Is there anyone who didn’t one day wish to slip into a painting from past times, to encounter the people there, and to learn how they lived back then? With “Dive into the Picture! A Time Journey for Kids” the Deutsches Historisches Museum invites young museum guests of primary school age and their families to explore the famous series of pictures from the 16th century known as the “Augsburg Labours of the Months”. As in a pop-up book, the kids can dive into the social life of the time. The people depicted in the paintings tell their own stories and give the young visitors access to four different fields of medieval life: society, games, trade and nature. In the inclusively designed exhibition, children can trace the visible and hidden aspects of the time in a playful and knowledgeable way. Did life really look like that in those days? The intention is to lead the young visitors towards an exact and discerning observation of pictorial representation.

The exhibition focuses on the picture of the months “January – February – March”, one of the four paintings in the seasonal cycle. They are among the most important artworks in the collection of the Deutsches Historisches Museum. The museum’s restorers are currently working intensively on these four paintings. The restoration of the painting of the first three months featured in the exhibition will be completed by the opening and presented there for the first time within a new framework. Another important element of the children’s exhibition is its location in the large workshop, which offers further room for one’s own creative ideas.

With its original objects and hands-on activities the exhibition offers a variety of playful avenues leading to the communication of history. The experience gained here will flow into the section for children and families planned for the museum’s new Permanent Exhibition.

The exhibition is curated by Petra Larass and Dr Stephanie Neuner