With less than a 100.000 expected visitors some might view the impressive exhibition on Otto the Great in Magdeburg a failure
Magdeburg put up an exhibition in 2001 about the life and times of Otto the Great. 300.000 visitors came to see this. 2006 Magdeburg together with Berlin hosted another exhibition on The Holy Roman Empire. This attracted 250.000 visitors. This year the city has hosted yet another “Otto the Great exhibition” on the concept of the Roman Empire in its different disguises from Augustus to Otto the Great. The organisers definitely hoped for more than 100.000 visitors. However, only three weeks to go, they acknowledged that they will probably not reach more than 90.000.
The organisers are obviously a bit puzzled by this. It has to be analysed first, they have said to the media. One thing, however, is obvious: it is the locals who have missed out.
The curator, Dr. Gabriele Köster, however, warns in an interview with the local radio-station, MDR, the doomsayers off: the success of the exhibition cannot be solely measured in the number of visitors. From a scientific point of view it has generated a huge catalogue, a scientific publication plus a valuable profit amongst hotels and restaurants in Magdeburg.
Nevertheless, the question remains to what extent such large events are worthwhile. Maybe the time has come to rethink the format.
The exhibition has cost €3 mil to mount. With the expected number of visitors this amounts to €30 pr. person. With a ticket at € 9 -12 plus (maybe an audio-guide at €2-4) this means that only half of the budget will be recovered by the organisers, though income from books, merchandise, events etc. might end up contributing at least to some extent.
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Otto the Great and the Roman Empire. Emperorship from Antiquity to the Middle Ages.