The exhibition, which opened at Bochum’s German Mining Museum on November 27, 2003, focused on the development of metalwork and mining, the grandeur of Iranian art, and Iran’s influence on world civilization, the curator of the National Museum of Iran said on Friday.

“The items included relics dating back from the fifth millennium BC to the early Islamic era. The relics were donated by the National Museum of Iran, the Reza Abbasi Museum, and several other museums in the cities of Kerman, Kashan, Qom, Kermanshah, as well as Iran’s Geology Organization and the University of Tehran’s Archaeology Institute,” Mohammadreza Kargar added.

Kargar stated that the relics will be transferred to the National Museum and returned to the museums that loaned them out.

Bochum is home to industrial establishments including steelworks, foundries, and plants manufacturing chemicals, heavy machinery, railroad equipment, and textiles. Chartered in the early 14th century, the city became an important coal-mining and steel-producing center in the 19th century.