Welcome to the realm of knowledge in the Baroque era: Stepping onto creaking floorboards into the quiet grandeur of our historical library hall, one is immediately enveloped by the collective knowledge of the Early Modern period. Like stage sets in a Baroque theater, the original bookshelves jut into the space, housing around 50,000 books from all fields of knowledge. Behind unassuming book spines lie remarkable treasures, such as the first German Bible printed in America.

At the end of the 17th century, the orphanage's library was established as one of the first public libraries in Germany. Primarily through donations, book exchanges, and their own publications, the library grew so rapidly that within a few years, it was comparable to significant German university libraries. In 1728, it received its own building, which is considered the oldest surviving secular library structure in Germany. Not only in recent times has the library been visited by guests and researchers from around the world: Albrecht von Haller, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe all admired its bibliophilic treasures. We present a selection of them for you in rotating cabinet exhibitions in the former reading room of the library.

10 am - 5 pm

Flic Flac, Germany's leading organizer of acrobatics and action, will perform in Dresden for the first time next year after the great success in Erfurt and plans to become a long-term part of the city's cultural life.

Flic Flac will set up its tents on the festival meadow Rinne in Ostragehege in Dresden. From June 19 to July 13, 2025, the breathtaking shows will take place! Visitors can look forward to a modern and air-conditioned tent landscape, impressive light and sound effects, and international artists.

Flic Flac has been thrilling audiences across Germany for over 32 years with its shows. From the very beginning, the company has refrained from using animals. The show is a unique blend of artistic performances, breathtaking stunts, comedy, and a captivating atmosphere that transports the audience into a world full of magic and excitement.

The event has been canceled and will be reversed.

Three weeks after their liberation from the death march, on May 27, 1945, eight musicians gave a concert on the lawn in front of the Jewish DP Hospital St. Ottilien. Like their 400 listeners, they were scarred by years of humiliation and the struggle for survival in ghettos and concentration camps. They called their performance "Liberation Concert."

More and more musicians joined the Jewish DP Orchestra. Its members decided to move from DP camp to DP camp to give hundreds of concerts to tens of thousands of listeners, meant to instill courage and hope for a better future as free individuals.

On May 10, 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed, the musicians scattered all over the world, taking their story and stories with them. Journalist Karla Schönebeck describes for the first time the path of suffering and life of this extraordinary orchestra.

Karla Schönebeck is a freelance journalist who has been engaged for years in conveying German contemporary history to young people. She is on the board of the Förderverein Liberation Concerts and has built a broad network with the descendants of the musicians internationally. Copyright Author: Christian Rudnik

Palace-like, the orphanage rises on Franckeplatz. Then as now, it is the centerpiece of the Francke Foundations. Erected in 1698 as the first building of the school city, it represents a new facet of European Baroque, combining confident representation without extravagant ornamentation and setting the tone for orphanage architecture.

Today, the orphanage is our museum and cultural center. Right from the start, two permanent exhibitions guide you through the history of the foundation and the global impact of Pietism. On the first floor, the former prayer and singing hall surprises with its bright architecture. Today, it enjoys an excellent reputation as a concert hall due to its fantastic acoustics. In the adjacent conference rooms, a photo exhibition showcases the impressive renovation work since the foundations were reestablished in 1991. The second floor is reserved for our changing special exhibitions, which provide insight into important themes of the foundation's history from both a historical and contemporary perspective. Passing through the art and natural history collections in the attic, you reach the balcony via a narrow wooden staircase. Here, a wide view opens up over the impressive ensemble with school buildings from three centuries. There is also a splendid panorama of the Old Town of Halle from here. In the basement, children can explore their own paths in the Krokoseum.

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

What power does the word have? For Halleschen Pietismus, the word was of central importance. On the ground floor of the Historical Orphanage, we show you how August Hermann Francke's reform movement could spread around the world.

Francke developed central reformative goals of Martin Luther's with Halleschen Pietismus. His approach was as clear as it was revolutionary: Every person should find God through their own Bible reading. However, for this to happen, everyone - boys and girls alike - had to learn to read, everyone should be able to afford their own Bible and it should be printed in their own native language. Therefore, Francke established schools for all social classes, printed millions of German-language People's Bibles, and created an international network through which the Bible was translated into many other languages. His educational initiative allowed a broad population to engage with the word. In the 18th-century evangelical parsonages, the authors of the Romantic and Enlightenment periods were highly regarded. A culture of self-reflection spread in Pietism, which was reflected in diaries and personal testimonies, giving us remarkable insights into the spiritual life of people of that time. Symbolically, the power of the word is also evident in the meticulously restored pulpit from the Church of St. Ulrich in Halle, where Francke preached from 1715 and which you can admire in the exhibition.

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Ethno-Pop-Rock aus der Hand der Sängerin mit schwedisch-ungarischen Wurzeln.

Die mehrfach ausgezeichnete Singer-Songwriterin Omnitah (15-fache Preisträgerin des Deutschen Rock & Pop Preises) ist auf Deutschland-Tour und begeistert ihr Publikum mit Herz und Seele … denn wenn Musik eine Seele hat, dann kommt sie hier zum Ausdruck.

Omnitah, in Schweden geboren, aus einer ungarischen Musikerfamilie stammend, malt mit ihren Songs musikalische Kostbarkeiten auf die akustische Leinwand. Ihre klare, manchmal rauchige Stimme duelliert sich während eines Konzertes mit ihrer ebenso ausdrucksstarken Klavier- und Geigenvirtuosität, verbunden mit einfühlsamen Texten aus ihrer Feder. Gleichzeitig ist sie eine fesselnde Liveperformerin, die eine temperamentvolle und ebenso herzerwärmende Bühnenshow abliefert.

Omnitah wird von der Presse auch als „Zauberin der Musik“ beschrieben, die eine „außergewöhnliche Präsenz“ hat und Musik produziert, die „schmerzhaft schön“ ist.

Mit ihrer Vier-Oktaven-Stimme singt Omnitah auf englisch, deutsch, schwedisch sowie auf ungarisch über den Wald, die Natur und Vagabonden. Erzählerisch kombiniert, mit ihrer ganz persönlichen Lebensgeschichte, entführt sie die Zuhörer:innen in eine mystisch-magische Welt. Ein Erlebnis, das gleichermaßen ergreift wie berührt.

Omnitah: Gesang, Klavier, Geige, Flöte


FOTOCREDIT: Inge Böhm
Genre: Ethno-Pop-Rock

Veranstaltungshinweise:
Die Veranstaltung findet open air statt, wird jedoch bei schlechtem Wetter nach drinnen verlegt.
Einlass ab 18:00 Uhr

Der Eintritt ist frei.
Die Künstler:innen freuen sich über eine Hutspende.
Die Türen öffnen sich um 18:00 Uhr. Dann beginnt der Einlass.

Um eine Reservierung wird gebeten.
Tischreservierungen können nur für den Zeitraum von 18.00 Uhr bis spätestens 18.30 Uhr angenommen werden.
Nicht wahrgenommene Reservierungen verfallen nach einer halben Stunde.

Info-Tel.: 07221 39 80 11

Einlass: 18.00 Uhr

Die Veranstaltung findet Open-Air statt, wird jedoch bei schlechtem Wetter nach innen verlegt.

Gourmet Tour of the Gießen Farmers' Market
With this city tour, you will experience the Gießen farmers' market between the market stalls and at the Brandplatz square.
You can look forward to a variety of impressions of a lively market scene.
Learn interesting facts about the diverse range of fresh products from the region and around the world, as well as about the significance of the market for the residents of Gießen and visitors from near and far.

This event is sold out

Why did people follow the lies and hate of the NSDAP? Would that be conceivable today? The class starts an experiment: They seek connection through strength, discipline, and community. They become "the wave" - and soon the wave is unstoppable. A new interpretation of the classic by Morton Rhue, more relevant than ever.

The cast includes: Luise Gröschel, Cosma Kuklinsky, River Mundt, Hannah Rieder, Emely Scharf, Sal Schikaneder
Directed by: Danilo Fioriti
Written by: Jochen Strauch
Published by: Rowohlt Theater Verlag

Registration: danilo.fioriti@gmail.com

Playing, laughing, being loud, romping, doing nothing – and that in an exhibition house! From September 4, 2024, BAUBAU invites exactly that. In the play space for children designed by artist Kerstin Brätsch, more is allowed than forbidden. Colorful wallpapers, structures, objects, and a range of “Loose Parts” form spaces on the ground floor of the Gropius Bau that do not impose fixed guidelines but are determined by the activities of the children. They dictate the direction and form of what happens here. Thus, this place becomes a space of possibilities that can change day by day.

BAUBAU will launch in September 2024 in a prototype version and will continue to develop and grow over the coming years both inside and outside the Gropius Bau – in close exchange with the children and their wishes, as this is their place.

The Play
All children have the urge to play. This is how they learn to understand themselves and the world. Especially open, self-determined play is of great significance for emotional and social development. The educational concept for BAUBAU is therefore based on the principles of free play: Here, there is time, space, and permission for children to follow their own needs and interests. They are accompanied by playworkers – trained staff who create a safe and supportive environment where children can play freely.

 
The Art
BAUBAU playfully questions what a museum or an art institution should be. The comprehensive spatial design developed by Kerstin Brätsch is full of references and inspirations: elements from her previous works, such as marbling, paintings, or stucco marble work, reappear here in altered forms and materialities. The wallpapers, curtains, fabrics, seating furniture, and climbing structures are inhabited by dinosaurs, fantastical beings, termite mounds, and abstract elements. With their strange, funny, and perhaps a bit eerie shapes, they create an open framework for free play.

Kerstin Brätsch's practice is designed to allow and incorporate influences from outside. While she has previously collaborated with artists or artisans, she now does so in a completely different way with children: She invites the children to reshape and further develop the space according to their own ideas and visions, without the influence of the artist in unpredictable ways.

Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri 12:00–18:00
Sat, Sun 11:00–18:00
Tue closed

20 years after the artist, author, and performer Vaginal Davis moved from Los Angeles to Berlin, the Gropius Bau presents the first comprehensive solo exhibition of her work in Germany. In her groundbreaking creation, punk and glamour, queer activism and Black counterculture, as well as resistance and desire, intertwine. Vaginal Davis: Fabelhaftes Produkt unites large-scale installations, paintings, video and film works, zines, texts, music, and performance, offering a comprehensive overview of Davis' multifaceted practice and her artistic collaborations. As part of the exhibition, the art collective CHEAP presents the installation Choose Mutation with photographs by Annette Frick. Fabelhaftes Produkt invites you into the universe of Vaginal Davis, populated by literary heroines, mythical figures, and real icons.
Initiated by the Moderna Museet, Stockholm, in collaboration with the Gropius Bau, Berlin, and MoMA PS1, New York
 
 
 
 

Simon Wasner reads from his latest book.

Admission: 19:10

The rose is a fascinating flower. Not only is it an ornament for any garden and wonderfully fragrant – no, it has also influenced wide parts of life with its symbolic power, such as love, politics, art, mythology, religion, and much more. Furthermore, rose oil and rose water are used in the cosmetics and food industries, and 42 percent of all cut flowers sold are roses, with cultivation in non-European countries and trade being problematic.

As particularly beautiful flowering plants and an indispensable part of the ecosystem, roses can also raise awareness of the pressing issues of the present, such as biodiversity and conservation, and thus the climate problem. All of this is at the center of the exhibition on the cultural history of the rose, while of course the plant and its role in garden culture will not be overlooked.
Interesting objects from the fields of fashion, design, art, as well as everyday life, are meant to convey a sense of the allure that the rose has exerted and continues to exert – even with its dark side.

Scent stations promise an experience for the senses, and several interactive stations make the exhibition an experience for the whole family.

Sponsored by the MWK and the Lüneburg Landscape Association, the VR Foundation of the Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken in Northern Germany, Volksbank Celle, branch of the Hannoversche Volksbank, and the Museumsverein Celle e.V.

Tue - Sun 11 AM - 5 PM

We cook live and fresh in front of the audience - in the appealing atmosphere of the Fish Cooking Studio, we show how sea fish can be creatively and deliciously prepared. At the same time, you will learn all the important information about shopping as well as the tasteful presentation and decorating of the plates. The traditional Bremerhaven fish buffet completes the cooking show.

Admission approximately 30 minutes before the start

We all access the internet daily through web browsers. The question of how browsers determine what we experience online has fascinated artists early on. Based on a research project by the KIT Institute for Art and Architectural History on browser art, the exhibition »Choose Your Filter!« provides insights into 30 years of browser development. Here, you can discover and try out browser visions through interactive installations. 

Wed to Fri from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Sat and Sun 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM

With the exhibition of Peter Buggenhout, the Waldfrieden Sculpture Park in Wuppertal is launching its new exhibition season on March 8, 2025: The Belgian sculptor presents a total of seven spatially expansive objects from different groups of works in two of the exhibition halls and in the outdoor area of the park. Buggenhout is internationally known for his sculptures, which he forms from discarded materials and which take on shape in space as sprawling bodily forms. The artist refers to his sculptures as "abject things" – as objects that evade familiar cognitive connections and demand more than just a perspective of observation.

The sculptures of Peter Buggenhout, born in 1963 in Dendermonde, Belgium, and living and working in Ghent, consist of things that have been deprived of the use of their original functionality: Waste and artifacts equally form the materials that the artist uses as his working material and from which he composes his objects. Used plastic films, tarpaulins, textile fabrics, newspapers, scrap metal, wood fragments, or organic substances like cow stomachs, horse hair, and dust become components of his works. Buggenhout creates massive forms from these abandoned remnants, which embody the emergence and decay in the immediate presence of the material and its rugged shapes.

Peter Buggenhout, who turned away from painting around 1990 to transition to sculptural designs, has been working for several years in groups of works with different material focuses and overarching themes. The pre-existing, the cyclical, and the temporality of things are fundamental themes that he formulates as diverse sculptural inventories in his groups of works.

His sculptures possess no single view direction; the multi-facetedness of his works is as essential as the significance of the equivalence and simultaneity of their elements. The discarded is always an important part of the foundation of his creation.

Peter Buggenhout about his work:
“The materials I use all have one thing in common: I did not choose them because I liked their shape or appearance. All objects that I find have in common that they do not really refer to a meaning in terms of their formal identity. For example, instead of an old chair, I might use a piece from the chair in such a way that it’s not noticeable what kind of object it was before. This is the quality of waste, so to speak. Dust also possesses this quality. All my working materials are 'abject,' that is, discarded or disgusting… taken from their original state, have lost their form and meaning.”

11 AM - 6 PM, open on all holidays

The representation of the seasons is a centuries-old image for continuity and change. The changes in nature and weather, as well as in customs in the recurring yearly cycle, have always been interpreted as symbols for the fate of humanity and its time. Meanwhile, the seasons themselves are undergoing a change. With climatic changes, many of the traditional motifs are losing their coherence. However, as cultural-historical testimonies, they are becoming increasingly relevant.

Tuesday to Sunday, 10 AM - 5 PM

Objects AUS EINER ANDEREN WELT populate the first exhibition in 2025: Mysterious root beings by Anne Carnein, life-sized wolves by Irmela Maier, creatures from water and air by Angelika Brackrock, and bizarre fairy tale animals by Ingrid Butschek transport you to unknown spheres. Special guest is the Ukrainian artist Aljoscha. 

Tuesday to Sunday and on public holidays 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Ten Years of Meissen Porcelain Foundation
Exhibition at the Museum of the Meissen Porcelain Foundation, March 21, 2025 to February 22, 2026

Collecting fascinates. The Meissen Porcelain Foundation was founded at the end of 2014, and it began its work in 2015. It preserves the cultural heritage of Meissen porcelain. One of the foundation's tasks is the care of the historical collection of the Meissen porcelain manufactory.

Manufacturer founder Augustus the Strong referred to his passion for porcelain as “Maladie.” This literally means “disease,” but stands for his boundless longing for the precious white gold. This fascination is shared to this day by generations of collectors – and artists. Their porcelains showcase the invention, production, and collection of the white treasures. Porcelain craftsmen provide insight into their art. Happy collectors cherish their treasures. Artists play with the term porcelain and transform centuries-old tools into contemporary porcelain art.

The exhibition provides insight into the work of the foundation and showcases Meissen porcelains around the theme of collecting.

"Follow the Sun - Der Sommer meines Lebens" lautet Helmut Zierl´s autobiographischen Buch, in dem er sich an einen spannenden und erlebnisreichen Flower-Power-Sommer in seiner Jugend erinnert. Erst hat ihn die Schule rausgeschmissen, dann sein Vater. Und er denkt sich: Einfach weg, der Sonne entgegen, mit 200 Mark in der Tasche den Sinn des Lebens suchen. Was folgt, sind drei Monate Glück, Angst, Abenteuer und geballte Lebenserfahrung.

Helmut Zierl‘s Bühnensolo nimmt das Publikum mit auf eine wilde Reise in die 70er. Ein humorvoller, witziger, aber auch nachdenklicher Abend, der die Zuschauer wie ein packendes Roadmovie zu den verrücktesten Schauplätzen und Menschen führt: hautnah und spannend.

Bewirtung ab 18:30 Uhr

Diese Veranstaltung ist ausverkauft!

The stories from "Damals in Mäkelbörg" continue!
The second, long-awaited volume by author Horst Mauck is finally here.
Sharp-witted and full of humor, he depicts rural life at the end of World War II and in the post-war years in Mecklenburg.
He never loses sight of the lovable and special aspects of the people he encounters.

Horst Mauck, born in 1943, grew up with two siblings in a small village on the edge of the Mecklenburg Switzerland. The book is not an autobiography, but “...everything that is written in it actually happened. All the people and places are real. I admit to some minor deviations.”

The book was published in 2025 by Alte Jeetzel-Buchandlung und Verlag GmbH müritz.buch.
The evening takes place in the series LESEZEICHEN! and is organized by the House of Guests and the müritz.buch bookstore.

Admission is free.

Admission is free. We look forward to seeing you!