PROJECT TITLE

The app for the “Augsburg Railway Park” industrial museum

Augsburg Railway Park in the BayernHistory app
Digital themed area for technology and railroad history

FOCUS: Digital museum education, history of technology and industry
AGE GROUPS: All age groups; visitors to the Railway Park and those with a general interest in history and technology
PERIOD OF IMPLEMENTATION: since January 1, 2025
LOCATION: Digital (BayernHistory); reference to the Augsburg Railway Park
SCOPE: Digital museum and thematic area within a nationwide history app
FUNDING PROGRAMME: As part of the development of the permanent exhibition “Time travel – locomotives tell European history”, funded by the Kulturstiftung der Länder, among others
PROJECT CARRIERS: dieKunstBauStelle e.V.
PROJECT MANAGER: Wolfgang Hauck
CUSTOMER: Bahnpark Augsburg gGmbH
PARTNER: BayernHistory app

CONTENT / BACKGROUND

Since January 1, 2025, Augsburg Railway Park has had its own themed area in the BayernHistory app
This means that the railroad museum is permanently integrated into a digital platform for Bavarian history, technology and culture.

The digital theme area makes it possible to explore the Railway Park’s collection independently of opening hours and to place it in a larger historical context. It is based on existing curatorial concepts as well as the exhibition areas developed and implemented in the Railway Park, in particular the permanent exhibition “Time travel – locomotives tell European history”.

The BayernHistory app does not function as a classic museum guide, but as an independent digital documentation and mediation format with location-based and thematic access.

GOALS

Making the Augsburg Railway Park collection digitally accessible
Teaching the history of technology, industry and transportation in Bavaria
Supplementing the analog museum visit with digital tours and content
Use of the app as stand-alone documentation and for preparing and following up a visit
Sustainable expandability of content by the museum itself

IMPLEMENTATION

The Augsburg Railway Park theme area was implemented as an independent museum area within the BayernHistory app.

The starting scope includes:

Documentation of historic locomotives
Several themed tours, including:
Tours of the permanent exhibition “Journey through time”
Further exhibition and themed tours (e.g. World of the Locomotive, legendary locomotives)
Digital content in the form of texts, images and videos
Combination of on-site tours and virtual tours

Bahnpark Augsburg maintains and manages the content independently within the app.
dieKunstBauStelle e.V. provides the technical infrastructure of the app, is responsible for editing, system maintenance and further development and coordinates cooperation with the partners involved.

EFFECT

Extending the reach of the Bahnpark beyond the physical museum space
Low-threshold access to technical and cultural history content
Long-term preservation and updating of museum knowledge in digital form
Use by different target groups without prior technical knowledge

ASSIGNMENT

The digital themed area of the Augsburg Railway Park is part of a state-wide approach to digital history education.
By integrating it into the BayernHistory app, railroad history is not presented in isolation, but is integrated into the wider context of industrial, everyday and technological history.

The project shows how museums can use digital tools independently without relinquishing their sovereignty over content and how existing exhibition concepts can be transferred into permanent digital structures.

PRESS ARTICLE from 2021

20.10.2021 Augsburger Allgemeine Citizens can have their say at a major future workshop for the railroad park

23.10.2021 Lok Report future workshop in the Augsburg railroad park

25.10.2021 STAZ Helping to design exhibitions in the Bahnpark

03.11.2021 Lok Report Zukunftswerkstatt Bahnpark Augsburg provides ideas for further conception of the permanent exhibition

15.11.2021 Augsburger Allgemeine What the railroad museum in the Augsburg Railway Park should look like in the future

19.11.2021 Lok Report Kick-off for a “Quartier am Bahnpark Augsburg”

22.11.2021 STAZ What the railroad park could look like

29.11.2021 Augsburger Allgemeine This is how Bahnpark Augsburg wants to become the focal point of the district

PROMOTION

The digital theme area was developed in the context of the redesign of the permanent exhibition “Time travel – locomotives tell European history” and was supported by the Kulturstiftung der Länder, among others.