Museum nights: the highlight among the excursions
In almost every city and certainly in every region of Germany, there are countless museums and permanent exhibitions that welcome visitors. Of course, such offers are also aimed at the older generation. Or should we say? Especially to the older generation! After all, you have undoubtedly already learned many things in your life and are in a good position to have a say in the individual exhibitions. Alterix will show you how to pass the time in the museum - whether alone or with company!
Most museums specialise their exhibitions on a particular theme. In an art gallery, for example, you will find completely different content than in your local museum. This has the advantage that you as a visitor can choose a museum that suits your interests or broaden your horizons. Now, in most cases, even for very young people, it is not very edifying to creep through the long galleries of exhibitions all by yourself. The museum operators know this too, and often organise special events or group tours for this purpose.
A real highlight: the museum nights
A now well-established highlight of cultural offerings in many cities are so-called museum nights or the Long Night of Museums, in which several exhibitions in a city join forces and extend their opening hours on one evening of the year and also come up with special offers. A single ticket is then sufficient to visit all participating museums, and in most cases the local transport companies also participate in this event, so that visitors can comfortably reach all exhibitions by bus and train on this evening. All this with a valid Museum Night ticket.
The museum associations usually work closely with the tourist boards on this. So the local tourist office will be able to provide plenty of information about the date and price of the next Museum Night. Alternatively, you can ask at any museum whether such an event is planned, when it will take place and what it will cost.
For senior citizens, such dates are charming because they not only place a firm stone in the cultural set box of a year, but also because a large cultural offer is provided here at very moderate prices. Especially in the case of lower pensions, this results in a great incentive. In recent years, museum nights have seen an increasing number of visitors.
Company throughout the evening
The supporting programme of this event in particular ensures that there is company throughout the evening. Many museums offer special guided tours or lectures or invite musicians, soloists or even dancers from surrounding theatres or opera houses to create a little programme. Museum staff often organise a small culinary offering, so visitors can also expect small dishes and drinks.
Of course, the audience of such museum nights is also charming. Instead of noisy school classes, you mainly meet older people or families. Even quiet or introverted people will find it easy to strike up a conversation with other visitors at such an event.
Where do museum nights take place?
In Kiel, Hamburg, Leipzig, Hanover, Frankfurt, Bonn, Lüneburg and Dresden, these museum nights have already become firmly established as highlights of the respective summer of culture and numerous visitors have been taking part in the events for years. To find out whether such a museum night is also taking place in your city or region, call any museum in your city. In most cases, the city's advertising will also draw attention to such dates, so it is difficult to miss one.
How do museum nights work?
A museum night has no fixed route. All museums open their doors on one evening of the year and each visitor can decide for themselves when and whether to visit this or that house. It is helpful to take a look at the current Museum Night programme (available at the tourist office or at the offices of participating museums), which lists all the timetabled events of the evening. It would be a shame, for example, to miss an opera soloist at 8pm at the Kunsthalle while listening to a guided tour of a pharmaceutical collection.... This as an example. With an up-to-date programme, you can see what's happening where and when, and then plan your route for the evening. Rarely will the highlights of programme points overlap, as the houses coordinate them among themselves; this so that visitors reach the next point on time.
Museum nights have become a lovingly organised highlight of the cultural summer in many cities and should be recommended to anyone with an interest in culture or museums in general. It also offers the possibility of having to get up at a specific date to take part in the event. A fixed date is better suited to becoming a small "tradition" than a spontaneous stroll through all the museums in the city on any given day. Then there is the encounter with all the other visitors to such events, who often have very similar reasons for participating as oneself.
What is there to keep in mind about the Museum Night?
Despite the high level of organisation of the participating museums and galleries, you should clarify accessibility in advance if necessary. Not all museums are always one hundred percent barrier-free. This is due to the fact that they may be located in historical buildings whose structural features may not be altered for reasons of monument preservation. In this case, a clarifying phone call to the museum is sufficient to find out whether all areas are accessible with special aids or even wheelchairs. In particular, older people who have lived in their city for a long time will already be familiar with these hurdles in most cases and know that the local art gallery, for example, is only accessible via a large gallery with many steps. However, due to the warm-hearted character of such museum nights, there will always be energetic help from other visitors to overcome one or the other hurdle.
An event for whole communities & families!
If you find allies in your environment or family, you can plan such a date as a joint event. Time spent together, especially in such a setting, is worth a lot and perhaps also opens one or two doors to commonalities that one previously knew nothing about... Whether it is looking at a painting or even walking through a special section of the city's history: What could be more exciting than senior citizens in a museum of local history who have actually lived through the time that is exhibited there? Possibly even in the same city... There would certainly be a lot to tell and certainly for all those who might happen to witness such conversations.
If you have a "cultural calendar"... Plan a visit to the next museum night in your city. You can find dates and information at any museum, tourist information office or on the internet.
It should be noted that the dates of such events are, of course, planned well in advance, but that individual items on the programme can be added or changed later.
