Excursion to the Bible House on 25.05.2016

Field report on the excursion to the Bibelhaus Frankfurt

by Jasna Baumgarten

On 25.05.2016, as part of the seminar "Introduction to the Methods of Biblical Studies", we went on an excursion to the Bibelhaus in Frankfurt, accompanied by two tutors.

With a total of 9 participants, we set off on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. from Kassel main station to Frankfurt. During the journey, which took just under 2.5 hours, we had lively discussions about the content of the lecture, our expectations regarding the guided tour of the Bibelhaus and our plans for the day. Once we arrived at Frankfurt Central Station, we decided to have lunch together. Afterwards, we took a leisurely walk to the Bibelhaus.

When we arrived at the Bibelhaus, Mr. Dinkelacker was waiting for us and took us on a tour of the museum rooms. Mr. Dinkelacker is a Protestant pastor and has been working at the Bibelhaus Frankfurt for several years as a religious education worker.

Our tour began in the "New Testament". We were allowed to sit in a real boat while Mr. Dinkelacker used instruments to simulate storms and swells. We found this kind of "immersion" in the world of the Bible very successful. Mr. Dinkelacker then asked us about our expectations and wishes regarding the tour. He led us through parts of the history of Israel in fast-forward. He mainly focused on the book of prophets Isaiah and the significance of the temple. In the second part of the tour, we were allowed to enter a nomad tent on the second floor of the Bible House. To do this, we took off our shoes and two of us, a woman and a man, dressed up as Sarah and Abraham. Then we were allowed to enter the tent. The women sat on the right, the men on the left.
During the tour, Mr. Dinkelacker repeatedly referred to the didactic possibilities of the exhibition and explained to us how he organizes the tours with school classes of different ages. We were all particularly impressed by the room with the nomad tent and were motivated to go on an excursion to the Bible House with a view to our own school classes in the future. The time passed very quickly, so many of us expressed the wish to come back to the Bible House a second time to see the other exhibits at our leisure.

All in all, the excursion was a great success. There was a growing desire to have offers like this more often. During the return journey, we let our new impressions sink in and arrived back at Kassel Central Station at 7 p.m., completely satisfied but also exhausted.