For one day, Open Monument Day gives locals, internationals and tourists the opportunity to see thousands of monuments and historical sites for free! Germany is full of monuments and memorials, so this is a must for anyone even remotely interested in heritage and history!
Occurring annually, Open Monument Day (known locally as Tag des offenen Denkmals) encourages locals and visitors alike to explore the richness of the heritage of Germany. Many German monuments and memorials will be featured and many that are not usually open to the public will offer special programmes and tours.
It is part of a larger Europe-wide event: European Heritage Days, in which European cultural legacy is celebrated by visiting the numerous historic sites around Europe. For instance, there is an Open Monument Day in the Netherlands and European Heritage Day in Switzerland. More than 4.000 historical buildings and sites, many of which are normally closed or have restricted access, will open their doors to the public free of charge.
Besides the possibility of visiting individual monuments for free in various German cities, Open Monument Day also presents a surprising programme with walks, boat trips, concerts, lectures, an evening programme and activities for kids.
Many locations will organise on-site activities like exhibitions, musical performances and guided tours. Open Monument Day happenings are not limited to traditional sites like museums or historic German landmarks: areas of interest also include landscape heritage, including national parks, castles and palaces.
Thumb photo: © Roland Rossner, Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz
Take a look at monuments under the microscope on Open Monument Day with a focus on people and their way of learning as they enjoy the cultural life over the years, decades and centuries, in all its many shapes and forms, from theatres to museums and archaeological sites to national parks.
Each city goes about celebrating Open Monument Day in a different way. This year, there is a rich online programme, too. Check out the Open Monument Day | Tag des offenen Denkmals website (in German) or the European Heritage Days website (in English) for more information.