The Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen in Mannheim is devoting a major cultural history exhibition to the most important European dynasty of the 12th and 13th century. A medieval exhibition is being put on, which examines the innovations and forces of development during the Hohenstaufen era in three regions, the Rhine-Main-Neckar region, Northern Italy and the Kingdom of Sicily. This cross-state orientation is programmatic: Concomitant with the exhibition that presents the Rhine-Main-Neckar region, Northern Italy and the Kingdom of Sicily as three regions of the Hohenstaufen rulers’ activity, historically significant sites in the three participating states around the metropolitan Rhine-Neckar region will be displaying their share of Hohenstaufen history in 2010. Much like the sphere of activity of the Hohenstaufen themselves who rose from a ducal family to be the most important dynasty of rulers of the High Middles Ages, the radius of the Hohenstaufen region also steadily expands. Thus, places and sites in Bavaria and Alsace shaped by the Hohenstaufen era are definitely worthwhile destinations. Important original historical objects and treasures, some of which are being displayed in Germany for the first time, bring the history, art and culture of the Hohenstaufen to life.
