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The first Planetary Learning Path in the world for the Blind and Seeing

Planetary Learning Paths should help make the unimaginable dimensions of space, the size of the celestial bodies, and their distance from one another also sensually comprehensible.

The Marburg Planetary Leaning Path is the first of its kind in Hessen. It is the first in the world, which also accommodates blind persons.

A colored plan in the three display cases makes it possible for blind and seeing guests to obtain a geographic understanding of the Learning Path’s stretch. Additionally, the information on the bronze tablets of the sun and the planetary stations were printed in raised letters and Braille. The brochures for the Learning path have also been printed in Braille and, for elderly blind persons and high levels of blindness, professionally read aloud onto cassettes.

The Planetary Learning Path came into being as a project of the Politics Work Group at the Carl Strehl School, from the primary school for the blind and seeing impared for the German Institute for the Blind (Blista) in Marburg. Initiator and organizers of the Learning Path was the teacher Hans Junker. In combination with the Work Group theme “communal politics”, he planned and realized this one-of-a-kind Learning Path with 7 of his students in the 9th and 10th grade during September 1994 until September 1995.

The astronomic community awarded the “Hans-Ludwig-Neumann-Prize” for the project 1996 for the first time. At a congress of the Astronomic Community of Tübingen, the community’s head, professor Dr. Hanns Ruder, founded the awarding of the prize in saying that, “This outstanding didactic plan is above and beyond that of a school project” in that it helps to promote the general understanding of astronomic principles, and “the work bring the school closer to the wider general public.”

The sun and the planetary columns were built and monitored by the indispensable apprentices of the Craftsman Apprenticeship Center in Marburg under the leadership of Mr. Wick, Mr. Heine, and Mr. Gerhard. The models for the planetary stations were created in the work shops of the German Institute for Blind Studies. The molding of the bronze tablets was assumed by Rincker Art and Bell Foundry in Sinn, Hessen. The aluminum relief maps of the Learning Path were molded in the Stauß Foundry in Mornshausen near Gladenbach.

County Council Members Professor Dr. Kliem and Mayor Möller were spokesmen and supporters of the Learning Path.

The model for the Marburg Learning Path was the Planetary Learning Path of Hude, west of Bremen, which was set up by the Teachers Dr. Alfs and Langetepe in 1994
www.hude.de. Hude is between Bremen and Oldenburg and is easily reached by the train system.

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