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Annaberg Alp Adventure

Experiential Exhibition

In winter, Hennesteck is traditionally a popular ski resort for families. The strategic goal is to position the place also as a summer destination. The already existing zipline and bike trail are now joined by our knowledge-based outdoor parcours for the whole family to form a widespread “Alp Adventure” on the mountain.

On the parcours, illustrative-narrative play stations invite into playful interaction with nature. Especially 8 to 12 year olds learn interesting facts about the regional cultural landscape. Our outdoor exhibition makes the local mountain of the municipality of Annaberg an attractive excursion destination in the Lower Austrian Alps.

Landscape shot of a zipline with the Ötscher mountain in the background
Infographic on how the different parts of the outdoor playground are combined and what purpose they have regarding the overall experience

Smart & sympathetic

Mascot Niki accompanies the little guests through the “Alp Adventure”. Well-informed about the surroundings, the gender neutral fox character, who aims to appeal to all children equally, lays a trail from play station to play station. It starts in the valley, followed by a variety of stops spread all over the mountain.

Illustration of a fox sitting on a wooden post
Illustrated experience barometer: Wooden board with questions and an overview of the area with sliders that allow answers to questions.

Always keeping an overview

With the new offers, the area also needs a good overview – also of the existing infrastructure and services. The orientation system, made of natural materials easily leads to the stations, hiking trails and various possibilities to explore the area. Niki gives you notice in the signal color red to point out a game or a task in the context of the “Alp Adventure” along the way.

Wooden signpost in front of a hiking trail on which people walk in distance
Signpost in close up with an arrow directing towards the alpine flowers journey

Learning through experience

Our design concept for the play stations combines storytelling with illustrations and hands-on installations to create an interactive exhibition. From “Alpine Flower Journey” to the “Fox Den” and “Wildlife Slides”, flowers, animals or trees become talking nature creatures and go into direct dialogue with the children. Through their personal experience, the exploration of information about the local flora and fauna becomes a playful entertainment.

Illustrative overview map of the area with a fox explaining the experience station alpine flowers journey
A wooden post, angled at the top, that can be opened to reveal a detail of the alpine flower journey, depicting the yarrow and an explanatory text
Hiking trail with a wooden orientation stele in the foreground
Game made of rotating wooden blocks, which let you put together illustrations and entertaining texts about different animals
Fold-out game with information level and illustrations about the natural habitat of foxes
Child on a playground with a fox den station, which makes the life of foxes tangible

Getting to know tree species

Similar to the characters of the “Alpine Flower Journey,” the typical trees from the densely wooded region also interact with the children. A fold-out encyclopedia tells the children interesting details about maple, spruce, fir and much more from a first-person perspective. For each tree species, colors guide children over large tree steps and invite them to balance over the trunks to the encyclopedia at the end.

Children balancing over tree trunks with colored surface
Overview of tree illustrations with their fruits

Enjoying the landscape

Our mountain experience also invites adults to enjoy the landscape. For this purpose, durable landscape furniture has been ergonomically and modularly developed and gently integrated into the landscape at spots with the most beautiful views. Local materials and production in a local carpenter’s workshop make them especially sustainable.

Green meadow against blue sky with wooden couch on which a woman sits relaxing
Wooden furniture in a wave shape standing on a meadow, a woman sitting on it and a dog in the background
Detail of wooden furniture made of planks in a wavy armchair shape on which a person sits and looks into the landscape
Woman sitting on wooden couch with view of forest and reservoir lake
Sketch of furniture design in a wavy shape
Children in a wooden installation looking like a circular fence that gives access to a bench with audio station

Podcast on the mountain

Two of the furniture installations are “listening benches” – audio stations especially for children. In the two audio stations, the mountain, mother nature, a stone figure, a cow, chair lift operator Peter and farmer Georg tell stories in six entertaining podcast snippets – traditions and rules on the mountain, as well as interesting facts about the Hennesteck become an entertaining radio play.

Girl presses buttons of audio station at podcast bench
The construction of the podcast listening bench seen from above, with a wave-shaped concave fence

Providing alpine animals with water

An important theme of the stations is the alpine farm of the Hennesteck in summer. Our water playground at the reservoir at the summit lets you meet cows, sheep and chickens at the “Alp Well”. We have designed the wooden animals as information carriers. Thus, children learn about the needs of the animals, which they playfully learn to care for properly at the water fountain playground.

Girl playing with water at the animal watering hole and a wooden cow apparently drinking from the fountain
Children with parents at the water playground of the animal watering hole
Child at the water playground of the animal watering hole
Child playing with a water regulator at animal water park
Water channel at the animal watering hole playpark

Playfully discovering knowledge

At the end of the “Alp Adventure”, children have gained insight into various aspects of the cultural landscape at Hennesteck.

A detailed magazine for children takes the knowledge into even further depth. The topics present in the outdoor exhibition are embedded in the magazine through games, short stories and illustrations.

Girl standing in nature photographed from behind with explorer backpack with fox illustration on her back
Child browsing discovery booklet with illustrations and entertaining text snippets

Sustainable adventure

The magazine is included in the “discovery bag”, which is equipped with colored pencils and research objects such as a magnifying glass to explore the alpine nature. The bag invites to take the experience back home, and continue it with the numerous games in the magazine. One example can also be tried out digitally here…!

 

 

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Credits Foto: buero bauer & Martin Fülöp/Annaberger Lifte

Muh!