The exhibition

Together with the team from Dr Ulrich Hermanns Ausstellung Medien Transfer GmbH, Muenster, the Heimatverein Dingden e.V. has developed a communication concept that presents both the story of the house and the biographies as well as the extensive research and networking of the Historical Society in a sensitive manner.

The concept and design of the exhibition create a restrained recreation of the rooms. It places the traditional objects, furniture, documents and photography carefully in the rooms and complements them using display units such as graceful, long-legged chests. In these “biography chests”, the memorabilia are linked to the biographies of the family members – rather like the typical collection boxes, doubtless found in any home, in which reminders of family, friends and of our own life story are collected.

Detailed text panels have been dispensed with, in order not to lose sight of the authentic character of the room. An iPod Guide conducts visitors through the rooms and familiarises them with the biographies of the families. Contemporary witnesses, members of the Historical Society, as well as experts and the descendents of the Humberg family vividly depict day to day life in the Humberg house.
This everyday family life up within the village community until 1933 can be relived on the ground floor. The rooms on the first floor recall how village life changed during the National Socialist era: one part of the family was able to emigrate to Canada, while four members and their families lost their lives in the Shoah. The exhibition builds a bridge
to the present by documenting the history of the house after 1945 and by including the descendants of the Humberg family living in Canada. Texts in the exhibition have been prepared in German and Dutch.