tourism function of the museum.

Secondly， the promotion of the museum is very successful. The managers took advantages of the educational function of the museum， cooperating with education authorities and schools， attracting primary and middle school students to visit the museum. The museum also attracted troops garrisoning Qingdao and city authorities to visit it. Tourism department made a contribution to the museum promotion. The ticket price varies in season. It costs low in the off-season， has a discount in public festivals， and will be free to special groups like the disabled and low-income people. The museum published books， videos and a documentary about the exhibition to people who cannot be there personally. It also designed a digital museum on its website.

Thirdly， providing convenient， comfortable and safe services is the basic need of the audience. From the convenience of transportation， our museum has opened the gates on the south and west sides of the seaside promenade. It is adjacent to the bus station and has a parking lot especially for visiting vehicles. The layout of the museum is considerate. When you enter the museum， you will firstly come into the leisure area that occupies over half of the museum and has a greening rate of more than 40%. The layout balances the leisure that visitor pursue for and the features that the sites own. We provide high quality service including sanitary layout， interesting commentaries， high standard security and contingency plans connected with police stations and hospitals.

4 Updating the exhibition is a developing strategy of the museum

In order to keep the peace with the development of legal and judicial system， the museum has to keep updating.

The museum has to maintain its novelty， so it has to update its exhibition regularly. There are some changes in the next exhibition. Firstly， the history of the development of Qingdao judiciary will add introduction about the records after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Secondly， there will be a new exhibition about history of Chinese legal system. Thirdly， the museum will organize temporary exhibitions， such as inviting other museums to exhibit here and design some new exhibitions as the requests from the city authorities. We hope our guests will have a brand new feeling every time when they visit the museum.

Academic research is also important for the museum development. A museum should have a profound culture background. Qingdao has unique history which can provide large amounts of resources for the museum. In the long run， staffs in the museum have to make effort in collecting historical records and researching the history. The museum has to increase the number of relics and enhance the quality of exhibition.

References

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[3]SHAN Jixiang. Site Museum of Protective Reuse[M]// Zhejiang Museum. Cultural Relics of the East. Hangzhou： Zhejiang University Press， 2011： 5-21.