Museum “Between Heaven and Earth”

In August 2015 a high-alpine museum which allows visitors to immerse themselves in mountain climbing expeditions and takes them on a largely interactive tour through the world of the eight-thousanders was opened in the monastery at Spital am Phyrn, Austria. The permanent exhibition “Between Heaven and Earth – Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and the World of the Eight-thousanders” is dedicated to Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner who was born in Spital and Alfred Imitzer, who came from Spital and was killed in 1986 during the descent from K2 following the first Austrian ascent of the mountain.   

Interactive Mountain Experience

Extreme weather conditions are displayed in a room with multimedia facilities. Visitors can experience not only the extreme altitude, the steep slopes of the rock faces, the force of the wind and the weather on the eight-thousanders but can also view at the Himalaya and Karakoram mountain ranges from outer space. The museum, which has a floor area of 400m², shows the history of mountaineering in Europe and in the region of the eight-thousanders, the necessary equipment and the physical and mental requirements of the mountaineers. The visitors immerse themselves in the world of the individual eight-thousanders and become familiar with the phases of high alpine expeditions. 

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner

And last but not least an insight into the alpinist Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner is a must. “We had a good think about what is authentic for Spital and our conclusion was Gerlinde,” said Ägidius Exenberger, the mayor. The extreme mountaineer, born in 1970 and who grew up in Spital, was the first woman to conquer all 14 eight-thousanders without supplementary oxygen.  She is also the patroness of the museum and hopes that, “each visitor will be able to gain something from the visit and will be inspired by the mountains”. As a souvenir you can take a selfie in front of the eight-thousander of your choice or browse for suitable gifts in the museum shop.  In front of the museum a 6.8m high climbing tower in the form of K2 on a scale of 1:1000 awaits daring visitors.
Peter Hans Felzmann (Monte Projects) was in charge of the design of the museum and it was constructed by Touristische Freizeiteinrichtungen Wurmkogler GmbH under its Managing Director Alois Aigner. The total investment was about one million euros.

AV Technology in Detail

The museum is equipped with modern AV solutions by AV Stumpfl. The projections are shown via Wings Engine Play Media Servers and FHD Players. The choice of high-resolution short-throw projectors by Canon is deliberate as the confined spaces can be utilized perfectly by the XEED WUX400ST and a photorealistic projection quality can be achieved.
Wings Avio Service controls the sequences. The listening points are realized by SC Master show controllers, whereby individual audio samples can be started via buttons and several audio channels reproduced in parallel through headphones.
A WUX400ST is also responsible for the projection on the rear wall of the Selfie Corner and the visitor can select the subject himself directly via iPad. Activation is by way of Wings IOboxes and FHD players.
 
5x Canon XEED WUX400ST
1x Wings Engine Dual MD
6x FHD Player
1x SC Master 6
1x SC Master 16
1x SC Net DMX
2x SC Net Remote
2x Avio Service
1x Wings IObos Remote
1x Wings IObox Serial
 

Companies involved:

www.monteprojects.at
www.cg-technik.at