Did Viking helmets actually have horns? Were the Vikings really in front of Columbus on the American continent? And of course: Were they brutal barbarians?

These and many more questions were answered by Dr. Sandra Teuber and Annika Condit last Friday at the Tübinger Fenster für Forschung (TÜFFF) the many interested children, young people and adult visitors. They had something for all ages: an edible Viking treasure, the board game Hnefatafl, a kind of viking-age chess, and a lot of background information on the area of ​​spread of the Vikings, the former trading metropolis Haithabu and on ships, helmets, swords and jewelry. The two staff members of the Collaborative Research Center 1070 Resource Cultures cleared up with a few clichés: There was never a horned Viking helmet found, this would have been quite impractical in combat and Vikings actually entered around the year 1000 AD as the first Europeans today's Canada. It is true, however, that from the 8th century onward, Vikings were terrified throughout Europe as far as Constantinople and Kiev by raids. But not only: they became increasingly traders and settlers, settling down around the 11th century and thereby ending the Viking era.