The new DSBM building has a façade of brushed and rectangular metal panels, symbolic of the industrial and metalworking activities. The same applies to the Gründerzeit Villa Herminghaus: it too carries the museum theme in a representative way to the outside world, because as the former residence of a family of factory owners, it represents an important monument to the economic history of the city of Velbert. Both parts of the building contrast positively with each other through their different façade designs. Here, what is hidden inside is already visible from the outside: a bridge between the past and modernity, between former and present-day industry.
The spacious foyer with ticket office and museum shop also offers the possibility for events with seating for up to 70 people. Exhibition openings, lectures and receptions take place here. The exhibition hall itself houses the permanent exhibition on 470 square metres. The Villa Herminghaus can be entered through a connecting building.
The Villa Herminghaus (also called Herminghaus Villa) was built in 1885 by the foundry owner Carl Tiefenthal senior. The Neo-Renaissance style villa was bought shortly afterwards, in 1913, by Emil Herminghaus, an entrepreneur whose castle factory and iron foundry directly adjoined the garden of the property. After the entrepreneur Herminghaus moved away, the house and the ruined factory stood empty until the early 1970s, when it became the property of the city of Velbert. Since the 1980s, part of the city administration with various departments was housed in Villa Herminghaus, such as the cultural office and the library.
In 2001, the Rhineland Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments placed the entire villa under a preservation order. Inside, many parts of the original interior have been preserved, such as the floor on the ground floor, the stucco ceilings and the double-leaf entrance door.
The DSBM has been housed in the Villa Herminghaus since 2020. The entire ground floor is accessible to visitors, as it houses the rooms for special exhibitions, an Escape Room and a museum education room.
