"Blue Sunday": Days of Industrial Heritage in North Hesse
Industrialisation in North Hesse began around 1700 with the successful casting of the first steam cylinder for a high-pressure steam engine and culminated in the establishment of major industrial players such as Henschel & Sohn, Salzmann & Comp, Kali + Salz and Volkswagen. The abundant industrial heritage of this turbulent development is being preserved not only by a few museums and still-manufacturing companies, but also, at many sites, by volunteers. The "Blue Sunday" of industrial heritage offers an exciting showcase of this unique heritage and attracts thousands of visitors year after year.
In fact, the title "Blue Sunday" conceals an almost two-week programme of very different events throughout the region from 1 to 11 September. A tour of the "Christine" slate mine in Willingen, for example, takes visitors into the underground history of regional mining, while they learn a lot about the history and technology of monumental structures atop the barrage of the Eder reservoir. A fascinating trail that starts at Kassel City Museum illustrates why the city's greater area is a centre of mechanical engineering today.
How, apart from that, tradition and innovation go hand in hand is demonstrated by tours of operating plants in a variety of industries, ranging from state-of-the-art paper machines in Diemelstadt-Wrexen and a large crushing plant for the production of gravel and sand bulk material in Fuldabrück-Bergshausen to the composite structures and wind turbine applications of the Peikko Group in Waldeck-Höringhausen.
The Days of Industrial Heritage for children and young people feature a very special programme called "Blue Sunday Junior". Hands-on tours, creative and technical workshops or experiments with old handicraft techniques enable children and young people to explore North Hesse's technological history in a straightforward and playful way. This year's motto – "Top Secret Hunt for Clues" – clearly explains, for example, how books were printed in the past or how to build an environmentally friendly solar engine yourself.
Programme „Blue Sunday“ North-Hesse