Mining and metallurgy, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering were the strong pillars of industry when the museum was founded at the start of the 20th century.

The large objects of these groups, such as the hydroelectric generation set of the Ruetz Power Station in Tyrol, as well as the demonstration mine, still leave their mark on the profile of the historical collections from the second half of the 19th century. A new focus of the work of the collections is renewable energy.