Bringing history to life digitally: County receives state funding
The Brehm Library in the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg is one of the most important private libraries in the German-speaking world. With a collection of around 44,000 historical books and exhibits dating from the beginnings of book printing to the end of the 20th century, it is a cultural flagship of Hesse. As part of the project "Bringing old cultural treasures to new life digitally: The Brehm Library as an interactive museum", the aim is to enable direct access to the exhibits and a direct experience of the holdings through an interactive online presence in future. The aim is to make it possible to experience the flair of the library digitally and outside of guided tours, and to inspire the younger generation in particular about history through digitalisation.
The project is being funded by the Hessian Ministry for Digitalisation and Innovation through the "Starke Heimat Hessen" programme to promote smart municipalities and regions with 259,200 euros. Digital Minister Prof Dr Kristina Sinemus presented the funding decision to Jürgen van der Horst, District Administrator of the Waldeck-Frankenberg district. "Digitally and interactively immersing ourselves in cultural history and making the numerous historical exhibits of the Brehm Library accessible to an even larger audience is the goal and the added value that we want to achieve through digitisation in this exciting project," emphasised the Digital Minister.
As an interactive museum on site and online, the Brehm Library is intended to enable the general public to directly experience the unique collection on the history of the book. A variety of offers such as a digital tour through the 22 rooms of the library or interactive knowledge games with tablets or VR glasses should help to arouse interest in a personal visit and further enhance the importance of Bad Arolsen as a cultural tourism destination. The project is embedded in a joint marketing strategy of the local tourism promotion organisation of the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg and the town of Bad Arolsen.
"As the Hessian Ministry for Digitalisation and Innovation, we are happy to support this smart business project because we need such innovative digital approaches in order to expand the cultural and tourism experience in our cities and communities in a sustainable way," concluded the Digital Minister. "Due to the requirements of the local library, it has only been possible to offer guided tours in small groups up to now," added Jürgen van der Horst, District Administrator of the Waldeck-Frankenberg district. "With the help of online tools, we want to change this and bring our cultural treasures closer to all interested parties digitally in the future - whether from your sofa at home, in the classroom or on site in the interactive museum being created in Bad Arolsen."
Background
In spring 2020, the Hessian state government set up the Smart Regions office in the Digital Minister's office to support local authorities and facilitate dialogue and networking. The "Starke Heimat Hessen" programme supports local authorities with important projects for the future. These include childcare, healthcare and strengthening local public transport. Around 20 million euros will be available annually from 2020 to 2024 in the Ministry of Digital Affairs, divided into three measures. Four million euros will flow into the Civento digitalisation platform from 2020 to 2024. A further almost 16 million euros were made available for the digitalisation of public administration in 2020. And thirdly, from 2021 to 2024, up to 16 million euros each will be used to support municipal projects that involve innovative projects in areas relating to the digitalisation of municipal fields of action in the sense of Smart City / Smart Region. Projects will be supported with between €100,000 and €2.5 million - with a funding rate of 90 per cent and a maximum duration of two years.