Exploring Königstein Fortress with VR

Königstein Fortress wants to send its visitors on a journey through time using digital technology, and is using VR in an exhibition for the first time. Two pairs of glasses take visitors to Georgenburg Castle back 400 years ago.

Using VR glasses, visitors virtually enter Georgenburg Castle, located on the north-west side of the mountain fortress, in a state of construction that no longer exists today. Little remains today of the electoral splendour of the Renaissance castle under John George I of Saxony. The Königstein fortress building was remodelled in the 18th century and used to house state prisoners and guards until the 20th century.

Enter the Renaissance-era Georgenburg Castle

In the virtual world, the shape of Georgenburg Castle during the Renaissance at the beginning of the 17th century is visualised and brought to life for visitors in three dimensions. The viewer sits on a media station and navigates individually through the building with their eyes. The Renaissance gables and dwarf houses decorated with volutes on the façade, the artistically painted wooden beam ceilings, the mighty ovens and the numerous stag heads in the interior can be seen. The kitchen, courtyard parlour and arcade are open to the public.

For the first time, the mountain fortress also offers insights into the elector's living quarters on the upper floor of Georgenburg Castle. As the administrative offices of Königstein Fortress are located here today, museum visitors are not normally allowed to enter. The VR glasses are an impressive alternative to the tour.

Lively scenery with the elector

Not only the reconstructed rooms are on display. A lively scenery with historical people and events completes the journey through time. A historically authenticated visit by Elector Johann Georg I to Königstein in September 1637 is recreated.

When he arrives, there is a hive of activity: Nobles, soldiers, servants and members of the bodyguard populate the castle courtyard and the rooms in Georgenburg Castle. Maids work in the kitchen and prepare the elector's chambers. The elector himself holds an audience while the high court preacher prepares for the next sermon in the neighbouring church hall.

Finance Minister Dr Matthias Hass: "The new 3D media station invites visitors on a lively journey through time, conveying Saxon history in a modern and contemporary way. It also rounds off the seven-year renovation of Georgenburg Castle, which was completed in 2018. The architectural history and restoration findings gained during the renovation are now seeing the light of day for the first time. This will make Königstein Fortress an even more attractive excursion destination in Saxon Switzerland."

Dr Angelika Taube, Managing Director of Festung Königstein gGmbH, adds: "The VR stations are revolutionising the museum visit. Historical conditions at Königstein Fortress are becoming more present than ever before. The new technology opens up previously unimagined possibilities for imparting knowledge. Images, texts or visual objects cannot do what VR glasses can."

Virtual world is historically documented

The virtual world depicted is based on extensive research work. In the course of the recent refurbishment of Georgenburg Castle, building history and restoration studies provided new insights. Historical inventories also provided valuable information about the function of the individual rooms and their furnishings.

Source: Leipziger Internet Zeitung