Power to the tur

For the annual special exhibition for the advent season in the barockscheune, cultural adviser and chairman of the heimatverein herbert meyer has again put together something special. What the title "macht hoch die tur" does not quite reveal are advent calendars from private collections and small collectors’ pieces from bygone times, which are intended to bring joy in the pre-christmas period.

Colorful, decorative, and glittering in all variations, the different examples give an insight into the preferences of past decades, not to mention today’s modern calendars with chocolate and little surprises. On rough walls, herbert meyer and his helpers arranged the calendars according to motifs, such as "santa claus in his workshop," "christkindlhauser," "children and angels," "snow landscapes with animals," or calendars with christmas views of dresden, leipzig, nurnberg, bamberg and wurzburg. Objects from the first wartime christmas in 1939 or the first peace christmas can also be seen in a display case, including leaves with the sun wheel and the inscription "wintersonnenwende" instead of "weihnachten" as introduced by the national socialists.

In addition, the self-made, imaginative advent calendars, also in oversized sizes, as well as books, small surprise gifts and miniature calendars are fascinating. Also 24 paper corners, labeled with numbers and strung together like beads on a string, were common back then.

There are 200 objects in total, together with the advent candles and advent decorations even 250, says initiator herbert meyer. The oldest calendar dates back to 1939 and the latest one to 2013. He recalls the middle of the 19th century. The need for an advent wreath with four red candles became commonplace in the run-up to christmas in the early twentieth century. It was 105 years ago in munich that the first advent calendar was printed. The childish predecessors of the advent calendar were local at the time, says meyer.

It’s hard to believe how the season of expectation can inspire the mind, as evidenced by creative and individually designed calendars. People did a lot of handicrafts, pasted a piece of paper with figures or numbers they had painted themselves. When paper was in short supply in the past, other means were found, as meyer tells of straws that were placed in the still empty manger every day. But all objects were always timepieces: candles with markings, for example, from which a small section was burned every day, or 24 chalk marks on blackboards or doors, one of which was extinguished every day.

In addition to the lenders of the exhibition pieces, including erna geserick and siegrun piechullek (nurnberg) as well as gerlind zick and edeka kolb (volkach), herbert meyer would also like to thank lothar engert, gerlind zick and the bauhof for their support in setting up the exhibition.

Geoffnet is the exhibition of 30. November 2013 to 6. January 2014, sundays and public holidays 1 to 5 p.M., auber 24., 25. And 31. December.