Roman history comes alive: Young people learn on Lake Altmühl!

Roman history comes alive: Young people learn on Lake Altmühl!

An interdisciplinary project at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) is attracting attention through its innovative combination of Roman history and youth education. The expedition, which took place on Lake Altmühlsee at the beginning of August 2025, brought together children and young people from therapeutic residential groups run by Rummelsberg Services for Young People (RDJ) to experience experiential learning in practice.

The project leaders, Prof. Dr. Boris Dreyer from ancient history and Prof. Dr. Thomas Eberle from school education had a clear goal in mind: to create a learning environment that not only imparts historical knowledge, but also promotes self- and team skills. Through activities such as rowing, team exercises and reflective discussions, participants should develop their social skills.

Experience-oriented learning in practice

Experiential learning, as it has been developed since the late 1970s, aims to prepare teaching content in such a way that it stimulates thought processes, emotions and imagination. This didactics emerged from criticism of conventional teaching methods, which are often teacher-centered and not very geared towards the needs of the learners Didactic.

The project on Lake Altmühl not only focused on the content of Roman history, but also offered the young people the opportunity to gain experience outside of the school setting. Participants actively engaged in various activities ranging from making new oars for the Roman boat to preparing Roman bread and garlic oil.

From theory to practice: insights into Roman culture

In addition to the practical work, the participants learned about the construction of Roman boats and ancient military equipment during a tour of the shipyard in the Schlungenhof maritime center. These insights should not only promote participant education, but also strengthen the young people's self-image within a team context.

A crucial part of the expedition was reflecting on what we had experienced. The group demonstrated a high level of personal responsibility by independently changing the seating arrangement in the boat to support each other. GPS data documented the progress of their teamwork and demonstrated the successes achieved during the activities.

Outlook for the next steps

The positive response to the project and the skills acquired give hope for a continuation. Another visit to Lake Altmühl is planned at the end of September 2025, during which the new Roman boat “Alchmona rediviva” will be launched. The aim will be to further deepen the skills the young people have learned and to strengthen their confidence in group work.

This combination of historical learning and practical application opens doors for new knowledge and social development, and could be a model for future pedagogical approaches focused on the needs of learners.