The home page convinces modern viewing habits by its light and tidy design. One editorially selected object from bavarikon is placed prominently, inviting visitors of the site to take a look around the voluminous collection of objects of Germany's largest fully integrated digital cultural portal. These intuitive access points can now be found throughout the website. The pages of the digital objects have been complemented by a newly designed, user-friendly object detail view, thus offering all information at a glance. In addition, the exhibit is shown in its collection context for the first time, and is also directly linked up to the associated collection. More detailed and additional information is thus available directly. The news section on the home page is a further new feature. Interested portal users will thus no longer miss out on any bavarikon-relevant news and can obtain information on, for example, the latest digitized objects, partners and projects.

Minister of the Arts Markus Blume stresses:

Art on all channels is no dream of the future in Bavaria: The culture portal bavarikon has presented the rich cultural heritage of Bavaria free of charge and internationally for ten years now. The portal has grown to over 440,000 objects and around 650 collections held by over 150 partner institutions, meaning that it surely contains many gems that you have not seen yet. I therefore strongly recommend immersing yourself in our virtual treasure chest at "bavarikon.de"!

Minister of Digital Affairs Judith Gerlach:

The digitization of our historical treasures in Bavaria is a wonderful thing. Our citizens can use bavarikon to delve into this history at any time and from anywhere, free of charge. We are making our regional history perceptible and tangible online with this project. Digital means allow for bringing the past to the present.

The collections of the bavarikon partners can now be found for the first time as an independent topical area via the navigation bar and via a newly designed access point on the home page. Coins and medals from the early modern period in Bavaria, copper engravings by Michael Wening or the Bamberg emperor's clothes – the collections invite users to come on a discovery tour of bavarikon. Users are given an overview of the respective topic in the descriptions of the collections and can continue surfing to the objects. A number of collections even open locked doors: Cultural treasures which rarely leave the vaults due to their high value or their fragile state can be admired at bavarikon in the form of digital copies within their collection context. New collections are launched online regularly, with the latest collection being one of mushroom watercolours of the Bavarian State Collection for Botany.

The presentation of the digital objects is complemented by editorially compiled content in the new bavarikon. For the first time, this also applies to the revised search access point "Persons", which introduces those people to us who have left their mark on Bavaria and its history. Important Bavarian personalities are now highlighted with their own short profiles, complementing the digital items and the references to relevant dictionary entries already included. Further, 24 digital exhibitions have already been supplied in curated form for online presentation.

Institutions such as the Agency for Digitisation, High-Speed Internet and Surveying, the Archaeological State Collection and the Bavarian State Archives present their treasures in bavarikon. Also, a broad variety of regional cultural institutions is present, for example the Museum Oberschönenfeld of the District Swabia, the City Archive Straubing from Lower Bavaria and the Research Center for Franconian Folk Music for the Franconian districts.

Dr. Klaus Ceynowa, Director General of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek:

With the new website, bavarikon develops from a mere shop window showcasing the art and culture of Bavaria into an instance of digital culture conveyance with a broad impact and the power to inspire, on a superregional and international level. This makes bavarikon a pioneer and paragon of digital transformation in the cultural area.

To the online culture portal bavarikon:
www.bavarikon.de

Press release for download  (PDF, 176 KB)  (in German)

Contact

Florian Sepp M. A.
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
Digital Library and Bavarica
Division Bavarica
Phone  +49 89 28638-2767
florian.sepp@bsb-muenchen.de

Irma Bachhammer M. A.
Division Communications
Phone  +49 89 28638-2024
presse@bavarikon.de