The New Concept for our Permanent Exhibition
New Goals
In 2013, the Bavarian Bible Centre decided to transform its Bible Experience House into a modern, state-of-the-art museum. Its goal was to create a new location where the dissemination and understanding of the Bible as a cultural asset and Holy Scripture could be effectively promoted in both today’s world and in the future. A core conception team was formed in the same year with the task of creating an overall concept for this new museum. It was responsible for both the museum’s content as well as its spatial and structural design.
Excavations in the St. Lawrence Rectory
In 2015, during the demolition of the St. Lawrence Rectory’s rear buildings – which included the Bible Experience House – archaeological remains from the 14th and early 15th centuries were discovered. Preservation measures, including an excavation of the remains, were all completed in accordance with Bavaria’s heritage protection laws in September 2017. However, the discovery of these remains ultimately ended up having a much greater influence on the way our new museum was conceived. For example, one requirement from the Bavarian Historical Monuments Authority was that a rectory wall from the 14th century now needed to be preserved as a visible wall within our new museum building. Although this obviously provided us with a challenge, we nevertheless embraced the idea, because we realised that by working together with the city’s archaeological department, we could actually create a room where the major discoveries from the excavation could be presented within the context of our permanent exhibition. In other words, it gave us a chance to offer the public some real evidence about everyday life in medieval Nuremberg!
Designing the Exhibition
All the designs for our exhibition building and its rooms were created by Impuls-Design in Erlangen. Impuls-Design has been conceptualising, planning and producing exhibitions ever since 1988, and its aim is always to strike a perfect balance between inspiring visitors, arousing emotions and explaining contexts. The company also runs offices in Hamburg and Lochau in Austria.
Our Core Conception Team
Claudia Harders
Founding Director
“It’s through the ‘You’ that people become an ‘I’.” Martin Buber
Degrees in Business Administration and Religious Education (FH).
Following her graduation in Heidelberg, Claudia Harders studied Business Administration at the Friedrich Alexander University in Erlangen-Nuremberg (Dipl.Kff.). Subsequently, she spent several years ‘running a family’ in the USA and Berlin. She received her second degree in Religious Education from the Protestant University of Applied Sciences in Nuremberg. After completing her preparatory service for religious educational work in Lauf an der Pegnitz, she taught at various schools.
From 2011 to 2022, Claudia Harders served as the General Manager and then the Managing Director of the Bavarian Bible Centre. From 2013, she was the Project Manager overseeing the new concept for the BAVARIAN BIBLE MUSEUM.
Prof. Dr. Jörg Lanckau
For me, the Bible is both a cultural monument and a book about life. It’s been blindly glorified by some and wholly disqualified by others, neither of which is really fair. The Bible is a mirror of the human soul. It shows us in our highs and lows. It’s a divine event that sets the strings of my soul vibrating.
Biblical Scholar, Adult Educator, Mediator
Prof. Dr. Jörg Lanckau studied Protestant Theology in Halle, Basel and Leipzig. He was subsequently ordained and began his parish ministry in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. Parallel to this, he received a doctorate in Old Testament Studies from the University of Bonn, a federal certificate in Adult Education from the AEB Lucerne, and undertook teaching and research work at the University of Zurich. Since 2013, he has served as the Professor of Biblical Theology and Church History at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences in Nuremberg. He is also the Director of the Religious Education and Church Educational Work Programme of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bavaria (ELKB).
From 2016 to 2020, Prof. Dr. Jörg Lanckau helped to create the concept for the new BAVARIAN BIBLE MUSEUM in Nuremberg.
Astrid Seichter
“Above all, vitality comes from feeling enthusiastic about something.” E. Ferstl
Degree in Religious Education (FH), Museum Educator.
Astrid Seichter was born in 1968. Following her graduation, she spent a voluntary social year studying religious education and church education, and then went on to spend several years teaching in various schools in Munich and Nuremberg. From 2000-2014, she served on the delegation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church to the Arts and Culture Education Centre (KPZ) of the Nuremberg Museums, where she was responsible for presenting ‘Religion in Museums’. From 2013-2016, Astrid worked as a project manager for the Forum for Adult Education in Nuremberg, with a special emphasis on ‘Strengthening adult education in the community and region’.
Astrid Seichter became the Pedagogical Director of the Bavarian Bible Centre in September 2014. She has been serving as its Deputy Managing Director since November 2021. She was a member of the conceptual team who created the permanent exhibition and communication strategy for the new BAVARIAN BIBLE MUSEUM in Nuremberg. Astrid is now the museum’s Managing Director.