The non-profit foundation 'Welt der Versuchungen' is the initiator of an innovative project. Its approach is to combine addiction prevention, health promotion and the arts in a new exhibition space. In this way, the foundation seeks to address as many people as possible, reach them in their very different worlds and draw them in with music, visual art or powerful installations which invite discussion and self-reflection. The aim is to break down clichés in order to enable an honest approach to the topic.
The exhibition concept goes hand in hand with cultural education work that addresses different target groups. The visitors – regardless of age – are invited to become active themselves. After the tour of the exhibition, visitors can respond to what they have seen and experienced in their own works. For school classes, special visual and practical workshops are offered. Participants can create drawings, sculptures, raps or comics. Furthermore, the house will offer lectures, discussions, readings and concerts, as well as further training for multipliers. The intention here is for the exhibition to become a special, open space for sociopolitical debates on the topics of addiction and intoxication at the interface of science and art.
The Foundation has a Foundation Board. It currently consists of five individuals from different disciplines – such as addiction prevention, health management or cultural education.
An advisory board has been set up to provide scientific support for the exhibition house.
TEAM
Dr Susanne Rockweiler
First Board Member | Chief Curator
Phone: +49 361 - 30 25 79 31
Denise Seifert
Project Development
Phone: +49 361 - 30 25 79 36
Susn Kuchenreuther
Administration | Board Office
Phone: +49 361 - 30 25 79 30
Sara Stehr
Research Associate
Phone: +49 361 - 30 25 79 34
Andrea Radtke
PR and Marketing Officer
Phone: +49 361 - 30 25 79 32
Marieluise Hörner
Research Assistant
Phone: +49 361 - 30 25 79 30
Nele Wicher
Social Media Assistant
Phone: +49 361 - 30 25 79 32
Saly Dabaa
Administration | Assistance
Phone: +49 361 - 30 25 79 33
Justus Borzym
Trainee PR and Marketing
Tel.: +49 361 - 30 25 79 32
Yannick Stock
BFD
f.l.t.r. 1. row:
Marieluise Hörner (Student assistant),
Susn Kuchenreuther (Administration)
f.l.t.r. 2. row:
Thomas Bader (Chairman of the Foundation Board),
Denise Seifert (Project development),
Dr. Susanne Rockweiler (First Board Member, Chief Curator),
David Fritzlar (Second Board Member, Management Suchthilfe in Thüringen),
Katrin Schnell (Vice Chairwoman of the Foundation Board, Head of the SiT Präventionszentrum)
ON THE GENESIS OF THE FOUNDATION
Addiction prevention and preventative healthcare face particularly great challenges in an era hallmarked by change and the coronavirus pandemic. In times of such health burdens on society, it is essential for addiction prevention to offer particularly effective and attractive services.
Addiction prevention should help to change and stabilise people’s behaviour in such a way that they can return to alternative ways of behaving, especially in critical life situations. Effective prevention techniques should generally be invisible and established in our everyday living environment.
The question of how this can be done effectively has been addressed for many years by the staff at the prevention centre of SiT – Addiction Support in Thuringia – on behalf of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Women and Family. In this context, the idea arose to address citizens about addiction and health in new ways and to create a forum for encounters and dialogue that arouse their curiosity.
A visit to the German Emigration Centre in Bremerhaven sparked the fuse that led to the idea of developing attractive places and services for addiction prevention. Why shouldn't we dare to think bigger and beyond the usual in our work?! Why shouldn't there also be a house for addiction prevention and dealing with addictions, a place where visitors can actively experience and learn new things?
We conducted the professional discourse with our Thuringian partners in addiction support, the Thuringian Ministry of Health, the state offices for addiction prevention, addiction support and health promotion, the Finder Academy Berlin and the ginko Foundation for prevention in Mühlheim an der Ruhr as well as the nationwide addiction self-help network. There was consultation, discussion, philosophising and construction, and we finally landed on an idea for this overdue step in a new direction.
Ultimately, we had a vision in 2017: All focal points of addiction prevention should be reflected in this house, e.g. alcohol and tobacco prevention, "addiction in old age", prevention of addiction in companies, pathological gambling, excessive media behaviour, self-help, etc.
It would be possible for new materials and methods developed on a statewide or national scale to be adopted promptly and by different target groups (kindergartens, schools, parents, anyone interested in the topic, companies...).
We imagined the following programmes:
- Interactive tours for different age groups
- Special guided tours for children and young people
- Independent tours with and without task sheets
- Special guided tours by people affected (personal experts) from the self-help sector, who take visitors on a very personal journey through the premises of the house based on authentic biographies.
- Regular events, such as lectures, workshops, special exhibitions, readings, round-table discussions and concerts
The Experience House as an opportunity for all visitors to gain knowledge and participate; should take on a special position in the museum landscape as an innovative place of exploration and mediation.
But what use are all the good concepts in the world without basic funding?
What great luck it was then that we were able to convince Carsten Schneider, now Minister of State, Federal Government Commissioner for Eastern Germany and Erfurt Member of the Bundestag, as well as Heike Werner, Thuringia’s Minister of Health, of our idea. They were the ones who created the financial basis for the idea of the exhibition centre that would become 'Welt der Versuchungen'.
At this point, we would like to express our immense gratitude to all those who are committed to and inspired by the 'Welt der Versuchungen'.
Katrin Schnell, Head of the Prevention Centre for Addiction Support in Thuringia
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FOUNDATION
The Foundation Welt der Versuchungen celebrated its establishment in Erfurt, the state capital of Thuringia, on 28 March 2022. This marked a milestone on the path to realising the exhibition centre. The Foundation Welt der Versuchungen is the initiator of a new exhibition centre at the interface between science and art. It is dedicated to old and new temptations and addictions – from drugs to social media – and will explore them from different angles.
The federal and state governments have joined forces in response to this important socio-political issue: the exhibition centre will receive 20 million euros from the German Bundestag as well as support from the Thuringian Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Women and Family. It is being developed in cooperation with “Suchthilfe in Thüringen”, a charitable organisation offering addiction and prevention services.
Health researchers, prevention experts and artists will be thinking about themes surrounding the “world of temptations” together. This offers new possibilities for reflecting on addiction and living well as well as for initiating debates. The combination creates potential for bringing different target groups on board and building bridges – between the individual fields of research and the art forms of music, visual art, dance, and film.
Carsten Schneider, Member of Parliament, Minister of State
Federal Government Commissioner for Eastern Germany
[…] Prevention and education about the dangers of addiction continuously demand cutting-edge answers. In this context addictive behaviour is not just a medical or psychological problem, it is a continual challenge facing society as a whole. This is precisely why the emerging “Haus der Versuchungen” – with its new, open and multi-perspectival approach – offers a great chance to establish a pioneering addiction-prevention pilot project in Erfurt that will influence the entire country. […]
Heike Werner, Minister
Thuringian Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Women and Family
With the “Welt der Versuchungen” Centre, Thuringia is to become home to a cognitive and experiential world that is the only one of its kind in Europe, enabling a broad target audience to acquaint themselves with the theme of addiction in an interdisciplinary and modern manner. By linking together addiction prevention, health promotion, science and art, the Foundation Welt der Versuchungen is striking out on historic new paths in addiction prevention. It is thus a pleasure for me to be able to accompany and support this exceptional project as Thuringia’s Minister of Health.
Katharina Schenk, Principal Secretary
Thuringian Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs
[…] As a cognitive and experiential world which engages with individual people’s lived realities, interactively inviting them to use it to inform themselves and reflect, the project breaks with numerous antiquated taboos from the field of addiction prevention. In the end – and this is the decisive point – it strengthens the ability of citizens, young and old, to consume and take risks responsibly. I am particularly proud of the fact that, here in Thuringia, we were able to launch such an innovative and unique beacon project, which will draw attention from throughout Germany. […]
Thomas Bader, Chairman of the Foundation Board
[…] The operation of a project like this should be managed through an independent body. A foundation seemed like the appropriate form to us. The “Welt der Versuchungen” Foundation now serves as the organisation responsible for managing this concept’s realisation and for shaping complex enquiries into addictions, new and old, as well as a healthy and free life into exhibitions that convey knowledge and simultaneously inspire, surprise and repeatedly spark fresh curiosity. […]
