Experience the history of the Nebra Sky Disk at its authentic discovery site on the Mittelberg in the reopened Nebra Ark Visitor Center. With interactive presentations, a planetarium show, art on the way to the discovery site and an astronomical observation tower.
The "Nebra Ark" visitor center reopened on 21 June 2023 with new highlights. The renovation also removed barriers in the building: A tactile guidance system leads visitors through the building, there are now automatically opening doors, backlit text panels and ergonomic seating.
Nebra Ark Visitor Center © Nebra Ark Visitor Center
A walk-through sky disk also brings a new element to the existing permanent presentation. This installation will not only open up new perspectives on the Sky Disk and the exhibition space to visitors, but will also allow them to become part of the disk themselves. In the outdoor area of the newly designed center, a place of learning and experience in the form of a UFO will also be created in the coming months.
The Nebra Sky Disk is the world's oldest known concrete representation of the cosmos and is a unique testimony to the history of mankind. The 3600-year-old round bronze disk measures 32 cm in diameter and shows the sun - or the full moon, depending on the interpretation -, a crescent moon and a total of 32 golden stars. Seven of them are close together and are interpreted as the constellation of the Pleiades. On the edge of the sky disk are so-called horizon arcs, which were added at a later date, as well as a depiction of a ship, which is interpreted as a "sun barque" as a mythical element on the bronze disk. The edge of the Sky Disc was later perforated. One of the horizon arches was removed or lost.
The Sky Disc is one of the most important archaeological finds of the last century. It shows the world's oldest concrete representation of astronomical phenomena that we know of.
Elements of the day and night sky mingle in front of an abstract network of stars. The sun and moon are not only depicted in their celestial path, but also explained. A ship appears between the horizons, sailing across the celestial ocean at night. It is recorded here for the first time as a central mythical symbol in Europe. The Sky Disk gives us an insight into our ancestors' knowledge of the course of the world and its religious interpretation 3600 years ago.
The Nebra Sky Disk. © LDA Saxony-Anhalt, J. Lipták
The original Nebra Sky Disk is on display at the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle (Saale).
The importance of the Nebra Sky Disk as the oldest concrete representation of cosmic phenomena is also reflected in its inclusion in the UNESCO Memory of the World documentary heritage, which took place in June 2013.
