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The ETO Museum (ETO Müze) in Eskişehir, Turkey, presents the Eskişehir Museum of Commerce and Industry (Eskişehir Ticaret ve Sanayi Müzesi). It opened on May 9, 2017 and is run by the city’s chamber of commerce (Eskişehir Ticaret Odası).
Visiting
The museum is open daily except Mondays and admission is free (as of December 2023). It’s located in a historic Ottoman mansion in the Odunpazarı district.
We didn’t expect much in the beginning, but we were pleasantly surprised with the museum and enjoyed our visit. The exhibits are presented nicely and with just enough information not to overwhelm you with reading. All of the displays are in both Turkish and English. We only spent about 20 minutes inside, but it was enough to see everything.
Ground Floor
The ETO Museum focuses on 3,000 years of commerce in the region, beginning on the ground floor with a display on King Midas. The famous king with the golden touch ruled over Phrygia, where modern Eskişehir is now located.
First Floor
The first floor of the museum delves into important local industries such as agriculture, clothing, and Eskişehir as a hot spring resort destination.
Major local food companies ETİ and Erden are profiled as well. ETİ is famous all over Turkey for their cookies, crackers, and chocolates, while Erden once made chocolates and candies.
Further displays include information on the brick and roof tile production as well as terra cotta arts. The brick and roof tile industry developed in Turkey in the 1920s while terra cotta pottery and tiles have been produced since Phrygian times.
One section is dedicated to meerschaum arts. There’s an abundant supply of meerschaum, a soft white clay mineral, near Eskişehir. It’s mostly used to make tobacco pipes, and the Meerschaum Gallery at the Kurşunlu Complex is a great place to see more examples.
Second Floor
On the second floor, there’s an exhibit about Nasreddin Hoca, a 13th century Seljuk satirist from the nearby town of Sivrihisar. He was famous for his anecdotes and sense of humor and is depicted riding backwards on his donkey. A few of his anecdotes have been translated into English to accompany the exhibit.
Another exhibit is dedicated to banking in Eskişehir. An original teller station from Eskişehir Bank (Eskişehir Bankası) as well as a handful of counting machines, cash registers, typewriters, and other equipment are on display.
The final section of the second floor includes information on Ottoman coin production. Weights and measures feature in the exhibit.
Exit
At the exit, there’s a model of a Devrim. In 1961, Devrim was the first automobile designed and manufactured in Turkey. Only four cars and 10 engines were made, and only one of those cars survives to this day. It’s on display at the TÜLOMSAŞ Museum in Eskişehir.
Also at the exit is a model of a Karakurt, which was the first ever locomotive designed and manufactured in Turkey. It was made in 1961 and was in service for 15 years.
