Essen (dpa/lnw) - Three months after the start on April 1, the award-winning mixed reality city tour "Essen 1887" has developed into a tourist attraction. The virtual journey through time using special glasses has already been sold and tried out around 5,000 times in the Ruhr area metropolis. By the end of September there would be hardly any tickets and appointments available, especially from Friday to Sunday, said a spokesman for Essen Marketing of the German Press Agency.
The innovative idea won first prize in the tourism category at the Hamburg "World Media Festivals". The expert jury particularly appreciated the outstanding creativity, the effectiveness and the target group-oriented approach of the mixed reality tour.
"The fact that an international jury of experts has awarded our tour gold makes us incredibly proud," said Essen's Marketing Manager Richard Röhrhoff. Other cities and tourism organizations from home and abroad have already shown an interest in the world novelty.
In "Essen 1887" TV and star chef Nelson Müller (43, "Die Küchenschlacht") is one of the protagonists alongside well-known actors such as Henning Baum ("The Last Bull") or Tatjana Clasing ("Everything that counts") recorded their part in a complex process in a special film studio in the Netherlands. If, as a visitor, you now walk through Essen's city center with the special GPS-controlled glasses, Müller and Co. appear as holograms at certain digital points.
Müller, who runs a brasserie and his gourmet restaurant "Schote" on Rüttenscheider Strasse in Essen, appears on the journey to 1887 as a chef behind a market stall who wants to revolutionize the kitchen. "It was very interesting to record it in the studio. I'm not an actor, so it took us a few tries," said the 43-year-old.
It remains to be seen whether the star chef will succeed in the culinary revolution with his new creation. After all, the Swabian modified two of his favorite dishes, potato salad and currywurst, to fit "Essen 1887". And stuffed them into a glass as treats - for at home and on the go. Potato and currywurst salad are also available as vegan versions.
Interested parties can purchase everything in a "culinary picnic bag" with the branding of "Essen 1887" together with a bottle of beer from the Essen private brewery Stauder. "The currywurst is very typical of the Ruhr area, while the potato salad embodies my Swabian homeland," said TV chef Müller, who was born in Ghana and grew up in Stuttgart. "That doesn't bite, because home resonates in both."
