Section outline




    • For many people, the number 365 represents something quite clearly, because for them 365 days represent exactly one year. But not everywhere people calculate in this way. Numbers play a decisive role when it comes to years and annual seasons, but different cultures on this earth use different counting and thus also calendar systems. While the Gregorian calendar has 365 days per year, the Pawukon calendar in Indonesia, for example, has 210 days. Many calendar systems are based on the course of the moon (= lunar calendar) or the course of the sun (= solar calendar), both of which are closely linked to the ever-recurring seasons.

      The saying "the clocks work differently here" is no coincidence either - and we do not refer to time differences. Not everywhere does the day begin with the "first hour" at midnight. Swahili time, for example, is shifted back by 6 hours, where 6 o'clock refers to what is known elsewhere as midnight and 7 o'clock is referred to as 1 o'clock - the first hour following sunrise. It is essential to remember that cultural, religious and geographical factors influence our understanding of time (and numbers). If you would like to know more about this, you can find further links here - or take a look at the time table on the first floor of House 2:

      DEGregorianischer Kalender: Wie ist unser Kalendersystem enstanden? 

      DEDie verschiedenen Kalender auf der Welt

      ENThe History of the Calendar

      ENCalendars Used Around The World - WorldAtlas