History
Following the example of the Children's Museum in Boston, Helen Bonzel and her husband founded this museum in 1991 as a private initiative, which is unique in Germany to date. In order to guarantee the project a broader field with regard to participation in its development, an association for the promotion of the Children's Academy Fulda was founded in 1991, which Helen Bonzel presided over as managing director.
The Children's Museum is located at Mehlerstraße 8 in a former industrial building from the 1960s. It covers an area of around 2,000 square meters and can boast an average of around 50,000 visitors a year. Among the guests are families with children but also whole school classes. What is particularly appealing is that the KAF is a museum - not only - for children, where participation has top priority.
In 1998, Helen Bonzel received the Medal of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and in 2001 she was awarded the Goethe Plaque of the Hessian Ministry of Science for her educational commitment.
The Children's Academy itself has also received several awards, such as the designation "One of the 365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas" or the "Future Youth Culture Award of the PWC Foundation". In 2014, the founder and her husband received the Culture Award of the City of Fulda, and two years later they were awarded the Hessian Order of Merit for their volunteer work. Since the Children's Academy is a non-profit institution, it relies on donations.
Concept
The Children's Academy has set itself the task of bringing children from the age of 3 closer to art, science and technology through play. It is on the one hand a museum, and on the other hand an educational institution, i.e. an academy. The abbreviation KAF does not only stand for Kinder-Akademie Fulda, but at the same time for the guiding principle of the museum: Come, try and research.
In the academy area, workshops in the fields of art and science are offered for children and young people under professional supervision - primarily during the Hessian school vacations. The motto is: learning with fun.
Furthermore, the Children's Academy scores with different exhibitions and topics, which are not only meant to be marveled at and looked at, but rather to be touched, tried out and experimented with.
In addition to the permanent exhibitions, which are characterized by interactive things such as 3-D objects, microscopes and mirrors, but also the ball tracks of Pierre Andrès, the visitor will always find interesting temporary exhibitions, which are also intended for children of pre-school and primary school age.
One of the most important and famous objects is the "Walk-in Heart", a unique learning station that is not found anywhere else in Europe.
The walk-in heart
When one thinks of the Fulda Children's Academy, "The Walk-in Heart" immediately comes to mind. This is an approximately 5-meter-high replica of a human heart that you can walk through - as a "red blood cell". On a floor space of 36 square meters, the four heart chambers have to be traversed according to the blood flow. In addition to having a lot of fun, young and old alike can learn a great deal about the structure and function of the heart. Medical experts are on hand to provide explanations. Listening to the heartbeat with a real stethoscope is another highlight for many children.
