La gru galleggiante Langer Heinrich dal 1915 ad oggi. Storia, tecnologia e conservazione, edited by G. ROSATO, Erga, 2008, pages 112, € 19,00 Review by Fabrizio Trisoglio

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This publication accounts the history and the restoration of the floating crane Langer Heinrich, built in 1915 in Bremerhaven on behalf of the German Navy. Arrived after many vicissitudes in Genoa in 1990, the crane was declared on 23rd October 2003 of «artistic and historical interest» by the Liguria Superintendence Office and then it was restored. The maintenance and the preservation of the formal, technological and functional characteristics of the floating crane was the focal point of all the operation. Langer Heinrich, a real ship, according to the wish of the property (private) and of the Superintendence Office should keep being a “lively” asset, not a museum piece, able to function as it functioned when it was built. One of its kind, “Langer Heinrich” is, at present, not only the symbol of a technological development, but also the testimony of an excellent preservation and valorization method.