"Your voluntary and creative commitment to history and culture in our state cannot be overestimated," said State Secretary Simone Schneider at the KuLaDig Network Meeting 2024 at Malberg Castle in the Eifel region, paying tribute to the commitment of citizens and local authorities. She was delighted with the great response to KuLaDig, which stands for Kultur.Landschaft.Digital and is a project of the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of the Interior that supports local authorities and volunteers across the state in digitizing the special features of their locality and making them tangible. The State Secretary honored a total of 18 municipalities at the KuLaDig network meeting.
In 2022 and 2023, eight municipalities each successfully participated in the model project "Digital recording and presentation of cultural landscapes in Rhineland-Palatinate" in cooperation with the University of Koblenz, while two others participated with the support of the KuLaDig Competence Center Rhineland-Palatinate at the Structural and Approval Directorate South (SGD Süd). The President of the Struktur- und Genehmigungsdirektion Süd Prof. Dr. Hannes Kopf also expressed his thanks for the great commitment and above all for the hospitality of the Förderverein Schloss Malberg, the Verbandsgemeinde Bitburger Land and the Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prüm.
During several presentations, the guests were inspired by current trends and possibilities of digitalization as well as the target group-oriented presentation of history and historical sites and exchanged ideas. From playful approaches such as gamification, to various forms of storytelling, to the latest technical possibilities such as 3D scans or the use of artificial intelligence, or experience reports from Ku-LaDig enthusiasts, there was a wide range on offer. In the castle's arcade building, guests were able to find out about digital trends and opportunities at the stands of various exhibitors from Rhineland-Palatinate.
KuLaDig Model Municipalities 2022 were Bellheim, Berglicht, Bretzenheim, Dausenau, Idar-Oberstein, Mackenbach, Nierstein and Treis-Karden. KuLaDig Model Municipality 2023 were Bad Sobernheim, Edenkoben, Kaub, Kirchheimbolanden, Kusel district, Moselkern, Pirmasens and Traben-Trarbach. Historically significant buildings, cultural landscapes and intangible cultural heritage such as traditions are recorded and digitized in KuLaDig Rhineland-Palatinate.
The award was accepted on behalf of Idar-Oberstein by Isabelle Hahn from the tourist information office and Dr. Svenja Müller from the city archives. Isabelle Hahn had initiated the project with the theme "Gemstone and Jewelry Metropolis Idar-Oberstein" with her application. In collaboration with students from the University of Koblenz, but above all with local experts such as the Jakob Bengel Industrial Monument, the German Gemstone Museum, the German Mineral Museum and the Historical Weiherschleife, a local contribution and eight sub-objects were created. Enriched by numerous historical photos, videos with contemporary witnesses and experts as well as a virtual tour of the Bengel industrial monument, professions and social history relating to the jewelry and gemstone industry are brought back to life. The articles on Idar-Oberstein and the other model municipalities are available at https://www.kuladig.de/Objektansicht/KLD-344439#id5.