European Day of Megalithic Culture: “Natur und Mensch”
Announces New App

Major stone grave in the focus of a new augmented reality offer

Oldenburg. The Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch Oldenburg is using the European Day of Megalithic Culture on Sunday, 24 April, as an opportunity to announce plans for a new app that is to be launched at the end of the year: With “mega!lith 3D”, visitors to the museum will in future be able to experience the replica of a megalithic burial chamber even more intensively by using augmented reality to bring the original from Kleinenkneten into the museum.

In Kleinenkneten near Wildeshausen there are two Neolithic megalithic tombs dating from around 3500 to 2800 BC. A replica of a burial chamber is on display in Nature and Man as part of the “Geest” exhibition. Archaeological collection objects found at the megalithic graves are also presented. The museum was responsible for researching the burial sites in the 1930s.

“With ‘mega!lith 3D’ we increase the visitor experience enormously. Anyone using the app will be able to call up background information on the screen that provides more context on the megalithic culture,” promises Steffen Pilney, project coordinator at Nature and Man. A 3D model of the original is superimposed on the replica in the app so that visitors can virtually move around the burial chamber as it is found in Kleinenkneten. “The fascination that emanates from megalithic culture becomes even more apparent here in the museum with the view in augmented reality,” says Pilney.

The app is currently being developed by the agencies polyform and DroidSolutions. The necessary data is already available through the project “Modelldigitalisierung 3D von Natur- und Kulturgut Oldenburg (MoDi)” in cooperation with the Jade University of Applied Sciences Oldenburg. A complete 3D scan of the corresponding burial chamber was created as part of the project and is now available for use in the app.

The app “mega!lith 3D” is being developed as part of “dive in. Programme for Digital Interactions” of the Federal Cultural Foundation, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) in the NEUSTART KULTUR programme. Mediation offers are planned especially for school classes, but also for visitors of all ages, whether with or without previous experience. In addition, several events are planned that focus on megalithic culture. The application is expected to be available to visitors in autumn.

The Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch is a member of the Megalithic Routes association, which has celebrated the European Day of Megalithic Culture every year since 2013 to highlight its high general value and special features. In 2022, the motto is “Megalithic Monuments as Archives of Everyday Life”. The Kleinenkneten stones are part of the “Road of Megalithic Culture”, which as the Lower Saxony section of the “European Route of Megalithic Culture” connects 33 archaeological stations with more than 70 megalithic sites. The 310-kilometre route runs from Osnabrück via Cloppenburg to Wildeshausen and Oldenburg.

Press image:
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This is what using the new “mega!lith 3D” app at the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch could look like (symbol image). Photo composition: Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch / pixabay

Oldenburg, April 22nd 2022