When the World Exhibition comes to an end in autumn 2005 the Bionis experience will be transported to Büsum on the North Sea coast of Schleswig Holstein, Germany, where it will be opened again beginning of 2006. There you will experience an exciting dark ride which combined with multimedia experience shows how a water droplet rises from the sea into the sky to become part of a cloud and then falls as a thunder shower, dances on the crest of a wave and finally breaks on the shore as part of a huge wave. In addition to all of this, information centres and installations showing experiments will illustrate weather phenomena, the tides, the history of storms and flooding. The wave shaped building will open its doors with the Bionis Experience ride in spring 2006. The ride will then change its name to "Blanker Hans".

Nordsee - Heilbad Büsum Kur und Tourismus Service
Purchase contract signed - bionis experience travels to Germany`s north sea coast.

The Bionis experience in the German pavilion in Aichi, the World Exhibition centre in Japan, will be moving to Büsum on the North Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein in the spring of 2006. Today on the 16 th April at 16.30 local time, Dirk Schumaier will sign the contract with Wolfgang Brück of the Zierer Karussell- und Spezialmaschienenbau GmbH to buy Bionis. Federal Trade and Industry Minister Wolfgang Clement will attend. The firm from Offenberg, who are specialists in such designs, constructed Bionis in the German pavilion and will reconstruct it in Büsum at the beginning of 2006. "We are very proud to be taking over Bionis from the German Pavilion," says Dirk Schuhmaier from the local tourist board in Büsum. "Visitors are impressed by the journey in the droplet at the exhibition because it is a multimedia experience. It will attract about 200,000 visitors to us in Büsum annually."

The Federal Minister of Trade and Industry has all along urged the continued use of the design and construction beyond the end of the World Exhibition. The tourist centre Büsum and the county of Dithmarschen have long been on the lookout for a further attraction, which would enable people to experience and understand the force which wind and water can develop.

As Schumaier explains it, "On the Bionis experience trip visitors will be shown the way water moves and can experience a storm and water surge in the German Bight through multimedia. Advanced technology, wich imitates the developments and "discoveries" of nature, is the topic of the German pavilion. For example the streamline properties of a shark`s skin have assisted the industrial development of planes and swimsuits." So visitors in Büsum will experience at first hand how a water droplet rises from the sea into the sky to become part of a cloud and then falls as a thunder shower, dances on the crest of a wave and finally breaks on the shore as part of a huge wave. In addition to all of this , information centres and installations showing experiments will illustrate weather phenomena, the tides, the history of storms and flooding along Schleswig-Holstein`s North Sea coast and coastal protection over an area of 6000 square metres.

When the World Exhibition comes to an end this autumn the Bionis experience will be transported to Germany by ship. At the same time construction work will begin near Büsum`s habour. The wave shaped building will then be opened to the public in the spring of 2006. The regional government of Schleswig-Holstein is subsidising the project with 4.2 million euros out of the regional funds programme 2000. The total cost will be 7.5 million euros. "Not only Büsum, which is one of the largest centres of tourism on the west coast, but the whole region will enhance its attractiveness and thus profit from this facility," the then Trade and Industry Minister Dr. Bernd Rohwer said as he publicly announced the state government`s decision to grant the subsidy in November 2004.

Aichi, September 20,
2005 EXPO Association presents "Nature's Wisdom Award"
Gold for Germany
"bionis" Pavilion best embodies the EXPO motto

Gold for Germany! The German Pavilion at EXPO 2005 in Aichi, Japan, has won the "Nature's Wisdom Award" gold medal. The prize was presented at the conclusion of the World's Fair by the Japanese EXPO Association, which hosted the event. Germany was awarded the prize for two main reasons: In addition to offering the best implementation of the EXPO motto, the pavilion was also particularly effective in communicating the themes of "Nature's Wisdom" and sustainable development.

"We're very proud of this achievement," says Rüdiger Kreienkamp-Rabe, Commissioner General of Germany's EXPO participation. "We took the EXPO motto quite seriously form the very beginning and did everything in our power to implement it in our pavilion. So we're obviously very pleased that our efforts have received such recognition." The gold medal is the highest award in the category for large pavilions with an area between 1,400 and 1,800 m².. Smaller pavilions in three additional categories are also evaluated in a similar manner. Members of the jury included the president and secretary general of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in Paris as well as other officials nominated by the EXPO Association and the BIE. Germany's "bionis" Pavilion implemented the EXPO motto "Nature's Wisdom" in a very direct manner. The pavilion presented high-tech highlights manufactured in Germany in accordance with the principles of nature. These included modern products, from the Airbus winglet to ultrasound diagnostic systems, whose production is modeled on bionics and natural processes. Bionics is the term used to describe the incorporation of natural principles into industrial production. The German Pavilion featured scientific and technical themes that were presented in an entertaining manner and thus proved to be very popular with Japanese visitors. The bionic theme was especially conveyed in the "Experience Ride," a multi-story 300-meter long railway system developed and built especially for the EXPO. The ride very quickly became one of the event's biggest attractions.