Culture Maps audio app offers city tours in Corona times
It’s about the personal view of Hanover, individual impressions, the stories behind historical masonry, street names, art objects. With the new audio app “Culture Maps”, Karsten Schäfer (51) and Peter Hody (53) not only set the classic “Roter Faden” to music, but also asked three prominent Hanoverians to present personal forays through the city. “We still have a lot to do,” says Schäfer of the project, for which the Hanover app is supposed to be a kind of blueprint.
As a meeting point, Schäfer suggests the Nanas on the Hohe Ufer – the plump ladies of the artist Niki de Saint-Phalle († 71) are a cultural hotspot in every travel guide. The “Culture Maps” message is different: the city has more to offer than the New Town Hall, Maschsee and Kröpcke-Uhr. Namely details that you only see and learn at second glance.
Denise M’Baye’s personal linden gaze
“The charmingly oxidized mermaids hold an empty bottle of beer every now and then,” reports actress Denise M’Baye (45), for example, of the magnificent Königsworther Bridge in the audio tour. The actress (For many years she was the nun Lela in the ARD series “Um Himmels Willen”) sees something like an “offering to the aquatic beings” and reveals that this is exactly where she often gets on her SUP board and paddles a lap.
In “Burg Königsworth” she once danced in “sequin hot pants in a music video for Mousse T.”, she loves the avenue on Weddigenufer (“a piece of nature in the middle of the city”) and as a young mother appreciated the stroller -Cinema in the “Apollo”. In their eyes, the Faust cultural center is an “embrace” for visitors to the lively Linden district – “a place for diversity”. But also a former bed feather factory, where feathers imported from China were once cleaned with linen water. This information is provided by Karsten Schäfer’s voice.
“You have to discover Hanover”, the 51-year-old, who grew up in Göttingen, studied civil engineering in Aachen, and worked in Berlin, Munich and Hamburg. He once finished his studies on a leash (“I was a technology enthusiast even as a child”), but is orienting himself towards journalism through internships at radio and television, and did a corporate media traineeship at TVN. Years later he met Peter Hody during a postgraduate course in media management in Hamburg – “there was a connection right away”.
Corona brings the digitization boost
And bald the idea for “Culture cards”. The pandemic actually meant a forced break for the project, but also played into the cards of the makers. “Corona has given digitization a boost. Many people have dealt with technology and have lost their fear of contact, ”said Schäfer. And the starting shot for the Hanover tours is ideal timing: “We are facing the fourth wave. The demand for leisure activities that the man can do on his own is back. “
The main tour of the “Culture Maps” is practically a setting of the “Red threads”. Its 36 stations over 4.2 kilometers through the city can only be worked out with a brochure from the tourist information or your own Wikipedia research. “You have to offer more,” says Schäfer. “We are swimming on the podcast wave, audio offers are attractive.” Negotiations were held with Hannover Marketing & Tourismus GmbH, but no agreement was reached. “We then decided to do the project on our own.”
He doesn’t want to reveal how much the duo invests, he describes time and energy as “sweat equity” in business English – it shouldn’t have been too little. The result should be a model for other cities. “With the Hanover app, we want to show that it works. And then usher in a new round of financing. We think very big. ”The duo absolutely needs business partners. Because: “The app should definitely remain free.”
The limit has not yet been reached for Hanover either. In addition to the “Red Thread” and Denise M’Baye, you can also Cabaret artist Matthias Brodowy (49) follow on a tour. Those who cover the 13 kilometers by bike get to know Berggarten and the Wilhelm Busch Museum, learn that in the past you could have a “relaxed bath” in the Tak at the kitchen garden, and that the new building of the Sprengel Museum is described by critics as a “briquette” .
“Bingo” bear Michael Thürnau (58) gives a lecture on delicacies on his culinary tour, in “Tandure” he recommends lamb shank in peppermint sauce, the Japanese brataal in “Sushi Gim” makes his heart beat faster, with “Max Walloschke” he loves it homemade pork jelly – and the listener learns interesting facts about the wrestler and weightlifter who opened the pub in 1952.
Music and research are the next topics
“It’s about the personal touch,” explains Schäfer. “That way you can see places through the eyes of these people.” He is planning a music tour for Hanover, and the topic of research also offers a lot of material. “He lists the Einstein elevator at Leibniz University, the Geo 600 gravitational wave detector. “And Carl Friedrich Gauß left a lot of traces in Hanover and Lower Saxony,” he knows about the famous mathematician who worked in the early 19th century.
Schäfer will still set many “points of interest”. He doesn’t like the word “sights”. For him, it’s not about the obvious, but “about stories behind the visible, about culture, life, leisure time, cool locations.” “Leinewelle” makes. As soon as the first surfers ride the waves here, they get a chapter in the app.
This is “culture cards”
The audio app “Culture Maps” can be downloaded free of charge to the smartphone. At the start, more than 60 “Points of Interest” and four different tours are available for Hanover. Exact maps are available for the tours (1.6 to 11.8 kilometers), and audio contributions from culture, history, science, architecture or leisure activities can be selected directly or via buttons to jump back and forth. You can also read the text for each “POI”, and many topics are further explored via photo galleries. Users can write comments and leave suggestions for improvement – or make suggestions for points that should be included. The Hanover app also gives you access to the existing “Culture Maps” for Wolfsburg and Stade. The audio app will continue to grow – and will soon cover Lower Saxony and other parts of the republic. More information at www.culturemaps.net
By Andrea Tratner