H3B event rules

The aim of the events is to portray the simple, seafaring and artisan population of Haithabu. The focus of the presentation is on everyday life and is intended to show regular life at this specific location. In doing so, we want to create an overall picture in which the depictions are coordinated with each other and depict the historical social conditions of the population.

We are aware that this goal is difficult to achieve as a whole or individually, and this is also communicated to the audience. Newcomers to the events are given the necessary leeway and support to gradually familiarize themselves with the events.

Further development

We are in a museum, so we also want to present at a museum level. You should be able to back up what you bring with sources. It's better to leave something at home than to leave something poorly documented.

We want the individual depictions to be coherent in themselves, to fit in with the simple everyday life of Haithabu and to fit into the overall situation we have depicted. So that there is a connection between your depiction and that of the others. This doesn't happen overnight and takes time for everyone.

Museum quality means that the presentation should be based on scientific standards. As we see it, research and orientation towards current research, as well as the substantiation with sources, are a continuous process in which we support each other. If you are unable to make progress yourself, you are expected as a minimum standard to make the gaps visible and to accept the help of experienced researchers. We are currently setting a standard with our internal Haithabu kit guide, which we are constantly expanding.

We are in love with detail. Not only that, but we would love to have everything down to the very last corner. We want there to be only historically correct food, no inappropriate equipment on site even after closing time, if possible no modern underwear at all, no modern tools, snacks, drinks, jewelry … you name it. We can't implement everything immediately, but there are already many approaches where we exchange ideas. On the other hand, there is a time lock area where this requirement does not apply, and we have room for our needs for modern hygiene and whatever else drives us from our current lives.

In all of this, we attach great importance to social interaction within the group, but also with the various environments that result from the activities.

In the presentation, we want to clarify the framework within which we are operating. In part, we rely on the fact that this can be assumed by the museum context. However, both our specific approach and our attempts to present „archaeotechniques“ beyond the material culture and, as a goal, also socio-cultural aspects, increasingly require us to point out the limits of what is presented.

The more we move away from the pure representation of what has been found, the more we have to make clear what we cannot say for sure. When imitating the production of finds using craft techniques, it may still be relatively easy to understand how the verifiable techniques for the period depicted lead to the products and build on other techniques. However, we often encounter the question of whether something can be produced with the means available at the time, which makes it clear that a history of ideas is not taken into account. Applied to this example, the history of ideas simply means which ideas were available to the craftsmen of the time and which craft techniques were available. But here, too, cultural conditions play a role that we are not aware of today. What social concepts led the craftspeople to their products? So as soon as we depict social trade, we are on a slippery slope and want to make the limitations of this insight visible because of our claim to quality.

Demonstrating this is one of the aims of our entire concept and requires an audience interaction that does not merely show or demonstrate, but struggles for understanding through discussions and explanations in the interaction with the guests. Respectful interaction with each other and with the guests is therefore important to us, also because we want to give ourselves the peace of mind that is necessary due to the fact that this interaction is a demanding one.

We try to stimulate the audience's own interest and questions through moments of irritation.

We answer questions in a way that is geared towards the questioner and endeavor to link the content with our current knowledge in an understandable way, to make clear any gaps in our own knowledge and, if necessary, to pass them on to those who are better informed. In doing so, we try to guide the questioners to their own answers and to implement the concept of historical culture.

Particular attention is paid to known historical misinformation and misjudgments. This is also because these are easy targets and, as nerds, we are annoyed by them anyway. We endeavor to counteract existing prejudices and bring the current state of research closer. This means repeatedly linking what we already believe to be true with what is scientifically verifiable, i.e. communicating the interconnectedness of the current state of research.

Content that we pay particular attention to

• A central point here is that historical times are not presented as backward.
• It is also important that the knowledge is always placed in the appropriate context, with the methods of how the knowledge is gained, as well as why it is credible. In other words, a triad between facts, methods and plausibility.

What can you prove? That which you can make accessible to others and which they can check themselves and which you can reasonably assume that they will also recognize the sources.

Science works.

Heydenwall offers support. Ask us! We have numerous tips and solutions and are always happy to help. However, as we always have a lot on our plate, we are not always quick with answers. We do our best to offer general help.

Materially, we are willing to lend newcomers to the Haithabu context things to get them started in our event. Regardless of whether they are entirely new to the hobby or simply from a different area of display. We also do this because we want to achieve a standard.

Heydenwall sees itself as a research community and makes every effort to support an easy entry into the hobby. We publish everything that has proven useful after extensive testing on this homepage. Questions can always be sent via our contact forms. Since not all of our instructions are suitable for publication and not all concepts have been sufficiently tested, we have a Heydenwall Koop group in which our latest ideas can also be published and co-create

In the Koop group, you can see all the projects we are actively working on.

• There is a kit guide, Haithabu. To the Kitguide
• Questions can be asked and discussed in the forum in the Haithabu presentation topic. To the Haithabu representation questions.
• There is also a specialist group that can help you with the topic of authenticity - A-Team. To the A-Team.

More questions are good for us because then we know better what interests or problems exist, and we can then write the kit guides in a more customize

Make visible what we do not represent.

What we currently do not want to depict: Violence in any form (physical, psychological, sexual, racist…), warriors and weapons
What we cannot portray: Animals, social hardship, slavery, people with disabilities