Essays - Interviews - Media

How Constellations are Formed

Raoul Schrott

Through their imagination, people across the globe have projected the most ancient works of art into the stars of the night skies, tableaux of figures that are as central for the respective ethical and ethnic communities as the ceiling painting of the Sistine Chapel for Christianity.

The Night Skies

The Starry Heavens of the Mesopotamians: Of fields, gods and Exalted Lions

A glimpse into the starry sky of the Western sky culture – which consists of the constellations that Arabs adopted from the Romans, these from the Greeks and the latter from the Babylonians – is also a glimpse into the starry skies of the Mesopotamians and into the history of their migration to the north.

The Starry Heavens of the Arabs: On the Singularity of Stars

Before it was overdrawn by the Greco-Roman constellations in the early Middle Ages, the Arabian starry sky consisted of only a few constellations but numerous individual stars, interpreted as camels, dogs or monkeys, for example. It is one of the most detailed starry skies in the world.

The Starry Heavens of the Bororo: Of Rituals, Birds and Animals

The Bororo of central Brazil live semi-nomadically from farming, hunting and fishing. Their nightly stargazing activities are accompanied by storytelling and ritual chanting. Their most important constellation is the Pleiades, which are known as the White Downs.

Tuareg – The Guide

The culture of the Tuareg stretches across the Sahara and the Sahel zone. In the past the night sky served this desert people as a means of orientation, for journeys, prayer and their calendar, which marks activities essential for survival. One of its most prominent asterisms is Amanar.

Inuit – Wolf + Reindeer

The lands of the Inuit stretch from Greenland across Canada to Alaska and across the Bering Straits. Their culture has a very particular view of the few stars and constellations that are visible in the polar night. In some regions a star is only considered to be the size of a harp seal.

Navajo – Thunder + Lightning

The Southern Dene – or Navajo and Apache – live in the American Southwest. Their kinship with the Northern Dene does also manifest itself in the constellations of their night skies – which also, however, betray Asian influences. Their Thunderbird is probably the largest constellation in the world.

Essays

We are Part of the Sky

Nicholas Campion

“We can’t look at the sky without interpreting it culturally”, says historian Nicholas Campion. In his lecture for the STERNENHIMMEL DER MENSCHHEIT Festival 2021, he anchors western astrology in the field of cultural astronomy – placing an ancient world in the context of our modern world.

How Constellations are Formed

Raoul Schrott

The Stars of the Night Sky

Andreas Blühm

Drawing on the images of stars in works by significant artists of the period 1609 to 2004 – including Adam Elsheimer, Caspar David Friedrich, Vincent van Gogh, Alexander Calder und Thomas Ruff – the art historian Andreas Blühm provides an entertaining insight into the history of astronomy.

Interviews

“God is the reason I do science”

Br. Guy J. Consolmagno, S.J.

“I study the universe because I love it.“ An interview with Br. Guy J. Consolmagno, S.J., Director of the famous Vatican Observatory in Castel Gandolfo and Tucson, Arizona. Here, Jesuit priests and brothers from all over the world practice faith and science as full-time astronomers.

A musical universe

Alexey Kochetkov

When Alexey Kochetkov plays the violin, science resonates on five strings. The fact that the Berlin violinist and composer experiments with classical music and electronics in multidimensional performances is largely due to his enthusiasm for planets and galaxies.

The archivist of the sky

Edward Brooke-Hitching

"Celestial maps carry a magical romance", says Edward Brooke-Hitching. The London author has written a wonderful "Sky Atlas". A conversation between Heaven and Earth, yesterday and today, fascinating achievements and incredible errors.

“It's beyond marvelling!”

Floris van der Tak

Why should there only be life on Earth, asks Floris van der Tak. At the University of Groningen, he teaches and researches astrochemistry and the habitability of exoplanets. So what ingredients do we need to be able to emigrate to our neighbouring galaxy in the near future?

The Visual Archaeologist

Heidi Sorg

"We are trying to make something visible that has been forgotten over the centuries and millennia," explains Heidi Sorg. For the project STERNENHIMMEL DER MENSCHHEIT, the Munich graphic artist draws hundreds of constellations. A treasure hunt on the map of the sky.

On the move in the universe

Felicitas Mokler

"Humans cannot escape themselves," warns Dr Felicitas Mokler. Against the backdrop of satellite mega-constellations, asteroid mining and space tourism, the astrophysicist and science journalist sheds light on the complex answer to the question: Who owns the universe?

The Sound of the Stars

DJ Nomad

“Without the night, there would be no art and no music,” says DJ Nomad. He finds inspiration under a starry sky. In this interview, the Berlin-based musician and visual artist talks about his travels, his “spirits” - and the boundless happiness of sharing freedom and beauty with others.

In Search of the Arabian Nights

Petra M. Sijpesteijn

Petra M. Sijpesteijn is sure of one thing: “Copernicus definitely made use of the Arabic astronomical achievements.” In our search for the Arabian nights, we cannot help but be infected by the Dutch professor's enthusiasm for Arab history, culture and poetry.

Between the Ice and the Sky

John MacDonald

“The richness of astronomies worldwide is in their variety,” says John MacDonald, author and former coordinator of the Igloolik Research Centre in Nunavut, Canada. In this interview, he discusses his work in researching the astronomical traditions of Inuit who live in the Canadian Eastern Arctic.

The Culture of the Inuit

Barbara Schellhammer

In the second part of the interview, Barbara Schellhammer talks about her experiences with the Canadian Inuit: memories caught between origins and a politics of assimilation. In addition, the cultural philosopher talks about the preservation of cultural heritage with reference to the STERNENHIMMEL project.

The Stars and the Soul

Barbara Schellhammer

The third part of the interview with the cultural philosopher Barbara Schellhammer deals with the link between the star, the soul and the “Great Spirit”. Her conversation with her friend, Opaskwayak Cree Elder Stan Wilson, gives us an introduction to the spiritual firmament of his culture.

Philosophy as a Mediator

Barbara Schellhammer

In the first part of the interview with Barbara Schellhammer, the professor sheds light on her attempt to build intercultural bridges through philosophical dialogue. In addition, she takes a critical look at the European impulse to classify the “other” as part of the familiar.

Interview Kevin Govender, OAD

Kevin Govender

Astronomy for a better world: a virtual visit to Kevin Govender, Director of the OAD in South Africa. As part of the International Astronomical Union, it is concerned with the active promotion of social development through the inspirational power of astronomy. Watch here an excerpt from the video interview.

The Astronomer as an Artist

Alan Lightman

Knowing about the stars is part of our culture, says Alan Lightman. With novels such as "Einstein's Dreams" he has taken science into the territory of fiction. An interview about the human spirit of discovery, musicality in the universe and the beauty of geometry.

"The sky belongs to everyone"

Teresa Grenzmann

The Conquest of the Heavens

Sibylle Anderl

"There is an extraordinarily close connection between astrophysics and art", says Sibylle Anderl, astrophysicist and philosopher of science. In this interview, she talks about looking and wonder, about the limits of knowledge, about detective work and the creative magic of astronomy.

Historical Texts

Sternenbilder-Bilderbuch (an illustrated story of the constellations by Richard Teschner)

Michael Farin

Greek mythology has linked the legendary figure of Pegasus, the winged horse, with the deeds of many heroes. So it is said that when Perseus defeated the gorgone Medusa, her blood spilled like a dark stream from her body, and from it the winged horse Pegasus escaped … to fly immediately with Perseus into the vastness of the sky …

The Creation

The "Eskimo Folk Tale" from the "Stories of the Raven Tu-lu-kau-guk" begins with the miraculous creation of the first human being from a pea pod. Gradually, Raven forms a woman and different animals for the man, but also instills the necessary respect for nature.

The Myth of the Origin of All Life

Knud Rasmussen

This indigenous "Eskimo Folktale", retold by Apákak in Alaska, is about the mysterious creation myth of "Father Raven", who gives form to all life. He is "no ordinary bird, but a sacred life force", and he begins his work in human form.

The Tuareg – the forgotten Demise of a Culture

Werner Nöther

Starting with their origin, name, language, environment, social order, forms of housing, crafts and equipment, music and poetry, Werner Nöther illuminates the "long ordeal of a people with a remarkable culture": one of the "last nomadic peoples of the Sahara".

The Imosharh or Tuareg – the People and their Land

The notes of Hamburg-born Heinrich Barth (1821–1865), who travelled to Africa and embarked on a five-year expedition across the desert in 1849, are invaluable today. This "ethnographic sketch" follows his journey in the footsteps of the Tuareg (Imosharh).

Videos

Der König, der Allah töten wollte. (The King Who Wanted to Kill Allah. A story from the Arabian desert)

Joachim Gaertner

On the occasion of Sternenhimmel der Erde – Panoramen der Nacht, the 2nd STERNENHIMMEL Festival hosted by the Stiftung Kunst und Natur, the reading Arabian Nights / Arabische Nächte took place on October 17, 2022. It provides the starting point for this captivating film by Joachim Gaertner – a story of King Solomon, the birds and the winds, in search of the lost city.

Zum Mond! (To the moon!) After Edgar Allan Poe

Joachim Gaertner

On the occasion of Sternenhimmel der Erde – Panoramen der Nacht, the 2nd STERNENHIMMEL-Festival presented by the Stiftung Kunst und Natur, the reading (Mond)Geschichten aus Sternenlicht ((Moon)Stories of Starlight) was presented October 16, 2022, based among others on texts by Edgar Allan Poe (produced by: Michael Farin). With Lisa Bitter and David Zimmerschied.

The Mesopotamian Night Sky

Prof. Wayne Horowitz

Under the overall theme Cultural Astronomy today, Prof. Wayne Horowitz, Assyriologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, gave a lecture on September 4, 2021 about The Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography. Recorded as part of the festival STERNENHIMMEL DER MENSCHHEIT.

The Stars and the Soul

Barbara Schellhammer

The Culture of the Inuit

Barbara Schellhammer

The Tuareg and their Stars

Malek Ben Malek

Tamanghasset/Algeria, June 2021: on the occasion of the Festival STERNENHIMMEL DER MENSCHHEIT in September 2021, journalist Malek Ben Malek talks to indigenous Tuareg sage Ibrahim Lamri about the stars of their culture – their names, their meanings and the stories they tell.

A Wolf runs in the Wrong Direction

Joachim Gaertner

“What does a constellation actually look like?” The documentary by Joachim Gaertner gives an insight into the work of the Munich graphic designer Heidi Sorg. As a visual archaeologist, together with Raoul Schrott and Christian Weiblen, she follows the sometimes almost invisible tracks in the stars of the night sky.

Cinema of the Night

Joachim Gaertner

From 2 to 5 September 2021, the first STERNENHIMMEL DER MENSCHHEIT Festival thrilled audiences with lectures, scenic readings, indigenous music and DJ sets. Under the celestial dome of Nantesbuch, scientists demonstrated their creativity and artists showed a spirit of experimentation. A film by Joachim Gaertner.

On the Hunt for the Reindeer

Joachim Gaertner

“Two singers – one duel”. In his documentary, Joachim Gaertner takes us from the ancient, but also fascinatingly modern, spiritual trance-like throat singing of the Inuit women to the panorama of heroes and ancestors in the Polar sky.

A Fallen Hero

Joachim Gaertner

“For us it all starts with the stars”, claims musician Ahmed Ag Kaedy. His group is called Amanar, like the most prominent constellation of his people’s night skies. Their “Desert Sound” at the Festival STERNENHIMMEL DER MENSCHHEIT 2021 inspired Joachim Gaertner to produce this film about the disappearing traces of the desert people.

Interview Kevin Govender, OAD

Kevin Govender

Philosophy as a Mediator

Barbara Schellhammer

Interpreter of the Stars

Joachim Gaertner

Infinitely large and mysterious: the writer Raoul Schrott sees in the night skies “the ceiling painting of the world”. For the first time his 'Atlas der Sternenhimmel' (Atlas of the Night Skies) will uncover the constellations and associated narratives and myths of 17 cultures from across of the world. A documentary by Joachim Gaertner.

Audios

Ulluriat – The Stars of the Inuit

Michael Farin

Michael Farin’s reading from the creation myths of the Inuit was a memorable audio-spectacular. At the Festival STERNENHIMMEL DER MENSCHHEIT 2021, Corinna Harfouch, Melika Foroutan and Ulrich Noethen thrilled audiences with their rousing enthusiasm for radio plays.

Amanar – The Night Skies of the Tuareg

Michael Farin

Numerous Tuareg legends surround Amanar, the fallen hero in the constellation Orion. Michael Farin, Katja Bürkle and Michael Rotschopf brought some of these to life in a dramatic reading for the Festival STERNENHIMMEL DER MENSCHHEIT 2021. Listen to a recording of this performance here.

Legends of the Stars

Michael Köhlmeier

The writer Michael Köhlmeier is known and loved for his captivating narrative talent. As part of his lecture for the Festival STERNENHIMMEL DER MENSCHHEIT 2021, he brought millennia-old star lore to life. Listen to a recording of this performance here.

The Stars

Eliot Weinberger

Weinberger’s prose poem itself resembles a comet, roaming a universe of legends, facts and myths in the literary firmament. Here you will hear an excerpt from the text, published in 2021 by Berenberg Verlag. Interpreted by the actor Götz Otto.

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