Project development
The Project Development and Press and Public Relations department designs and implements projects that serve to communicate historical, archaeological or art-historical facts.
The challenge is to present the results of over 100 years of archaeological excavations and the historical and art-historical knowledge about the Imperial Palace in an exciting and appealing way for a wide audience: Didactic concepts are newly developed and realised, research and investigation results are published and related to different target groups in various ways. This includes websites, social media concepts, cabinet exhibitions as well as virtual and real presentations indoors and outdoors.
Such projects have a fundamentally important function in communicating specialised knowledge. They are a key to public participation in research and an interface between specialist audiences and monument visitors from all over Germany. They also play a key role in determining how the research centre is perceived by the scientific community and the non-scientific public.
Project development also includes press and public relations work, which is a prerequisite for public awareness and transparency of Ingelheim research. The research centre has also been represented on Facebook for a good two years. The approximately 1000 followers include many private individuals interested in archaeology and history as well as institutions such as the General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate, restorers, publishers and tourism organisations.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Historic cultural mile
For years, visitors travelling by public transport, especially those from outside the city, have reported that they have difficulty finding the Kaiserpfalz from the train station. At the same time, there are several important infrastructural points on the way from the station to the Kaiserpfalz archaeological zone that are also of interest to visitors:
– the New Centre with various shopping facilities
– the wine cellar and the vinotheque with the tourist information centre
– the Remigius Church with presentation area
– the museum at the Kaiserpfalz
The latter three places are all located along a route that has existed since Roman times and led from Mainz via Ingelheim to Bingen. This gave rise to the idea of turning this axis into a Historical Cultural Mile and connecting the above-mentioned waypoints with an intuitive route and marking the route in a special way.
The aim was to increase the touristic attractiveness of the route, to create a connection and link that does not require additional signage and incorporates the existing signage (city guidance system, historical circular route). The design of the route should also invite people to leave their cars at home and move between the points on foot or by public transport. In this way, synergies can be created between information points, historical sights, catering and other offers.
Together with Ingelheim Kultur- und Marketing GmbH, we have developed an idea to install bronze floor markings at regular intervals (within sight, approx. every 50 metres) on the route between the railway station and the Kaiserpfalz archaeological zone. These can be easily anchored in the pavement and already point the way to the historic centre or places of interest in a number of cities in France and Germany. They are intuitive and easy to install, avoiding a forest of signs.
The signposting should work in both directions. The start and end points are located at the railway station and the Kaiserpfalz car park and are marked by information boards. A folding map with information about the route will be provided at the route stations. There will also be digital route guidance for mobile devices using a web app and QR codes. This provides additional orientation, whereby the waypoints can be selected by category using a filter function. This will provide visitors with a holistic offer from which the facilities along the route can also benefit.
The project is a joint project between the research centre at the Kaiserpfalz and IKuM – Ingelheimer Kultur- und Marketing GmbH and has been coordinated with the town’s marketing department.
COMPLETED PROJECTS
Cooperation with 'Mitmach-Ausstellung' MiMa e.V. Ingelheim
In 2024, the Kaiserpfalz Research Centre was a cooperation partner of the Mitmachausstellung e.V. with the theme ‘Abfall – Glücklicher Zufall’. It took place from 26 June to 27 October in the Alte Markthalle and marked the 20th anniversary of MiMa. The content was about sustainability, waste avoidance and recycling and about sensitising children to these topics in a playful way. It was also important to the organising team of the hands-on exhibition to build a bridge to Ingelheim archaeology, which is why a cooperation with the research centre was established.
The archaeological part of the 2024 hands-on exhibition explored the question of how waste was dealt with in earlier times, what concrete evidence can be found in Ingelheim’s finds on the subject of recycling, reuse and repair, what evidence there is for the reuse of building materials in the Imperial Palace and how long various materials actually survive in the ground.
The research centre took part in the hands-on exhibition with various exhibits: in addition to a large-format excavation picture printed on a play mat, reconstructions of a marble floor were on display. Above all, however, real finds from the imperial palace and the early medieval burial ground on Rotweinstraße could be marvelled at in two display cases.
In addition, a digital treasure hunt was designed together with the research centre and in cooperation with the Kaiserpfalz museum, inviting visitors to leave the MiMa and enter the Kaiserpfalz archaeological zone. Visitors could go on their own discovery tour and find out where in the Kaiserpfalz monument and the museum exhibits they could find evidence of the reuse of ancient building materials. The treasure hunt is still online and can be accessed using the QR code below.
Left: Digital scavenger hunt through the Imperial Palace. Photo: Stefanie Firyn. Right: QR code for the treasure hunt (Actionbound app required)
The cooperation between MiMa and the research centre will continue this year. The theme of the interactive exhibition will be ‘Tell me about death – an exhibition about the before and after’. From 27 June to 26 October 2025, various death customs and traditions from all over the world and through the ages will be presented ‘for a lively expedition into the afterlife. Daycare and primary school children, teens, fathers, mothers, grandmothers and grandfathers … come together here and learn that age, time, life and death are inextricably linked.’ (Quote www.mima-ingelheim.de). As early historical forms of burial are also addressed and burial situations and grave goods are to be shown, the research centre can once again provide perfect support as a cooperation partner.
The Carolingian aqueduct: presentation of a unique structure
In its first construction phase (8th century), the imperial palace of Ingelheim had a water pipeline that channelled high-quality drinking water from the ‘Karlsquelle’ spring near Heidesheim to Charlemagne’s palace. This was done via a 6.8 kilometre-long canal, most of which ran underground. The brick structure was covered with a vault and formed a 40 cm wide channel on the inside, which was sealed with a special waterproof mortar (opus signinum). The construction was modelled on Roman water pipes. It was repeatedly encountered during excavations and ground openings along the route and in the Kaiserpfalz archaeological zone.
In May 2004, during construction work in Wackernheim (An der Bachwiese), a section of this Carolingian long-distance water pipe several metres long was uncovered by the Mainz State Archaeology Department (now the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage – Directorate of State Archaeology). It was recovered in two parts in October of the same year. One part was handed over to the town of Ingelheim, the other to the municipality of Wackernheim.
The Ingelheim section had already been restored in 2010, but there was no suitable place to display it, which is why it was stored in the building yard. The other part was also stored unrestored in the building yard until 2022.
After the merger of Wackernheim and Heidesheim to form the town of Ingelheim, the idea was born for a project that would emphasise the archaeological and historical ties between the two districts. Both sections of the water pipeline were to be made accessible to the public.
The already restored section of the water pipe was placed in front of the Winzerkeller, where it serves as an eye-catcher and signpost to the Kaiserpfalz archaeological zone.
The other section was restored in 2023, placed on a concrete foundation and transported to Wackernheim by the Ingelheim building yard. There it was placed on a municipal green space near the original discovery site and integrated into a newly created presentation area with seating and information boards. As the vault had been missing since it was uncovered, it was replaced by a reconstruction made of Corten steel, which also serves as a roof.
In addition to the information boards at the installation site itself, there are further boards at important points along the course of the former long-distance water pipeline, for example at the protective structure on Heideheimer Weg. There, the water pipeline can be viewed in its original position. Information boards have also been erected at the source of the pipeline at the Sandmühle in Heidesheim and at a viewing point on the outskirts of Wackernheim.
Digital reconstructions and 360° tours
The Kaiserpfalz Research Centre has been active in the field of digital reconstructions for over 20 years, making it one of the pioneers. The research centre was invited to the international trade fair for museums EXPONATEC in 2021 to report on its digital offerings. The good reputation also leads to regular invitations to participate in archaeological-historical projects of other institutions at state and federal level such as (Sharing heritage, Bewegte Zeiten).
Another example from the area of project development is the conception of hologram showcases, which use the latest technology to achieve a particularly impressive vividness. Other institutions are now also drawing on the research centre’s experience in this area. In 2020, for example, a presentation with a hologram showcase was realised at Trifels Castle, a property of the Department of Castles, Palaces and Antiquities of the Rhineland-Palatinate Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (GDKE). In order to make exhibitions permanently available, the research centre has already been working with virtual 360° tours for several years. This makes it possible to create location-independent presentations that can be accessed online long after an exhibition has closed. One example of this is the exhibition The Charismatic Place, which was on show in Ingelheim in 2019.