Archaeological summer exhibition with spectacular exhibits

It is already clear that the exhibition ‘Grave 447 – A Frankish Warrior on His Way to the Afterlife’ will be a special highlight. Interactive presentations and spectacular installations will transform the kING (Ingelheim Culture and Congress Hall) into a fascinating ‘pop-up museum’ for three weeks.

The summer exhibition at kING, organised in cooperation with the Kaiserpfalz Research Centre, presents the finds from an untouched warrior's grave from the seventh century (grave 447), which was discovered in 2023 during archaeological excavations by the Kaiserpfalz Research Centre on Rotweinstraße. One of the central exhibits is the impressive 3D hologram in the middle of the Great Hall of the kING. From a platform, visitors can see what the Frankish warrior who was buried in Ingelheim around 1,400 years ago probably looked like. Thanks to state-of-the-art deep frame technology and magnificent effects, the warrior is brought to life in an impressive way before the eyes of visitors. The reconstruction of the Frankish warrior was made possible by Liane Bellmann. The long-time employee of the Hessian State Criminal Police Office (HLKA) is a specialist in facial reconstruction and enthusiastically participated in the ‘Grave 447’ project in her spare time. This is because depicting the facial features of someone who died 1,400 years ago requires a very special expertise that goes far beyond the scope of classical archaeology.

The summer exhibition ‘Hands-on Archaeology’ is particularly exciting. It offers a glimpse into a reconstructed grave from the early Middle Ages and presents the grave goods of a Frankish warrior who was buried in Ingelheim in the second quarter of the seventh century. In a display case framed by a strip of light, the excavation site is faithfully recreated so that visitors can immerse themselves in the archaeological work. In addition, there are various stations in the Great Hall that offer in-depth information on selected topics with interactive elements.

The discovery of grave number 447 in an early medieval burial ground on Rotweinstraße two years ago caused a minor sensation among experts: in the middle of two graves that had already been plundered in the Middle Ages, the excavation team came across a completely untouched burial that the grave robbers had apparently overlooked. The finds will be presented to the public for the first time at the summer exhibition at kING.

The exhibition is organised by Ingelheimer Kultur und Marketing GmbH (IkUM) in cooperation with the Kaiserpfalz archaeological research centre in Ingelheim. The exhibition is supported by Boehringer Ingelheim, the Rhineland-Palatinate Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory, Magic Holo and the Ingelheim MitMachAusstellung (MiMa) as cooperation partners. The patron of the exhibition is Rhineland-Palatinate's Minister of the Interior, Michael Ebling.

Further information about the exhibition (opening hours, admission prices, tickets and accompanying programme) is available online at www.king-ingelheim.de/grab-447.