Last year I have been to the exhibition at the Gasometer in Oberhausen. Seems to me and my wife that ‘gasometer’ is a British word which is used for large gas holders or gas tanks. The Gasometer in Oberhausen is no longer used as a gas tank but as an exhibition hall. Starting in 2009 the exhibition runs through this year – the year of the Ruhr being the Cultural Capital of Europe – the exhibition will end on December 30th.
At the desk inside the gasometer, there is a big poster advertising the audio guides. It is also available in English language. That’s the message for today.
The exhibition is really good. The large model of the moon installed inside is very impressive. The explainations next to the objects are good and as far as we remember some are in English as well. “Out of this World – Wonders of the Solar System” is worth a visit. A good suggestion for the next visit of my in-laws.
Anno Domini 9 the the Varus Battle tor Battle of the Teutoburg Forest took place somewhere in the forest of the old Germans. The old Germans were a group of tribes living in an area namend Germania by the old Romans. At the climax of its power and culture the Roman empire tried to turn Germania into a new province. The Romans set up a fort in what is nowadys the town’ Haltern am See’ and so on. But suddenly the old German tribes show resistance. They ambushed the Romans and killed three of their legions.
“Varus, give me my legions back!” Emperor Augustus is said to have cried out, when the news reached him that more than 15.000 Roman soldiers had been lured into an ambush by Germanic tribesmen and had suffered a crushing defeat.
The Emperor and the whole of Rome were shocked. The superpower Rome had lost three of its best legions and had suffered one of the greatest defeats of its history. The plans to set up a province east of the Rhine had been foiled.
(from: Imperium Myth Conflict, webpage of the exhibitions)
Why should people who want to learn about (nowadays) German culture visit the exhibition? Expecially Lemgo is important for understandig German history of the last two hundred years or more. The story of Hermann was used for nation buildung – and misued. Political usage of the story starts after the middle ages. The “general” how defeated the Romans was an old German. Only his latin name is know – Arminus. The German name Hermann was given to him by protestant reformer Martin Luther.
The Roman Museum in Haltern, the Museum in Detmold where the Herman Monument resides and in Kalkries where the battlefield might have been cooperated in a series of three exhibitions titeld Imperium – Myth – Conflict.
Recently, I went to Lemgo an saw ‘Myth’. It was very impressive and interesting. Well, I am political scientist and therefore it was interesting to see how the Hermann-story was used through the centuries by political acteurs. I noticed that the exhibition has English language audio guides.
Today, we went to Haltern am See to see the part of the exhibition “Imperium” in the Roman Museum. This is a permanent institution. Additionally, there is an exhibition set up in the town hall (lake hall) that treats the Roman Empire. The Roman Museum focusses transport and logistics of the Roman legions and the remains found by archaeologists.
Anyway, you can visit the exhibitions as an English language activity. Just ask for the English language audio guide. In Haltern am See they offere machines from Tonwelt.com where you enter number which are close to the objects of the exhibition. Calculate two hours for the museum in Lemgo, an hour for the part of the exhibition in the Roman Museum.
Haltern am See is situated in the north of the Metropolis Ruhr, Lemgo is two hours drive – train or car – to the East and Kalkriese is north of Metropolis Ruhr in Lower Saxony.
At least “European Capital of Culture” indicates that the city granted the title offers a lot of English language activities. Pam and I just have been to Linz, European Capital of Culture 2009. In my opinion Linz’09 seems to focus three things: sound, light and electronics.
Some of the offers of Linz don’t need language at all, e.g. the daily organ concerts at different churches. For a lot of the museums, there are offers of weekly English public guided tours. We went to the ‘Landesgalerie Linz’. The nice thing was that the guided tour just was for the two of us. We were told that this is not always the case. But I also heard about Austrian groups booking English tours. We also had an English language tour through the Ars Electronica Center. It could only cover party of it. Therefore, we returned. To get an idea of the Ars Electronica Museum, you may want to watch the following video.
You don’t need a guided tour through the Ars Electronica Center. All installations and descriptions are bilingual – in German and English. When I recall what the highlights of European Capital of Culture Ruhr.2010 will be, I am sure that they will be bilingual, too. Just have a look at the route of industrial heritage: the signs are all bilingual. I hope there will be more. I am sure there will be.
Ruhr.2010 will bring a lot of English language offer to our Region – the metropolis Ruhr. European Capital of Culture are always a good place to expect English language offers.
We also watched a show – “Clownerie” – which contained music but no language.
Since the 1980s the Ruhr Regional Asssociation and its predecessors publish condensed information about the Ruhr Area. ‘Facts and figures’ is the title of a frequently updated report that focusses different aspects of the region, e.g. landscape and nature. ‘Facts and figures’ is the English translation of “Daten und Fakten” and is available via the RVR shop for free. It contains 121 pages and color pictures. It’s gives a good introduction about Ruhr and I know about people who used it while visiting foreign countries to explain where they live.
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