“The, the, the, why, why, why”: The Hamburg Emigration Museum in Ballinstadt is celebrating the 50th anniversary of “Sesame Street” with a special exhibition. The museum in Hamburg announced that puppets, props and costumes from five decades of “Sesame Street”, which has been co-produced in Germany by Sesame Workshop and the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) since 1973, are on display.
Follow in the footsteps of Bibo and Grobi
For children there is a “scavenger hunt” with many interactive stations – they can, for example, compare their own height with that of the Sesame Street characters, follow in the footsteps of Bibo or Grobi and show their skills at the Sesame Street memory.
“For 50 years, Sesame Street has been pursuing the concept of strengthening children through early education and self-confidence for their future life. With likeable characters and child-friendly content, it has become a cult show from Hamburg that whole generations have grown up with,” said Hamburg’s mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD). NDR director Joachim Knuth described “Sesame Street” as “an absolute popular figure” and as “a prime example of how to carry out the public educational mandate”. “Sesame Street conveys positive values that are so important to our society: friendship, fairness, tolerance and respect.”
Performances by music stars on “Sesame Street”
The museum manager Volker Reimers emphasized: “Our special exhibition is a generation-connecting experience for all people who grew up with “Sesame Street”. Visitors can experience on a jukebox which famous musicians have already performed on “Sesame Street” – Herbert Grönemeyer sang with the puppets “Everyone can what he can”, Jan Delay “Klar” and Lena Meyer-Landrut “Bert oh Bert!” All stations have information for adults and extra signs for children. For example, young and old visitors learn that all dolls have a birthday on a certain day and that the cookie monster is played by two people at the same time.
“Sesame Street”, the original title, was first broadcast on November 10, 1969 on US television. American television producer Joan Ganz Cooney came up with the idea of making a program specifically for preschool children. She was able to win the legendary puppeteer Jim Henson for the show. The show was produced by Sesame Workshop, a non-profit media and education organization that now has a presence in 150 countries. “The Sesame Workshop gives almost 150 million children access to education, important health lessons and offers families support in difficult situations,” said Managing Director Stefan Kastenmüller.
Offers for refugee camps
For example, Sesame Workshop develops offers in refugee camps in Syria and Bangladesh as well as for Ukrainian families who had to leave their homeland after the Russian army invaded. As a health ambassador, the doll girl Raya conveys important hygiene rules that she has learned. One of the first social projects was a project in prisons that still exists in the USA today. It helps prison inmates reconnect with their families, especially children.
In addition to Ballinstadt, the Museum of Arts and Crafts (MK
