From Idea to Realisation – Interview with Hans Hagemeister

2. Oktober 2024

With the exhibition “Dive into the Picture! Time Travel for Kids” the Deutsches Historisches Museum is showing an inclusively designed exhibition primarily for children of grade school age. It is based on the Picture of the Month “January – February – March”, which belongs to the famous seasonal cycle of the so-called “Augsburg Pictures of the Months” from the 16^th century, one of the most important artworks in the DHM collections. Here the world of 500 years ago unfolds before us as if we were entering a 3-D walk-in backdrop. The people portrayed in the painting emerge into the exhibition room as historical figures who tell their stories and invite the young guests to explore and experience the world of the 16^th century.

In our interview series we speak with the people and teams that have made this exhibition possible through their ideas and expertise. In this interview, the exhibition designer Hans Hagemeister talks about the design concept and its realisation.

„ln the “games” area we cite the square pattern of a chess board, which is reflected in the floor and the design of the exhibition elements. In this way we expand the painting into the room.“
Hans Hagemeister, exhibition designer at DHM

What had to be taken into account in designing the children’s exhibition? How did this kind of exhibition differ from previous DHM exhibitions?

The exhibition is supposed to be appealing and inviting above all for children and to give them an easy access to the topics treated in the exhibition. That’s why alongside some original objects there are many hands-on stations where the visitors can deal with the historical questions and their relation to today’s world in a sensory and playful way. These include, for example, puzzles, dice games, games of skill, and matching games.
Since many children have not yet learned to read, or have trouble reading, the hands-on stations have to be largely self-explanatory so that they function without the use of wall texts.

What basic principle do you follow in your design concept? What is the central theme?

The title of the exhibition “Dive into the Picture!” is its programme. Diving into the picture was also the basic idea for the design.

We placed the “Picture of the Month” at the centre of the exhibition. Several thematic areas are located around the painting. For each of these themes there is a design that cites a scene in the painting and refers to the respective topic. For example, there is a blue-green room with semi-circular windows and a large table, also taken from the painting, as well as a loggia that lines the marketplace. In the “games” area we cite the square pattern of a chess board, which is reflected in the floor and the design of the exhibition elements. In this way we expand the painting into the room. The whole exhibition becomes an enlarged picture room through which we can stroll.

What is your favourite area in the exhibition? What was most challenging in realising it?

The young visitors are particularly taken by a game based on the jousting scene in the painting. The kids can try to hit a moving target with a lance. They have to sit on a rocking stool as if riding on a horse, and it takes lot of skill to hit the target.

The greatest challenge in implementing our ideas was with the marble run. The marbles we use had to have a certain size so that the small children would not swallow them. Correspondingly, we had to use a relatively thick tube which we only managed to wrap around one of the few supports available in the room after several attempts and with the aid of special devices. At first it functioned all right. But with time the wound-up tube began to lose its shape. It has become flatter so that the marbles get stuck…
But for this problem we once again have creative experts in the museum: the marbles are rolling again!

Hans Hagemeister Hans Hagemeister is exhibition designer at Deutsches Historisches Museum.