Play(d) learning

Renate Wendt

Two small black and white dice as a plug in her ear and a dice bracelet on her wrist: Renate Wendt reveals her passion with these small details: the 71-year-old has been a volunteer at the German Games Museum for many years. Whether sorting games, preparing events, giving guided tours or learning new game rules, the Stendal native has been a secret icon at the Games Museum for 15 years. What began as a job creation scheme has now become her second home.

How did you come to work at the Games Museum?
Renate Wendt: It was actually a great coincidence. In 2004, I was offered a job at the Games Museum by the job centre. I came from a completely different professional background. When I started here, I quickly realised that it was the best facility for children in Chemnitz and I have stayed here ever since.

What makes the museum so special for you?
The centrepiece of the museum, the playroom. The fact that the children sit and play together is very valuable. Many children have forgotten how to play properly with board, card and building games because they spend most of their time in front of the computer. We do have a few games consoles here, but we try to keep the room closed, especially during the holidays. The shining eyes of the children when they play and don't want to leave is what inspires me all the time.
We communicate with each other through play. At the weekend, there are lots of families who just come together and play from 1pm to 7pm. That sometimes gets lost in everyday life at home because you can't make time for each other. You also learn how to lose. A lot of children can't lose, they just throw the pitch over. But facing up to the situation is an important learning process.

To what extent has gaming changed as a result of digitalisation?
Of course, children and young people are growing up with mobile phones and computers these days. But when we have a school class here, for example, our rule is that the mobile phones stay in their bags. The teachers also support us in this. Then the children are actually a bit puzzled at first and wonder what they should do now. But once they have orientated themselves and got into the game, you can really see how they become absorbed in it and ultimately don't want to leave. They have fun with it. However, their interest in playing is always very dependent on their environment. If the parents don't play at home, the child usually has no access to it.

How can you break the vicious circle?
We also offer in-house training for home educators, teachers and speech therapists. I give guided tours and tell people about the origins and background of play. We also have volunteers here and hope that they learn a lot, take it with them and pass it on. And so, of course, we also try to spread the word. We adults, whether parents or grandparents, are responsible for keeping play alive. I very much want games to be an important part of childhood. At children's birthday parties, groups of children come here and can let off steam playing Twister or play outside with big chess pieces in the summer. It's just lovely and should be used much more often.

You've been here for 15 years. What has been your personal highlight during this time?
The highlights for me are the annual museum nights. I always find the different themes that are presented there every year very exciting. Last year, the focus was on FEWA detergent, which was invented in Chemnitz, with the advertising icon of FEWA Johanna. The children were able to wash laundry in a tub, just like in grandma's day. This year's Museum Night is centred around the Bauhaus centenary.

How is the Museum of Games celebrating the anniversary? Is there a typical Bauhaus game?
The Anker building blocks will be available to try out at the Museum Night. This is a toy manufacturer that has been making Anker building blocks for more than 135 years and exports them from Rudolstadt all over the world. For the anniversary, there is a special edition, the model house on the Horn as an Anker building set to build yourself.

Whether cork, Lego or wood: building blocks are still the most popular game in the museum. Visitors can also choose from over 2500 games from the categories of cards, quizzes, strategy and award-winning games. With this selection, it is not surprising that the German Games Museum is the museum with the longest visit duration in the city. The Games Museum in Chemnitz is therefore unique in its kind. It is the only one in the whole of Germany with such a large selection of games, all of which can be tried out at any time.

What is your favourite game?
I'm not the most passionate gamer. But when the Games of the Year are released, for example, all the museum staff get together and try out the games so that we can explain to visitors how the games work. Then I can also give the visitors recommendations as to whether the game is more suitable for children, adults or experts. I now have two grandchildren and I love playing with them.

"Risk", "Ludo" and "The Settlers of Cartan" have been well-known and popular classic games for decades. New editions with different designs mean that game manufacturers are constantly bringing new editions onto the market, but the principle of the game remains the same. The best-known example: the "Mensch ärgere dich nicht" of the reunification period, the "Mauerhüpfer". It is less well known that this classic board game actually originated in India. Pachisi is a traditional Indian game that was brought to Europe by the English in the 19th century and has been found in almost every household ever since.

Speaking of Europe: Chemnitz is applying to be European Capital of Culture 2025. What do you think of the application?
I would very much like Chemnitz to become the European Capital of Culture. Simply to get rid of the bad reputation we have at the moment. When we were at the State Garden Show in Frankenberg at the weekend, we also saw a Chemnitz pavilion on site as a Capital of Culture candidate. I would like to see more activities like this: stands on Neumarkt or Klosterstraße, events in front of the Capital of Culture office in Rosenhof, because it often looks very empty. The whole thing needs to be publicised even more. I could very well imagine the individual museums working together on this topic.