The exhibition
Discover the world in your own way: in our exhibition, you can study the world at 275 different interactive stations. In the walk-in wind studio, the wind will tousle your hair. In a large waterscape, you experiment with boats, a lock and numerous fountains. You can take a closer look at a crash test car or conduct experiments with a piece of toast.
Our permanent exhibition is divided into four thematic worlds. Each presents its own perspective o the world. In each of the thematic worlds, there are four or five thematic areas. But: there is no pre-defined path or set sequence. You follow what interests you.
The laboratories
The eight modern laboratories at experimenta are in the brick building on Experimenta Platz. There is also a test kitchen. Labs and kitchen offer the space and equipment for our varied courses for the inquisitive of all ages.
The Archimedes Laboratory is specifically for daycare children, where they can playfully explore phenomena from their everyday lives and experiment. The Friedrich von Alberti Laboratory and the Marie Curie Laboratory have offerings appropriate for elementary school-aged children. But there are also spaces specifically for older children and teens: In the Elizabeth Kalko Laboratory, the Louis Brüggemann Laboratory, the Robert Mayer Laboratory, and the Wilhelm Maybach Laboratory everyone in grades 5 to 13 can conduct research to their heart’s content. A large portion of our course offerings is aimed at preschools and schools, but adults are also welcome – whether at a company event, bus trips, or with friends.
More than 50 courses cover many topics from biology, chemistry, physics, technology, and computer science. Participants are always supervised by a highly motivated and experienced team of engineers, scientists, and educators. It is also this team that designs the courses, tests them out, and continuously improves them. Most of the content originates in the educational and orientation plans of the schools and complements school lessons, but we also go beyond that. Our vacation courses leave the school-based orientation behind and deal with many different scientific topics. Every laboratory uses the most modern presentation techniques.
The labs can accommodate 32 participants and their experiments. Almost no limits are placed on their urge to research: Our optics laboratories, for example, can be completely darkened, water experiments can be carried out in a wet room, or students can work with a laser cutter and a 3-D printer. A special focus of our computer science lab is geoinformatics. Here it is also possible to analyze the astronomical data from experimenta’s observatory.
The Science Dome
In our Science Dome, we take you along on fantastic adventures.
Our combination of planetarium and theater is chock full of technology that provides new perspectives. At its heart is the 180° revolving auditorium. Beneath the dome, there are two venues: the theater stage and the 360° full-dome theater, but just one auditorium. It is situated on a type of turntable. It takes just 70 seconds to complete the full revolution that is integrated into several shows. The Science Dome can seat 150. Seats can be inclined backward 5° and 20°, depending on their location in the auditorium. All rows have ample legroom.
The Universarium is located in the middle of the auditorium. The star projector projects 32 star fields into the dome’s night sky using state-of-the-art LED light sources with motor-controlled apertures. When the stars of the northern or southern hemisphere are not needed, the large, anthracite-colored “star ball” is lowered into its “parking structure”.
The dome is 21.5 meters in diameter and thus has a projection area of 726 m². Six projectors with 56,000 Lumen each provide an extremely bright and brilliant image. In the Science Dome, you can not just watch 3D fulldome films, but also experience 3D sound.
On the stage side, a 60 m² stage awaits you with musical performances, plays and exciting experiment demonstrations. Our stage area also includes our high voltage technology used to produce meter-long volts of lightning of more than one million volts. There is also an almost nine meter wide waterfall curtain which can also be used for projects in addition to the theater screen and two other screens. Laser systems, a movie projector, various beamers and fog machines are used here. Lean back and start your journey through time and space.
Experimental theater
A small theater is dedicated to our youngest visitors. The experimental theater is located at the top of the new experimenta building. In this venue, children are introduced to scientific topics. As part of the concept, direct contact between our edutainers on stage and our young visitors is very important. We stage entertaining and educational age-appropriate plays and presentations suitable for children and encourage participation.
The 60 m² theater seats 55 in theater seating, providing every member of the audience with the best view of the stage. Edutainers on stage naturally have access to the prop warehouse, but are also supported by a bit of technology. In addition to classic stage lighting, a media consule is available for adding music, images and films. Between performances the observatory team also enjoys using the experimental theater. It is perfect for lectures on current topics in astronomy. The experimental theater is quite simply the perfect complement to a visit to the exhibition and the observatory.
Forum
In our Forum, 200 square meters await you – free of charge. We invite you to inform yourselves, to engage in discussion, and to become engaged in the sciences. Everyone is welcome! The Forum is located on the ground floor of the brick building on Experimenta Platz.
Inside, among other things, various digital stations await you: In the Weltforscher (“World Explorer”) section, there are around 70 projects in which you can support current research as a citizen scientist.
At the “Bessermacher” station you can inform yourself about numerous projects with which we can all make the world a little bit better together. Would you like to know more? Then immerse yourself in current scientific periodicals for as long as you want at the Forum.
In our Filmbox, you can watch video clips on the scientific topics that especially interest you.
Also: Your opinion matters! Leave it on our large yellow wall and find out there what others think. By the way, you can also take knowledge back home with you in a digital backpack. That way you can access it even after your visit to the Forum: for school, university, or simply to occupy yourself intensively with a topic. In the Forum, we also host various events. Come by and have a look around!
Maker Space
The Maker Space is also a community whose members support each other, learn from each other and work on projects together. In this shared space, you will also find many projects from the community, for example, a light installation made of pop bottles with numerous computer-controlled LEDs. If you would like to work on your own projects, you are free to use our workshops and equipment. We are happy to show you how things work and help you learn the required worksteps.
The textile workshop has an overlock and an embroidery machine in addition to normal sewing machines. You will also find a hot press for printing materials, a film plotter as well as everything you need for screenprinting. For computer-aided manufacturing, we have several 3D printers, a laser cutter and a CNC milling machine. Manual machining tasks are also possible at a lathe and machines for wood cutting.
In the electronics workshop, you have access to soldering stations, power supply units, oscilloscopes and microcontroller hardware. We also offer high-quality equipment for recording films and photos, including lighting technology and greenscreen. The media area also has a sound booth, PC workstations, graphics tablets and different software.
The heart of the Maker Space is the project area: Students work and program at large shared tables. We gather at them to eat together or simply to talk. Guided workshops also take place here on various topics. Weather permitting, you can also use the garden terrace.
Observatory
The observatory can be found on the top-most level of experimenta. Its distinctive feature is the white All-sky dome that can be fully opened like a giant shell. This provides an all-sky view of the sky. The dome at the experimenta observatory in this size is Germany’s first all-sky dome.
Since we are usually open during the day, being able to observe the sun using state-of-the-art telescope technology is very important. Special filters allow visitors to they peer through the telescope and experience how solar storms spread or how sun spots develop and disappear. In discussions with our astronomers, visitors can learn about the structure of our solar system. And: thanks to a special device, visitors can take pictures of the sun through the telescope with their smart phones. Since many astronomical events can easily be predicted, the observatory regularly offers special events. Experience a lunar eclipse live here at experimenta, for example. There are four additional telescope stations on our rooftop terrace which can used as needed. If the observatory gets too crowded, we broadcast the live telescope image in our experimental theater also located on level 5.
Courses and projects for schools are also offered in the observatory. Together with the Student Research Senter sfz, for example, Jugend forscht projects can also be supervised.
In internships, students learn how astronomical image data is processed or new asteroids are discovered. School courses take place together with the physics lab in which the rings of Saturn are analyzed using spectroscopic measurements. This provides young people with informed insight into astrophysics and its working practice.
Studios
Four glass pods are suspended in the middle of the new experimenta building – they are our Studios. They are designed as creative spaces. In content, the Studios complement the topics addressed in the exhibitions – but can also be used separately.
In the Studios, it is all about what you can do. Here you can consciously take more time and spend more time finding out more about a exciting topics, analyse, observe or spontaneously build something or create something new. Every studio is unique in equipment and furnishings. Simply select the one that is best for you. We have something prepared for every age group and level of difficulty. The Studio on Level 4 is specifically designed for our youngest visitors.
In total, the Studios offer 440 m² of space for your creative endeavors. No need to pre-register, admission is included in the price of the exhibition.
Plan your visit
Admission
Opening hours
Directions
Admission
Opening hours
Directions