In the permanent exhibition, all of the visitors' senses are in demand. Educational sound experiments, optical illusions and amazing tactile puzzles await. In the listed winding engine house of the old colliery, learning through play is the top priority.
Try out, understand, comprehend - these are the guiding principles of the Phänomania hands-on museum in Essen. With over 120 extraordinary experiments, all the senses are in demand. They challenge the brain cells, amaze and leave you with new impressions. The experiments promote an understanding of physical laws as well as biological and chemical processes.
An olfactory tree with sample vials keeps visitors guessing what scent is in them. The hand reaches into dark touch jars equipped with various materials. Using a wooden stick, amateur physicists set a stone wheel in motion on the "centrifugal spinner". Fingers bounce metal balls against each other and a chain reaction begins. Personal reaction skills are tested in a drop test with rods that have to be caught in the air. Tricky wooden puzzles make heads spin and awaken ambition.
Mirrors create distorted images
Several experiments deal with the topic of sound: How is it, for example, that wooden pieces of the same length emit a different sound when an object hits them? Music enthusiasts try out giant percussion instruments with large mallets to investigate the question.
The highlights of the exhibition are the optical illusions created by rotating disks or curved mirrors. The angle from which the objects are viewed changes the image. Viewers feel as if they are being pulled along or transported into a tunnel - and all this in the midst of historical machines in the listed winding engine house of the old colliery.
Families with children will be particularly happy in the hands-on museum, which has a 1200 square meter indoor area and a 3500 square meter outdoor area. An exciting excursion is guaranteed for school classes. But adult visitors will also learn something new.
Other museums in NRW that focus on experimentation: Phänomenta in Lüdenscheid, Odysseum in Cologne.
