Bronze of the “Federal Giraffe” on the ship MS Wissenschaft
Portrait bronze sculpture of the seated female “Federal Giraffe”, created around 90 years ago. Photo: Ilja C. Hendel / Wissenschaft im Dialog (License CC BY-NC 4.0, CC BY-SA 4.0)
“Freedom” is the motto of the Science Year 2024, proclaimed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Federal Republic of Germany. A floating exhibition is touring Germany and Austria with a wide range of activities. From August 21 – 23, the ship “MS Wissenschaft” will dock on the banks of the Rhine in Bonn. Discover what two giraffes have to do with German democracy and what freedom means in different contexts – free of charge on board of “MS Wissenschaft”!
The Museum Koenig in Bonn is a natural history museum and at the same time a historically significant PLACE OF DEMOCRATIC HISTORY: after the end of the dictatorship of the National Socialists in the Third Reich, the opening ceremony of the Parliamentary Council took place in the atrium of the museum on September 1, 1948 – the birth of today’s Basic Law. The taxidermied animals had to make way for the event – including two giraffes that Alexander Koenig had brought back from his expeditions to Africa. But what was to happen to these large animals? How and why they “watched” the opening of the Parliamentary Council, how they got their special name and much more – exhibit no. 17 “Contemporary animal witnesses” tells the story. The small bronze sculpture of the seated female “federal giraffe” was created in the early 1930s. It can be seen on board the MS Wissenschaft in Germany until mid-September and then in Austria until October 3rd. The two “federal giraffes” are an integral part of the permanent exhibition “Savannah – changing paradise” at the Museum Koenig Bonn of the LEIBNIZ INSTITUTE FOR THE ANALYSIS OF BIODIVERSITY CHANGE.
We look forward to welcoming you on board the “MS Wissenschaft”: we will be in Bonn from August 21 – 23 at the KD Landebrücke, Brassertufer. In addition, we will be offering free guided tours of the history, the “Ask the Federal Giraffe” campaign and film screenings during the docking week at Museum Koenig Bonn. Curious? Take a look at our EVENTS CALENDAR (IN GERMAN).
VISIT the MS WISSENSCHAFT & TOUR DATES
