The exhibition “Castles, Farmers, Burials” (until October 31, 2019) at the Heuneburg Open-Air Museum in Herbertingen-Hundersingen, Baden-Württemberg, illustrates the latest research findings and uses large-format illustrations to reconstruct scenes of life in the Hallstatt period around the Heuneburg. 2500 years ago, the oldest town north of the Alps was located here in Upper Swabia The Heuneburg, located near Sigmaringen on the upper Danube, is one of the most important […]

The exhibition “Castles, Farmers, Burials” (until October 31, 2019) at the Heuneburg Open-Air Museum in Herbertingen-Hundersingen, Baden-Württemberg, illustrates the latest research findings and uses large-format illustrations to reconstruct scenes of life in the Hallstatt period around the Heuneburg. 2500 years ago, the oldest town north of the Alps was located here in Upper Swabia

The Heuneburg, located near Sigmaringen on the upper Danube, is one of the most important sites of the Central European Iron Age and has been systematically investigated since 1950. The area surrounding the central Hallstatt site, however, remained largely unexplored until a few years ago. This changed in 2014 with a long-term project approved by the German Research Foundation. Since then, research has focused primarily on rural settlements and hill forts or castles in the vicinity of the Heuneburg. The spectacular finds from the Bettelbühl necropolis and the burial mound field near Unlingen have also provided unique insights into the structure of Iron Age society. The current investigations at fortified sites as well as in open settlements and burial areas provide new insights into the structure of the Iron Age settlement landscape and the interaction between the various sites.

The triad “Castles, Farmers, Burials” illustrates the latest results of this research in an exhibition (until October 31, 2019) and reconstructs scenes of life in the Hallstatt period in the vicinity of the Heuneburg using large-format illustrations. State Secretary Katrin Schütz opened this exhibition at the Heuneburg Open-Air Museum in Herbertingen-Hundersingen at the beginning of June 2019, presenting new research and excavation results from the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in the area surrounding the early Celtic Heuneburg. “The current investigations underline the central position and outstanding importance of Heuneburg Castle during the Central European Iron Age”, said the State Secretary.

The research and excavations are being funded by the DFG as part of a long-term project. Although systematic investigations of the early Iron Age castle and its immediate surroundings have been carried out repeatedly since the 1950s, the wider surroundings of the Heuneburg, with its contemporaneous settlement and burial sites, remained largely unexplored until a few years ago. This is where the research of the DFG project set up in 2014 comes in. Since then, research has focused on the surrounding area of the central village with the associated farms and hamlets as well as other known hill forts.

Added to this are the excavations in the surrounding necropolises, which have yielded outstanding finds. The exhibition provides an insight into the rich finds landscape of the early Celtic princely seat of Heuneburg. The hill fortifications in the surrounding area, among which the cult site at the Old Castle near Langenenslingen stands out in particular, and their relationship to Heuneburg Castle are discussed, as are the rural settlements of the early Iron Age with a view to the life and activities of the common people. Spectacular burials in the Danube plain and near the Bussen mountain provide information about the burial rituals of socially higher-ranking members of society. In addition to the new archaeological discoveries, a panel exhibition in the outdoor area of the museum will also present vivid large-format illustrations of early Celtic life.

This is a special exhibition organized by the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in the Stuttgart Regional Council in cooperation with the Society for Archaeology in Württemberg and Hohenzollern.

On April 12, 2021, the first webinar of the Big Stuff community for technology preservation starts. Big Stuff restorer Eva Wentland will introduce the topic of coatings for industrial heritage The Big Stuff community for technology preservation is launching a series of webinars. The community brings together people from different backgrounds to share their knowledge and passion for the preservation of […]

On April 12, 2021, the first webinar of the Big Stuff community for technology preservation will begin. Big Stuff restorer Eva Wentland will introduce the topic of coatings for industrial heritage

The Big Stuff community for technology preservation is launching a series of webinars. The community brings together people from diverse backgrounds to share their knowledge and passion for big tech preservation. Big tech heritage is valued, recognized and preserved as an asset that promotes well-being, generates economic value and supports community cohesion and growth. Big Stuff encourages interdisciplinary and cross-group thinking and action and welcomes ideas from academics, professionals, volunteers and private owners. While the core areas include material conservation and science, engineering, mechanical crafts, curatorial studies, architecture and urban planning, Big Stuff also welcomes the inclusion of people and ideas from other disciplines and communities.

The first of two webinars per year will start on April 12 at 1:00 pm. To kick off this first seminar, Eva Wentland, an aspiring Big Stuff conservator, will introduce the controversial topic of coatings for industrial heritage, with a focus on heritage exposed outdoors. The basis for this session is the goal of preserving historic coatings as primary sources of information and connection, either visibly through the use of transparent coatings or invisibly by overcoating with pigmented systems – all while providing corrosion protection.

As always, there is never one right way, especially in heritage conservation, where we always have to develop individual solutions for each property. However, we can learn from past case studies and from the behavior and (in)stability of the materials that are applied to objects for conservation purposes. The aim is to exchange experiences: Which coatings are used? How can their performance be assessed after long-term exposure? How costly are subsequent maintenance measures, and are they even possible?

Registration

These webinars are designed to get interested parties talking. Short presentations introduce the current topic of the webinar. Participants then have the opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences. The webinar is open to all interested parties. To participate, please register here using the contact form. The language is English.