| The “Long Night of the Museums” is a big event in Heidelberg and also in the nearby cities of Mannheim and Ludwigshafen. This event takes place once a year and on this particular night nearly 50 museums, studios and other cultural institutions like churches and monasteries are open to the public. There are also many concerts, performances and readings that take place around the city on this night.
Of course, this event was a great opportunity for the WLE students to gain insight into the cultural scene of the region. We started at 7 pm and met in front of the WLE office. It was wonderful to see how many people wanted to participate in the event: the whole main street was packed and so were busses and trains!
Our first stop was the ethnological museum in Heidelberg which is located very close to the WLE office. The exhibition about the original inhabitants of the Pacific Islands was of special interest to the students. Also the exhibitions about East Asia and India were fascinating. Furthermore we had the chance to see an Indian dance performance.
 |
 |
 |
| Rhiannon with a dugout canoe |
Rhiannon and one of the many artists who were performing during the Long Night of the Museums |
The Indian dance performance |
After the ethnological museum we went on to the “Studentenkarzer” the former students’ prison. As you can see in the pictures, the walls there are covered with graffiti, mostly signatures, caricatures or drawings showing the colours of the particular students’ fraternity. In the “Studentenkarzer” students were imprisoned from 1778 to 1914 for “peccadilloes”, which were misdemeanours such as duelling or disturbing the peace at night.
 |
 |
A room inside the Studentenkarzer
on the back board the banner of
a student's fraternity with the
colours green-white-red |
The second room of the
Studentenkarzer |
We then moved on to see the “Print Media Academy”, one of the most remarkable modern buildings in Heidelberg. The Academy was completed in March 2000 and already has become a local landmark.
In addition to the building's breath-taking architecture, an exhibition about print-art was the main attraction at the Academy.
 |
 |
 |
| The Print Media Academy in daylight |
Culture makes me thirsty! |
Inside the Print Media Academy |
After a short break at McDonalds we decided to visit the many attractions in Mannheim.
First we visited what is called the “Museumship”. Inside this ship we viewed exhibitions about naval history on the Neckar and Rhine Rivers.
 |
 |
| The exterior of the Museumship |
Rhiannon socialising with a diver |
The Mosque in Mannheim was our last stop. Due to the many Muslims living in Mannheim the mosque was built in 1995 and is the biggest mosque in Germany. For all of us, it was the first time to enter a mosque, but luckily we were able to participate in a guided tour. We were all fascinated by the oriental atmosphere of the place and rather felt like we were in Baghdad not in Mannheim.
 |
 |
 |
Our guide explaining the mosque. On the guide's right side the Mihrab a niche in the wall that indicates the
direction of Mekka, can be seen |
This is the so-called Minba, a pulpit where the Imam (leader of prayer) stands and deliver sermons |
Visitors sitting on the carpet (without shoes) listening to the guide |
Finally, we arrived exhausted at 2 a.m. in Heidelberg. It was a long night but everyone was happy that they had the chance to attend such an interesting event. On the way back home we discussed the question of which event was the best, but it was impossible to find an answer because we enjoyed all of the events so much.
We read in the newspapers the next day that more than 35 000 people had attended the “Long Night of the Museums”.
|
2006 Summer
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)