“Paderdies” invites you to get involved

28 July 2026:

Welcome to Paderdies! This artistic installation at the Paderborn Natural History Museum focuses on the River Pader and its unique habitat – as a diverse ecosystem, a place of cultural significance and a source of stories. Artists Sarah Mevers and Cathrin Spönemann invite visitors of all ages, from Saturday 29 August to Sunday 18 October, to discover this world of experiences, help shape it and engage with it using all their senses.

Visitors to the Natural History Museum can take a dip into the underwater world of the Pader, listen to birdsong, encounter the river’s animal inhabitants and make themselves comfortable on the riverbank. The artists invite you to rediscover some familiar sights whilst experiencing the Pader from many new perspectives.
The closeness between nature and people is ever-present on the Pader. The exhibition, too, thrives on this interaction: interactive stations invite visitors to get creative themselves and leave their mark on the Paderdies.

Right from the outset, the project encouraged participation and collaboration: working together with children and young people aged between 10 and 14, key elements for the spatial installation were created as part of the ‘Kulturrucksack’ programme. To spark their inspiration, the participants, together with the tutors and experts Dr Felicitas Demann – a natural scientist and research assistant at the Natural History Museum – and Prof. Dr Michael Ströhmer – a historian and programme director of the municipal project ‘Stadt. Mensch. Fluss. – The Pader for Europe’, and listened to their stories. Filled with inspiration, they were then able to imagine and create to their heart’s content in a writing and design workshop.

Under the motto of diversity and sustainability, a space is now taking shape where people can linger, experiment and share experiences – for children and adults, explorers and dreamers alike.

The project is being run in collaboration with the ‘City. People. River. – The Pader for Europe’ project, the Paderborn Cultural Office, Paderborn’s municipal museums and galleries, Kulturrucksack NRW and Volksbank Paderborn. Anyone interested can take part during the Natural History Museum’s regular opening hours, Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm.