Phenomenon Universe

Utopia and reality

Starting Sunday, May 26, 2019, you can reach for the stars at Neuenbürg Castle. At 11 a.m., the exhibition organizers will open the new show "The Phenomenon of the Universe: Utopia and Reality" in the Prince's Hall. A curator-led tour will begin at 13 p.m., and until 18 p.m., visitors of all ages can build robots from Lego bricks, then program and control them in the Lego Robotics: Mission Mars workshop, led by Achim Schroth (Pforzheim City Library).

Who hasn't heard of the man in the moon? Numerous stories surround his existence. Intelligent beings are said to live beyond the moon, but do these organisms really exist? And do the pyramids in Egypt provide answers?
Even early cultures—as evidenced by the famous Nebra Sky Disk—were fascinated by the universe. The constellations were recorded by the Greeks and Egyptians, and with the invention of the telescope in the 17th century, the Italian Galileo Galilei made his groundbreaking astronomical observations.

Since the moon landing in 1969, the stars have become much more tangible. Today, we're bringing them virtually into your living room and into our special exhibition. One of the highlights is VR headsets that allow visitors to slip into the role of an astronaut and experience a rocket launch, fly into space, and even land on the moon!

The scientific exploration of space, on the one hand, and the unbroken longing for the immeasurable cosmos, on the other, form the thematic focus of the exhibition. Valuable loans from the Technomuseum Mannheim and the Reiß-Engelhornmuseum Mannheim, the Kepler Archive Weil der Stadt, and private collections are on display.

The exhibition aims to trace the origins of our longing, providing insights into scientific phenomena and findings, and also includes science fiction in literature, film, and comics. Whether The Little Prince, The Sandman, or Tintin, they have all traveled into space.
A large Lego space station with vehicles from 1973, a black box to explore, a planetarium, as well as film and interactive media and play stations bring the sky even closer to visitors of Neuenbürg Castle, both young and old, 50 years after the first moon landing.

The exhibition is complemented by an extensive accompanying program with concert events such as “Flying on the Moon” with Matthias Hautsch on the occasion of the first moon landing, demonstrations in the planetarium, exciting lectures including those with Prof. Keller, the founder of the Stuttgart Carl Zeiss Planetarium, numerous workshops, and more.



exhibition duration

26.05.2020 – 06.01.2020



Opening hours

Wed – Sat: 13-18 pm
Sun + holidays: 10am-18pm

Admission

4 €, reduced 3 €
Family ticket 12 €