More than 100 German museums offer guided tours by phone.

Dpa

La Jornada Newspaper, Monday, June 16, 2025, p. 5

Hamburg/Cologne, More than 100 German museums are participating in an initiative to bring their exhibitions closer to people who cannot see or be physically present at the venues, with guided telephone tours that allow viewers to sit on their sofas at home.

The program is aimed at people who would like to experience a live cultural experience but cannot, for example, because they are blind or have limited mobility, or don't feel comfortable in large groups. At the Museum of Applied Arts in Cologne, the guided tour is about to begin. Fifteen people are waiting for their guide, Corinna Fehrenbach, but the art expert is alone at the entrance. She puts on her headphones, calls a number, and begins to talk.

I'm here, ready in the museum's grand foyer, and Cologne Cathedral is just two minutes away. "To give you an idea of ​​where we are ," she says, talking about the design exhibition. Fehrenbach offers a one-hour guided tour by phone.

On Sunday, June 15, the Hamburger Kunsthalle joined the initiative with an exhibition of works by Manet, Schmidt-Rottluff, and Belgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere.

The idea was launched by the Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted, Hamburg museums, and an inclusion office in February 2021, during the COVID pandemic.

There are 111 cultural organizations that have already offered a telephone visit or will do so , says director Melanie Wölwer.

Gertrud Feld, 61, a resident of Saarbrücken, has already been guided through the Helmut Schmidt House in Hamburg, Museum Island in Berlin, and the Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar.

I'm so happy to hear and experience so many things from home. I always discover something beautiful, new, and exciting , she shares.