During the XIX century, the collections of models and instruments played a relevant role in engineering education. They made it possible to know and to standardize -according to John V. Pickstone (2000)- the structure and running of machines and installations as a complement to textbooks and atlases.

The Barcelona Higher School of Industrial Engineering was created in 1851 following a decree of the Spanish government establishing a new branch of engineering centred on the industrial world. The scarcity of Spanish industrial development led to the general crisis of the schools system set up in 1851, except for the school at Barcelona which has been running without any interruption since its creation.

In 1851 the School at Barcelona received the collections from the previous centres of technical education existing in the city. In its first “Reglamento” (1852), the collections were already called a “Museum” and were presented as an essential tool for technical education. In the following years, the Museum was enlarged with mineral and industrial products “representing” the wealth of Catalonia and Spain. In 1868, two Museums were formally considered, one including these products and the other including the models and artefacts for demonstration. The School managed to maintain its museums with a relevant function for training until the XX century, when other ways of demonstrative training were introduced.

In this paper, we provide a reconstruction of the history of the collections of the industrial engineering education in Barcelona in the XIX century. We have recently undertaken research work for documenting the history of the school through its archives, and an inventory of the existing collection. Higher Engineering education was based on theoretical lessons, practices in cabinet of models or in industries, on laboratory work, on technical and artistic drawing, and on preparation of projects. In several parts of this scheme, the collection of models, machines, and products provides us with a relevant source for this study.