Info

For optimal working conditions, groups of 15 children would be desirable. For larger groups, a second guided tour should therefore be considered.

Costs for material

Since the materials for the workshops are provided by the museum, a surcharge is levied per pupil according to the material costs.

Tour fee

45€

Pirates

This guided tour with workshop is especially aimed at primary schools.

Together, pirate hats and eye patches are made, with which the group then sets off on a discovery tour through the museum. They learn curiosities and interesting facts about the history of piracy and the bones and skulls found on coffins and gravestones everywhere. Historical memento mori objects often have skeletal decorations or skulls to commemorate mortality and an appropriate life. The Mexican funeral feast also commemorates the deceased with numerous colourful death masks. But: Pirates are not buried everywhere where skulls and bones cross. During the tour the children playfully receive a "buccaneer's letter", for which they first have to learn what skeleton, hourglass or bow and arrow meant in buccaneering and how people were buried at sea. After all, not all teachers certainly know that bows and arrows are supposed to symbolize sudden death. The tour through the museum thus becomes a discovery tour during which surprising meanings turn the exhibits into exciting stories.

Ghosts

The guided tour with workshop is aimed in particular at primary schools.

People all over the world believe that the soul wanders into the afterlife after death. Some call this other world "heaven", some "underworld" or "shadow kingdom" and others "the eternal hunting grounds". But what happens to the souls that don't make it there? Those – so some fear – may come back as spirits. On a tour of the museum, the pupils learn how some people imagine spirits of the dead, what magic power was attributed to their possessions and how they tried to render the frightened creatures harmless. For example, the representation of the ghost as a white sheet comes from the fact that the deceased wore wide white shrouds at the funeral, which can also be viewed in the museum. Also many other objects in the collection once belonged to persons who have now died, but of whom nobody has to be afraid. During the guided tour, the children playfully receive a "ghost hunter certificate" that brings a little light into the imprecise fear of death.

The artists' necropolis lies on the edge of Kassel, in the Habichtswald forest, surrounded by hills, gorges and ditches. In the early 1980s, the artist Harry Kramer had the idea of making it possible for selected artists to build their own graves there during their lifetime. Some of them already house the urns of their creators and some expect to surrender themselves and nature to their arrival. Pupils find a special situation in the artists' necropolis. The introduction to the themes of "death" and "remembrance", which are on the curriculum of religious and ethics lessons in many schools, is made easier, and the excursion offers the opportunity to organise outdoor lessons directly on the subject. Perhaps, however, individual artists will also be treated in art lessons, or the form of the landscape and natural grave itself will fit in well with the lessons. The focus of the hiking day is on the grave signs and we are happy to customise the aspect under which they are to be approached. Teachers can also take part in the advanced training for the necropolis in advance and thus provide the pupils with impulses and material for the planned hiking day.

Costs

Regulär: 120€
Wochenende: 150€

The main cemetery in the northern part of Kassel is an important testimony to the history of Kassel and probably one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the region.

So there are several reasons for an excursion with the school class: The subject of the lesson is moved directly to the places and objects that are discussed in the classroom, and the pupils can acquire their accesses and impressions themselves. From the 1840s to the present day, the cemetery has not only accompanied the history of the city of Kassel, but also two world wars and the fates of many citizens. Since the post-war years, for example, a military cemetery and a cemetery for foreigners have been part of the huge complex and bear impressive witness to contemporary events, values and norms. The many artistically and emotionally designed gravestones provide a very direct and personal approach to the themes of death and remembrance and to the history of the city.

Costs

Regular: 120€
Weekend: 150€

Children and death are still a taboo topic in society. This can be seen from the fact that there is little debate or research on this difficult topic.

Whether it is that a beloved pet dies or a valuable person leaves the child's environment or it comes into contact with dying through the media: When the time comes, it is important to be prepared for questions and fears as an adult.

We therefore offer project days on various aspects of saying goodbye in order to prepare parents and education officers for dealing with grieving children and those confronted with death.

Ideally, children or youth groups take part in the three-day project programme together with their parents or educators. In the museum, crematorium, cemetery or artist's necropolis, accompanied by our experts, you can then deal with the topics of dying, death, burial, mourning and remembrance or choose only some of these five aspects as the content of a single project day. If you would like to put together an individual programme beforehand, simply contact us.

Costs

200€ per day á 6 hours

You can book 1, 2 or 3 days.

In many cases, the basic prerequisite for admission to student competitions is cooperation with a museum. The Museum for Sepulchral Culture welcomes the forms of cooperation and offers the following possibilities within the framework of a joint competition:

• Supervision and advice by scientific staff
• Support with research
• Free admission to the museum during the duration of the project, in consultation with the scientific staff also outside opening hours
• Support in public relations work
• Presentation of the project results