He wasn't shy, this Marcus Aurelius Carus. Modesty sounds different, because now the man in the tunic begins to boast: “Didn’t it turn out splendidly?” he asks, pointing to his towering stone tomb. He had this built during his lifetime. In 450 AD Carus had it built for himself and his family, directly on the Via Claudia, the Roman road to the south. His monument: His likeness carved in stone, with magnificent reliefs and a pine cone on top – i.e. an Augsburg pine nut. As a legal scholar, he was a man of distinction and pride: “People know throughout the city that I am very knowledgeable, my advice is always sought after.” And so the old Roman chats very lively – as a cartoon character on his smartphone. This Marcus Aurelius is one of the characters who are guided through the new app “Augusta Vindelicum”. Here, Romans from Augsburg tell their life stories. They ask users quiz questions and also award gold coins for correct answers. In addition, as a user you don't just depend on the screen. The app's map leads to the city and the region: When you look through the smartphone camera, a historically reconstructed 3D image opens in some places. Augsburg, as it probably was in Roman times, according to the state of science.
Journeys through Roman times: the new app Augusta Vindelicum
Cosima Götz heads the Augsburg city history department. She initiated the idea of the app and explains the basic idea behind the project: “Immersion and interaction.” Immersion – that means diving into another digital world until you feel like you are part of the story. Interaction – here this means collecting winning points with small game tasks and quiz questions. You quickly get into conversation with Roman people who actually lived in Augsburg and the surrounding area. The project team researched their testimonies and reconstructed their lives. These researched characters are “talkative,” says Götz, and they like to “babble on.” For example Marcus Aurelius Carus.
In the app, the user encounters him as a comic character in a colorful comic panorama. “Wine trading is one of my mainstays!” he says when you click on him. The app asks a quiz question: At that time, “a) hollowed-out, dried pumpkins, b) wooden barrels, c) glass bottles with screw caps or d) metal canisters made of lead were also used to transport wine.” And if you get this right, you collect one point – each of them Eleven stations promise a gold coin at the end. But what remained of Caru's legacy? A flood washed away his tombstone, and in 1342 his monument finally collapsed in a flood. It was not until 1998 that the tomb was rediscovered during construction work and recovered by archaeologists – in Augsburg-Oberhausen, stop one of the scavenger hunt.
In “Augusta Vindelicum” knowledge is conveyed through play
In the old core of Augsburg, the stations are concentrated in various parts of the old town: Shop like a Roman woman in the grocery store. Become a wine connoisseur in the market hall. Explore the trade in fabrics and textiles. Of course, this all remains fiction, a level in the app: knowledge is imparted in the game. Or also: on location, with visual effects. In Kohlergasse, for example, you come across the old Roman city wall, which hasn't stood tall here for a long time. If you look through your smartphone, the 12-meter wall stretches across the alley, a wall made of digital pixels. At the Pfannenstiel station you can follow a debate between today's figures, archaeologists, researchers, environmentalists: How can Roman heritage be protected? Also everything that has been buried in the ground for centuries?
The app's map also leads beyond the city limits to Friedberg, where the province's Roman upper class lived. Or to Schwabmünchen, to the craftsmen of the pottery settlement. A soundscape accompanies the stations, from birdsong to market chatter.
The agency 2av from UIm developed the Römer app
“We want to offer an incentive to visit all of the historical stations on site,” says Cosima Götz. The 360 degree and 3D scenes in which you can move help your imagination. The agency 2av from UIm developed and developed the app. “Augusta Vindelicum” should also be usable from the sofa if you don’t have the chance to go on a scavenger hunt in and around Augsburg. And the target group should also be as broad as possible, from day tourists to Augsburg residents who want to find out more.
The Bavarian Ministry of Homeland Affairs and Finance financed the app project with more than 200,000 euros, and the city of Augsburg itself invested 50,000 euros. The Regio Tourismus Augsburg also supported the project. When introducing the app, cultural advisor Jürgen Enninger said: “A quarter of Augsburg’s history is Roman history.” And the app follows the historical traces.
Info: The “Augusta Vindelicum” app can now be downloaded from popular app stores. It can be used in English and German.
