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There are places in Fulda that are talked about a lot but are not open to the public. Historian Dr. Maximilian Kutzner and cameraman Hendrik Schmitt now provide insights into hidden rooms.
Fulda – “I first need a photo with the door closed,” says Dr. Maximilian Kutzner to cameraman Hendrik Schmitt and points to the door to the north tower of the Fulda parish church, above which the house number 12 is emblazoned. In fact, a small apartment in the south tower is accessible via that door, the stairwell behind it and the roof structure of St. Blasius. “The tower keeper from Fulda once lived there with his family. That's why there is a house number here,” explains city guide Thomas Helmer.
Virtual insights into hidden places in Fulda
The three men's goal is not only this apartment in question, which could actually be visited earlier, but also the towers including the bell chamber and the roof structure above the nave. “In the north tower we document the building history, in the south tower we document the history of the tower keeper,” reports Kutzner. Packed with cameras, drones, lamps and microphones, they climb up the stairs and platforms, some of which are crooked and worn, and some of which are quite narrow. After they have set up their “base camp” in the south tower, the two of them will cover these routes even more often – especially cameraman Schmitt.
With the 3D camera, which can take all-round images, in his hand, he runs up and down the stairs to capture the walls. All his journeys are recorded precisely in a script, and yet Kutzner and Schmitt will still have to intensively edit the film and photo material. Three-dimensional photos from the belfry, all-round videos from the stairwells, images from drone flights from the windows of the church towers, audio recordings of the ringing of bells and explanations of the history of the building – all of this needs to be brought into shape and edited together.
The first check is carried out on site using the smartphone, which you can also use to adjust the camera settings. “The technology makes our work much easier,” emphasize the two, who would otherwise have to lug even heavier equipment onto the towers.
The videos are intended to give visitors the impression of walking behind the walls and thus make the rooms virtually accessible. This also applies to him Belfry in the north towerwhere, because of the sound and force of the bells, it is better not to have anyone standing there when the ringing begins. Schmitt and Kutzner also see that they quickly disappear after they have installed the camera, lighting and microphone.
Background: the tower guards of Fulda
“The tower keepers lived in the city parish church, but they were not church employees, but rather city employees. And their tasks were clearly defined,” explains city guide Thomas Helmer. Among other things, the tower guards were obliged to report fires and attacks on the city. The Tower Oath also stipulated that he had to be Catholic. But the work was obviously not well paid. The last tower keeper, Johann Josef Schäfer, who died in 1922, also worked as a shoemaker.
On behalf of the city of Fulda, the historian, who designs museums, exhibitions and tourism offers with his agency “Geschichtsmanufaktur” based in Rasdorf, is working on a supplement to the city tours. To do this, Kutzner and Schmitt track down hidden places “above the roofs and under the cellars” of Fulda that even many Fulda residents do not know: the Waidestunnel, which leads from the castle garden under the cathedral square to the carnival fountain at the Tränke, as well as the ice cellar in the castle garden, which was used as a cooling chamber for the prince abbots and bishops.
“For example, when groups with tours stop at the relevant locations, they can use VR glasses to take a look into the church towers, the tunnel or the ice cellar. Thanks to the WiFi coverage in Fulda, this works well,” explains Kutzner, and he adds: “We try to tell stories and not just history. History can be told wonderfully through people.” The tower keepers in the city parish church were exactly the kind of figures that were suitable for the purpose Fulda's exciting and diverse history to illuminate.
Kutzner and Schmitt could have taken up many more similar places. “The list of possible locations was significantly longer,” reveals the historian. But that is also a question of the effort that has to be put into such a project. Meanwhile, city guide Helmer is already enthusiastic about the technical possibilities during filming: “It's almost like a modern version of Augustin Heider's city panorama,” he says, reminiscent of a colored outline etching from 1817, which shows the city in a round representation from the church tower.
The tours should already be available for Hessentag – not only for tourists, but also for locals, who have an interest in Fulda's city history.
