The pandemic – a topic currently holding the entire world in suspense. A look into history teaches us: pandemics and epidemics are part of human history. They persist and affect all areas of life. The sudden and far-reaching outbreak of epidemics, which created chaos and an atmosphere of uncertainty and insecurity, can be traced through various historical sources across the ages. Nevertheless, many of these pandemics are wrongly considered extinct or, like the plague, are labeled as purely medieval diseases. Thus, the last major pandemics, some of which occurred barely 100 years ago and claimed millions of lives, have only returned to cultural memory through the outbreak of the coronavirus. Yet pandemics such as COVID-19 affect the health of all people and have far-reaching consequences. They shift the entire social and political structure and influence many aspects of public awareness and coexistence.

It is against this socially, politically, and medically highly topical backdrop that the exhibition project “STAYIN ALIVE – living with epidemics” is set. The exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to engage more deeply with both current and past pandemics and how they have been dealt with from antiquity to the present. How is – and was – reporting done and communication handled in times of a pandemic? How was research conducted, and how was the resulting medical knowledge tested by those in power in efforts to combat epidemics? And what impact did this have on society? Using both analog and digital methods, the exhibition addresses these four inseparable aspects of pandemics across four floors: digitization, medicine, politics, and, not least, society. In doing so, it provides insights into the handling of pandemics throughout world history, offering visitors a fresh and valuable perspective on the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.