Landesgartenschau Höxter 2023

A reverse time travel

In the Middle Ages, there was a town at the gates of the monastery of Corvey that was completely destroyed in the 13th century. Almost everything known about the life of the people of Corvey is owed to the archaeological research of artifacts and soil monument which is hidden under the ground. On the occasion of the Landesgartenschau Nordrhein-Westfalen 2023 in Höxter, the invisible and lost medieval town was brought back to life for the visitors.

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But how can one make the authentic place tangible, how can one create an image of the past without reconstructing what scientifically still lies in the dark? And how can one encounter the people of the Middle Ages?

For a special kind of immersion, spatial installations are combined with an auditory, scenic historical narrative: Five wooden cubes on the site of the former town represent five buildings of long-gone Corvey. The cubes direct the visitor's gaze to the former sites of the Weserbridge, the city fortifications, the Hellweg, the market church and the home of the famous 'Surgeon of the Weser'. Inside the cubes, the visitor's imagination is activated: Each cube holds an audio play. An archaeologist from our time meets a person from medieval Corvey that is able to speak about the buildings and life in Corvey. The combination of the spatial situations regarding the cubes and the narratives of the audio plays form the basis for creating an individual mental image of the lost town of Corvey at the authentic location.

Client

Stadt Höxter

Location

Höxter, Germany

Year

04/2023

Photography

Franz Reschke, Selina Bergmann

After the Landesgartenschau ends, the cubes including the audio plays will remain in Höxter. Within sight of the Corvey monastery, they will continue to encourage visitors to immerse themselves in the life of the medieval town of Corvey.