‘There is a basic quality which links the weighing machine of the past with the present; the force of its symbol as an image of incorruptible justice. Artists of all ages have used the image of a set of scales to denote a more just world. Scales appear in the myths and legends of all peoples and of all ages. Some 50 years ago, Professor Wilhelm Kraut, one of the major produ-cers of scales, felt the need to render public the history of weight mea-surement. His son, Senator Wilhelm Kraut, transferred the collection, which up to that point was private, to the city of Balingen, as a perma-nent loan. To wander around this singular collection of scales, weighing machines and systems of weight measurement is like taking a stroll through the history of an instrument which is reputed to be one of the most ancient of human culture. In fact, for some 10,000 years, scales have been a traditional and authentic symbol of justice, an instrument in the struggle against fraud, the need for which is created by scales themselves. The exhibition proposed by the Meeting presents some 90 of the 400 objects on display at Balingen, chosen to demonstrate the technical and aesthetic evolution of weighing systems over the centuries.’