Smart Stories and Music from the Spice Boxes

The audio guide comes in the form of an iPod Touch 4 which is equipped with a specifically designed RFID reader. Audio guide logos with passive RFID tags are attached to each individual station of the tour and thanks to this technology, the children can become active participants in the tour. As a first step, they have to look for and find the respective objects. In the course of their search, they sometimes have to work their way through tunnels or enter secret caves. The audio tour automatically starts again as soon as the object in question is found - the iPod only has to be held near the audio guide logo. An additional attraction of the tour are the five hidden "beamboxes" through which the children are able to beam useful things into their "hodgepodge kit" on the iPod and thus bring the exhibits to life in a number of different ways.

On their tour, the kids will be guided by five cheeky besamim boxes. These boxes are actually ritual spice boxes, filled with cinnamon, clovers and cardamom. When Shabbat draws to a close in the Havdalah ceremony, the smell of the spices is supposed to cheer up those about to start a new school or working week. The set of boxes, designed by the artist Paula Newman Pollachek in the shape of wild flowers, is already one of the highlights of the exhibition section "Tradition and Change". In the Children’s Audio Guide for kids the boxes are taking on a new role: the flowers develop a life of their own and become protagonists as a band.

Playing their groovy music, they will accompany the children on their journey through the Jewish Museum Berlin: the warm-hearted singer Columbine, the sceptical guitar player Noyo, the eccentric tinkerer Diestrich at the keyboard, the dreamy drum player Cea and the relaxed Leo at the bass. Their conversations are informative, but funny and quirky at the same time and they introduce the children to the topics and exhibits of the museum in a way that is entertaining and fun.

Over the course of the tour, the children can call up stories on 14 of the objects - they are all just under three minutes long and contain information about the topics of the exhibition, Jewish religion and traditions and German-Jewish history. The overall tour leads to 22 stations and takes about an hour and a half to complete. The recordings are 45 minutes long in total.

The audio guide introduces children to a wide range of topics. Why is there a pomegranate tree in the museum and why is one of the exhibits a fish called gurnard? What are religious Jews allowed to eat and what do children learn in a Jewish school? Jeff Burrell, Jill Hollwerda, Dshamilja Leach lend their voices to the five band members. Musician and audio play producer F.S. Blumm has not only composed the music for the Spice Boxes, he also developed the crazy sounds that turn the Children’s Audio Guide into a special experience.

The Children’s Audio Guide was developed as part of the Poseidon Project in cooperation with Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. The Project is sponsored by the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRE).

Children’s Audio Guide between 8 und 12 in German and English

Photos of the Children´s Audio Guide are available on request and can be used for the coverage of currents topics, proper picture credits apply.

Selected audio previews will be available for download shortly, please check our website under "Press".