Cog meets PLAYMOBIL - the story of a ship told anew

Cog meets PLAYMOBIL - the story of a ship told anew

The Bremer Kogge of 1380 is the best-preserved merchant ship of the Middle Ages. When it was discovered by chance during construction work in the Weser in Bremen in 1962, its unique history began to be uncovered. Today, it is impossible to imagine the German Maritime Museum (DSM) / Leibniz Institute of Maritime History without the medieval shipwreck. No other object has shaped the history of the museum as much as the Cog: it was the reason for the foundation of the museum in Bremerhaven. Now, a new exhibition stages the extraordinary history of the ship in an unusual way - with PLAYMOBIL figures.  
 
For four months - from 26 June to 25 October - the existing permanent exhibition on the Cog will be supplemented in a fascinating way. In the special exhibition "Cog meets PLAYMOBIL - the story of a ship told anew", the Hamburg artist and PLAYMOBIL collector Oliver Schaffer, in cooperation with the German Maritime Museum, will lovingly and in detail recreate scenes from the history of the ship with the help of the well-known toy figures.  
 
The display landscapes will revive medieval Hanseatic accounts, capture historical moments from the context of the discovery of the wreck and make the elaborate restoration work visible. Individual components from the permanent exhibition will also be incorporated into the special exhibition and staged as miniatures in their respective everyday context. Photo stations, large PLAYMOBIL figures and information panel will complete the exhibition landscape.
 
Various questions will be explored - about materiality (From what material was the Cog made? How was the ship conserved?), about interests (What goods were transported on cogs?) and about perception (What was the meaning of the Cog? Where are representations of cogs found?) Special attention will be paid to the interdisciplinary research on the "Bremer Kogge" at the German Maritime Museum. Thus, the research projects about the ship will also be addressed.  
 
The display landscapes will fit into the existing exhibition and mediate between the medieval ship and the other exhibits. The re-enacted situations from the Middle Ages, 19th and 20th centuries will make the history of the Bremen Cog easy to understand. The exhibition will be especially, but not only, aimed at families and children.

A project supported by the joint Action Plan of the Leibniz Research Museums