Astera Adds Magic to Bergstrasse Lights Project posted: 23/10/2020
Kirchberg H uschen
Seizing a chance to generate some beautiful light art, positive energy and creativity during the pandemic, Johannes Spie , project manager from technical specialist MKM Event Show Technik based in Darmstadt, Germany, launched a new initiative of his own - Bergstra e leuchtet' (Bergstra e Lights) - to highlight some of the famous Bergstra e mountain route's stunning monuments, historical buildings and public spaces. With events halted, normally busy rental company MKM had an abundance of lighting products including an extensive Astera inventory of AX3 LightDrops, AX5 TriplePARs and AX7 SpotLites sitting in the warehouse, so these were used to support all 12 of the lighting installations which were carefully crafted and delivered over a two month period.
Astera AX7s were used at all locations culminating with a truly spectacular and innovative event at St. Peter's church in Heppenheim.
Everyone in the area knows and loves the highlighted buildings and spaces, stated Johannes, and with tasteful and well-planned lighting and the application of colour they were transformed and could be seen literally in a different light' each time, so people could enjoy and take away new perspectives from their immediate environment.
Auerbacher Schloss
He adds that in a time when events have not been possible, this was a safe and imaginative idea to provide something interesting in which people could engage.
Astera products were of course ideal for the task of lighting these works, with their brightness, long and regulatable battery power and App control, dispensing with the need for running cables and greatly assisting the deployment process in each case.
The Astera lamps are very efficient in saving setup time, and with the AX7s and AX5s being IP65 rated, we were also confident in using them irrespective of the weather! Also, with less cabling needed, the team could take a smaller vehicle full of kit to the location.
Kirchberg H uschen
Up to 200 fixtures - Asteras plus others - were used in most cases to give good and detailed coverage of the buildings and landmarks.
It was so much fun to use the Asteras - they made the set ups extremely quick and efficient, enthuses Johannes.
A grandMA system was used for lighting control, plus the Astera App for quickly setting up the DMX addresses of all relevant Astera fixtures.
Lauter bridge and brook
Johannes was initially inspired to start Bergstrasse Lights by the original light it in red' project kicked off by the #NightofLightDE lighting action in June which saw thousands of buildings illuminated red across the country to draw attention to the challenges and realities facing the event industry during Covid-19.
He chatted to some industry friends and colleagues and everyone was up for creating something new, special and exciting for their community and those living and working in the region.
St Peter Heppenheim
A core team of around 20 people evolved to deliver Bergstra e Lights, including chief lighting designer Niklaus Baur, however the lighting schemes for each landmark were usually discussed by the team including Johannes, lighting operator Jan Gr bener and others before a final plan was devised.
The featured buildings were a dynamic mix! Castles like the imposing hilltop Auerbacher Schloss and the Starkenburg in Heppenheim which is also perched 300 metres above Hessische Staatsweing ter, offering stunning views all around; churches like St. Georg Bensheim and Kirche Zwingenberg; prominent houses and vineyards including the Kirchberg H uschen vineyard; the central bridge and creek in Lauter and both the town hall (Rathaus) and the city park in Heppenheim - each is a unique architectural or landscaped masterpiece in its own right.
St Peter Heppenheim
In addition to lighting these fabulous places for the first time, the project had several other special aspects.
Once up and running and gaining traction via the website https://bergstrasse-leuchtet.de/ and various social channels no-one knew where and when the next illumination would take place,so this element of surprise and anticipation kept people engaged and guessing!
To discover the location, some hints were dropped on Bergstrasse Lights' Facebook and Instagram pages, plus additional clues announced on public radio station hr3.
St Peter Heppenheim Photo
The finale at St. Peter's church in Heppenheim was a favourite installation for all on the team where the lighting count doubled to over 400 fixtures in total, of which more than 220 were Astera - a combination of AX3s, AX5s and AX7s connected via five wireless DMX transmitters.
Often referred to as the Cathedral of the Bergstrasse' the idea was to maximise the impact of this event, so a special concert was staged inside featuring the band Lichtenberg with camera images of the performance projected onto the church's front fa ade for socially distanced onlookers.
Starkenburg Heppenheim
The concert was also streamed on three different Facebook Fanpages - Bergstra e leuchtet, the City's and the band's - as well as on YouTube and on the Bergstra e leuchtet website.
And a series of secret' live-streamed concerts were produced at some of the locations - so Johannes and the team had multiple ways of getting the content in front of people.
The concert livestream concept was trailed for the first illumination at Auerbacher Schloss with the band As far as Low' and intended as a one-off. However, the public response was so overwhelmingly positive that Gregor Ott from GVO Media went on to produce seven concert movies from these spontaneous livestreams (i.e. not revealed in advance) accompanying some of the most dramatic installations.
Starkenburg Heppenheim
MKM Event Sh
Most recent headlines
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today! By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
23/12/2025
New technique lights up where drugs go in the body, cell by cell Scripps Research scientists developed a technique that maps drug binding in individual cells th...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
The works of Plato state that when humans have an experience, some level of change occurs in their brain, which is powered by memory - specifically long-term me...
22/12/2025
Partnership integrates complementary satellite data and AI analytics to enhance security, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring solutions for global cust...
22/12/2025
Workflows allow you to create a sequence of planned events which may be added to your template(s) or inserted directly into your sequential or background playli...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Back to All News
Global Anime Hits and New Releases Take Center Stage at Jump Festa 2026
Entertainment
22 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to clipboar...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
Astera Adds Magic to Bergstrasse Lights Project posted: 23/10/2020 
