29 August - 3 September: 9 days of industrial heritage in the Rhine-Main region, Germany
The 21st Days of Industrial Heritage Rhine-Main are all about water. The programme covers some 138 different events in 39 towns and cities. The participating industrial monuments and museums once again feature several sites on the ERIH Rhine-Main Regional Route, including the Frankfurt central station and the Poelzig Bau, former IG-Farbenhaus, also in Frankfurt, the Großauheim Museum of Art and Industrial History in Hanau and the Municipal and Industrial Museum in Rüsselsheim.
For instance, fans of industrial heritage can explore historical fountains and (spa) baths on the guided tour "Schelche, Brunnen, Badespaß" ("Bowls, fountains, bathing fun") across Rüsselsheim. Its scope ranges from the city's supply with drinking water hundreds of years ago to the construction of ornate fountains and the building of the municipal sanitary infrastructure to current daily consumption. Visitors can also learn about historical and modern railways and waterways, for example on the guided tour of the Bavarian port of Aschaffenburg entitled "Wasserstraße & Schiene - Infrastrukturen für umweltfreundlichere Gütertransporte" (Waterways and Rail - Infrastructures for eco-friendly cargo transport).
There are events on water management, service and drinking water cycles in waterworks, sewage treatment plants, locks or open-air swimming pools. On offer are walking trails, trips by bike, train and boat along the Main and Rhine rivers, and much more. Various factory tours are also part of the programme. Examples include the guided tour of a combined heat and power plant with integrated block-type thermal power station entitled "Art Nouveau power plant between aesthetics and function" in Bad Nauheim or "Sustainable water protection - the water route at Merck" in Darmstadt.
The variety of attractions on offer is linked to the Rhine-Main region, but also reflects the main topic. Because water can be found in almost everything: it is food, raw material, energy source and transport route. The six days of the programme will explore all of this in detail and in a fascinating way.