• Aachen's museums are celebrating International Museum Day on Sunday, May 18, 2025.
• Entertaining activities with free admission await in the city's museums and Aachen Town Hall.
• A family festival for all interested parties with many opportunities for direct participation.

"Discover museums", this motto is an appeal. To art enthusiasts, museum lovers, "new discoverers", young and old, to everyone to seize this day as an opportunity: On Sunday, May 18, museums all over Germany will once again be celebrating the day of action. Aachen's museums are also taking part and, in close cooperation with the Museumsdienst Aachen, are offering an ambitious, extraordinary program - with cross-disciplinary highlights and plenty of room to join in. Whether in the International Newspaper Museum, the Couven Museum, the Centre Charlemagne or the Town Hall, whether in the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum or the Ludwig Forum: on Sunday, museums can be discovered everywhere with free admission and celebrated with a wonderful family festival.

Heinrich Brötz, Aachen's Councillor for Education, Youth and Culture, is looking forward to the upcoming day of action: "The International Museum Day is particularly impressive with its interactive program items. We see this coming Sunday as an opportunity to welcome many people to the museums who would otherwise rarely or never visit them."

The varied program is tailored to the individual museums and is entirely in keeping with this year's motto. In addition to the exhibitions and collections, there is a lot to discover in Aachen's museums: paper-making, painting with the whole body, an ensemble concert by the music school, a rally or direct participation in the change process of a museum and many other activities.

The day also offers the chance to take a look behind the scenes of the museums and explore the question "What does a museum actually do?". Direct participation, the dialog, is a decisive factor that is not neglected on Museum Day. In all Aachen's museums, the public is encouraged to join in, be courageous and get talking. Every question is welcome!

The program:

Registration is required for some program items. Further information can be found on the websites of the museums and the town hall.


Couven Museum

10.00 - 17.00
Children's rally - discover the Couven Museum. Small prizes await.

11.00 a.m.
Heating, stove, heat pump. A tour of the Couven Museum with Georg Tilger

13.00
Images of women - role models. A tour of the Couven Museum with Dr. Monika Haas

3.00 p.m.
Living in front of IKEA. A tour of the Couven Museum with Belinda Petri


International Newspaper Museum

10.00 - 15.30
Facelifting: Help us with your advice for the renewal of the museum!

from 3.30 pm
Facelifting: talk with Andreas Düspohl, Director of the Newspaper Museum, in the IZM library

The permanent exhibition of the International Newspaper Museum has now been in existence for more than 10 years. The world of media has developed rapidly since then - reason enough to think about a general overhaul.

12.00 - 16.00
Paper-making from the large paper mill - offer for families

12.30 p.m.
Media change. A tour of the house

2.00 pm
How AI is changing the museum landscape.
Lecture by Andreas Düspohl, Director of the Zeitungsmuseum,
in the library of the IZM


Ludwig Forum for International Art

11 am - 12.30 pm
Interactive family tour Catching Colors and Shapes

12 pm - 2 pm
Open art dialogue with student Yasmin Ashegh Toogi on the exhibition Amy Sillman. Oh, Clock!

1 - 3 p.m.
Family workshop Oh, Body! Oh, Painting!
Registration for the family workshop is required by Friday, May 16, 12 noon.

1.30 - 2.30 p.m.
Public guided tour in English with Mailin Haberland (curatorial assistant) through the exhibition Amy Sillman. Oh, Clock!

3 - 4 p.m.
Public guided tour with Mailin Haberland (curatorial assistant) through the exhibition Amy Sillman. Oh, Clock!

With the start of spring, the park and inner courtyard of the Ludwig Forum can be used for a picnic.


Centre Charlemagne

10.00 - 18.00
Children's rally - discover the Centre Charlemagne. There are small prizes to be won.

11.00 a.m.
75 years of the Charlemagne Prize
A tour of the special exhibition with Dr. Jürgen Linden, spokesman for the Charlemagne Prize Board of Directors (meeting point: foyer)

12.00 noon
Political co-determination
A themed tour of the permanent exhibition with Sybille Reuss (meeting point: foyer)

2 p.m.
What does a museum actually do and what is it good for?
Introduction and tour behind the scenes of the Centre Charlemagne with Dr. Frank Pohle, head of the Route Charlemagne (meeting point: auditorium)

3.30 p.m.
Life in Charlemagne's time
Family tour of the permanent exhibition with Dr. Monika Haas (meeting point: foyer)

16.30
Railway in Aachen. Disappeared and little known (Nordbahnhof, Ronheider Rampe, Moltkebahnhof etc.)
A lecture with Lars Neugebauer, Deputy Director of the Centre Charlemagne, in the Auditorium

Town Hall

10.00 a.m.
Guided tour of the Granus Tower
with Prof. Dr. Harald Müller and Michael Ferber, Rathausverein (meeting point: Hühnermarkt) Registration by telephone is required: Tel. 0241 - 432 4956 during business hours Mon - Fri 9.00 a.m. - 1.00 p.m.

10.30 h
Public guided tour through the town hall
(Organizer: Aachen Tourist Service (ats), meeting point: Foyer Rathaus)

12.00 h
Guided tour Granusturm
with Prof. Dr. Harald Müller and Michael Ferber, Rathausverein (meeting point: Hühnermarkt) Registration by telephone is required: Tel. 0241 - 432 4956 during business hours Mon - Fri 9.00 am - 1.00 pm.

13.00 h
Political values and their representation through the ages
A short tour of the Town Hall with Dr. Frank Pohle, Head of the Route Charlemagne (meeting point: Foyer Town Hall)

3.00 h
Guided tour of the Town Hall for children of primary school age
(organized by Aachen Tourist Service (ats), meeting point: Foyer Town Hall)

10.00 - 16.00 a.m.
Citizens' Dialogue stand in the foyer of the Town Hall
(City of the Future and Citizens' Dialogue Department)
Aachen is working with numerous stakeholders to become an innovative municipality for citizens' dialogue and to shape the future of the city together with urban society.


Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum

All day

• Time travel rally: explore the collection independently
• On the trail of Michael Triegel: Rally through the special exhibition "Beyond the visible. The pictorial world of Michael Triegel"
• Coloring station with spring motifs in the foyer

11.00 a.m.
The sound of spring!
Spring concert by the Aachen Music School
The Streicherfüchse are the youngest string players at the music school. They present a colorful array of beautiful melodies and enchant the audience with violins, cellos and double bass. With Aki Sakamoto-Bartz
Lecture hall

12.00 p.m.
A bouquet of flowers full of sound
Spring concert of the Aachen Music School
The twelve cellos of the Aachen Music School's cello ensemble present a colorful program through the centuries from Bach to Blackwell to Beatles. With Antje Renner
Lecture hall

1.00 pm
DA (ZWISCHEN-) SEIN
Curator's tour of the group exhibition. With curator Sena-Marie Cirit

14.00 - 16.00
Blumendrucke
Family workshop for young and old artists. With Kathrin Philipp-Jeiter

2.30 pm
Melodies from afar
Spring concert by the Aachen Music School
The youth string orchestra of the Aachen Music School invites you to experience traditional folk music from other countries in a classical setting. With Moira Cameron
Lecture hall

3.00 - 4.00 pm
Beyond the visible. The pictorial world of Michael Triegel
Public guided tour through the temporary exhibition.
The number of participants is limited, reservations are not possible.
Meeting point: museum ticket office
With Michaela Giesen

4.00 pm
Vacation on the dream island
Spring concert of the Aachen Music School
The various instruments (violin, cello, bass) of the children's string orchestra of the Aachen Music School introduce themselves and go on a musical journey together. With Yvonne Hermanns-Kosarew
Lecture hall

Background:
International Museum Day
International Museum Day has been proclaimed by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) every year in May since 1978. Since 1992, it has been accompanied by an annually changing motto. The aim of International Museum Day is to draw attention to the broad spectrum of museum work and the thematic diversity of museums around the world. In Germany, International Museum Day is held under the patronage of the President of the Federal Council.