814 Charlemagne died in his bed in Aachen and was buried there. Unusual for his time he got to be 72 Years old after having reigned first as king and later emperor for 46 years. 2014 Aachen is planning huge festivities, not least three extraordinary exhibitions:

The first one – Places of Power – will be housed in the coronation hall and focus will be on the palaces of Charlemagne. The second – the Art of Charlemagne – will be organised at a new exhibition venue, the Centre Charlemagne. The last one – Lost Treasures – will be located at the treasury of the Cathedral and showcase all the lost trinkets, souvenirs, bones etc.

There is no doubt: The city of Aachen hopes for a resuscitation of the former Aachen-success in 1968 as well as that of Paderborn in 1999, when this city mounted an exhibition on the “Art and Culture of the Carolingians, celebrating the meeting between Charlemagne and the Pope Leo III in this outpost of his kingdom. With more than 2000 press articles, 280 pieces of priceless art from European collections and 311.287 visitors this exhibition became a virtual boost for this charming small city in the middle of Northern Germany. The planners in Aachen will probably not be satisfied with less, although 100.000 visitors will make it into a success.

Presently, however, the curators are running out of time. Although the German President, Joachim Gauck has already promised to open the exhibition, the project lacks €2 mill in order to meet the expectations. As of now the Mayor and Magistrate in Aachen has decided to slash all other cultural projects in the city in order to have a reserve in case promises from sponsors and foundations are not fulfilled.

Further the organisers have to build the largest and most complicated of the planned exhibitions, which is located at the City Hall in less than 18 days, as the setting, the Coronation Hall, is the traditional place for the handing over of the so-called Karls-Preiss; this takes place less than three weeks before the grand opening of the exhibitions.

When it comes to lending the priceless artefacts, the agenda is fulfilled. 33 fragile pieces have been promised for the exhibition of at the Treasury of the Cathedral, while 260 pieces for the exhibition at the Town Hall have been confirmed.

Coordination and organisation of all this plus the visual program has been allocated to a new organisation, but the economy is still the matter for the city. Mid 2013 the money has to start flowing.

READ MORE:

Culture must downsize in order to finance the “Karlsjahr”

Preliminary introduction to the exhibitions

Report about the exhibition in Paderborn in 1999