Talking lanterns
The talking lanterns are a group of light figures in the historic old town of Celle . Five lanterns, the silhouette of which are modeled on different human character types, form a lantern family on a base area of 4 m × 8 m. This consists of the slightly bent "Grandma Lilo", her little "Grandson Jonas" and his three uncles, the seemingly accurate "Perfect Lantern Herr Westphal", the lanky "Long Lulatsch Olli" and the corpulent "Dicken Lantern Gerlach". Triggered by motion sensors, the lanterns begin to speak - either alone or in interaction with one another. Stored audio sequences are called up, for example facts or anecdotes about the old town of Celle or short, funny sayings and dialogues.
Well-known voices
Each of the lanterns has a voice that matches its external appearance, which is spoken by real people, celebrities from radio and television with reference to the city of Celle, whereby the respective (head) lamp lights up rhythmically while speaking .
These are:
- Grandma: spoken by Lilo Wanders alias Ernie Reinhardt, known from the Schmidt Theater in Hamburg and the TV show " Wa (h) re Liebe "
- The child: spoken by Jonas Pache-Brunsch, selected during a children's voice casting
- The perfect one: spoken by Stefan Westphal , known as a presenter and author on NDR 2
- The fat one: spoken by Gerlach Fiedler , voice actor and actor, known a. a. as a speaker for NDR 2 or for " The Three Question Marks " and as a dubbing voice for the Cookie Monster from " Sesame Street "
- The Lange Lulatsch: spoken by Oliver Vollmering, known a. a. as a presenter at Sat.1 and Hit-Radio Antenne Niedersachsen
functionality
The speech contributions start as soon as someone stands in the middle of the lantern ensemble and thereby activates sensors. The electronics installed in a neighboring commercial building select one of the stored stories at random. At the end of a sequence, a three-minute break is automatically built in before a new sequence can be activated. While short stories are told during the day, the computer switches to short greetings in the evening. A good night song is then trilled to passers-by, for example, as they walk by. The "office hours" are:
- Daily program 10: 00-13: 00 and 15: 00-18: 30
- Lunch break 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm (no operation)
- Evening program 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. (limited, only short sequences)
- Night break 9:30 p.m. - 10:00 a.m. (no operation)
In addition to the stored sequences that were recorded in advance with speakers in a recording studio, there is also the option of having two of the lanterns speak “live” on special occasions. To do this, one of the speakers hides nearby and speaks over the radio from the loudspeaker of the lantern. A microphone is also integrated here, so that real conversation can take place between the lantern and passers-by. This function was carried out for the first time as part of the 2008 Santa Claus Championship, which took place on November 29, 2008 in the old town of Celle.
The head of the lanterns is a dimmable light body that flickers during speech reproduction and also visually supports the effect.
Idea and realization
The basic idea of the talking lanterns comes from the Hildesheim lighting designers Matthias Schiminski and Peter Schmitz, in whose workshop the lanterns were also made.
On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the first installation of public gas lanterns in Celle in 2007, this idea was taken up and further developed together with the city administration of Celle and the Tourismus Region Celle GmbH (TRC). The external basic shape of the speaking lanterns with a metal body, the all-round glazed light body and the typical "lantern hat" is based on the first gas lanterns erected in the century before last.
The speaking lanterns are located on Runde Strasse / corner Poststrasse, in the middle of the historic half-timbered old town of Celle . Due to its location on the main pedestrian street, on the one hand it offers a good perception by the public, on the other hand this place is still quiet enough that one can still understand the spoken sequences. The historic half-timbered houses around the lanterns complete the atmosphere of the place.
The Talking Lanterns were officially inaugurated on November 13, 2008. The project was financed through sponsorship funds from companies in the Celle region.
Together with other measures and installations in public space, the speaking lanterns form part of the “LICHTART Celle” lighting concept launched by the city administration of Celle.
Web links
- Audio samples of the Talking Lanterns for download
- LIGHT TYPE Celle
- City of Celle
- Tourist information office in Celle
Coordinates: 52 ° 37 '24.8 " N , 10 ° 4' 54.6" E