Archimedean Sandbox Aachen

Aachen's Largest Sandbox — Right in the Historic City Center

The Archimedean Sandbox is Aachen's most unconventional summer event: for over three weeks, 150 tons of fine sand transform the Katschhof — the prestigious square between the UNESCO World Heritage Aachen Cathedral and the historic City Hall — into the city's largest sandbox. Children can dig, build, and experiment to their heart's content, while parents relax in sun loungers under sunshades. A spectacle typical of Aachen: playful, science-oriented, and with a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes, whose findings on buoyancy and leverage are explained on large posters by the sandbox.

Theme 2026 — Equestrian World Championship Obstacles

Every year, the sandbox gets a new theme. In 2026, it fits perfectly: Aachen is hosting the Equestrian World Championship (as part of the city's "Aachen WM Special"), and Future Lab is embracing the theme. The workshop topic is: "Building Equestrian World Championship Obstacles from Sand." Children will design imaginative obstacles that could theoretically be cleared by show jumping horses — steeplechase, water jump, wall, triple combination. The workshops take place in the adjacent Archimedean Workshop and are supervised by students from Aachen's four universities.

Archimedean Workshop — Engineering for Kids

Alongside the sandbox, there's the Archimedean Workshop — a pavilion offering engineering experiments for children in primary and early secondary school age. Levers, buoyancy, water flow, statics, bridge construction — all topics that are central to research at Aachen's universities are translated into child-friendly experiments here. In 2025, the event celebrated its 10th anniversary with an expanded program and a construction project using carbon concrete — a sustainable building material co-researched by RWTH.

Future Lab Aachen as Organizer

The organizer is Future Lab Aachen — a collaborative project between the City of Aachen and its four universities: RWTH Aachen, FH Aachen, KatHO NRW, and the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln (Aachen campus). The main sponsor and logistical partner is STAWAG (Aachen Municipal Utilities), which has provided equipment and sunshades for years. This constellation of city, science, and municipal utility provider makes the Archimedean Sandbox more than just a summer event — it's an expression of Aachen's unique university culture, where science and public space are closely intertwined.

Katschhof as a Spectacular Stage

The Katschhof is Aachen's most impressive square — framed by the Aachen Cathedral (Charlemagne, coronation church of German kings) to the south and the historic City Hall (coronation banquets) to the north. The sandbox thus becomes the largest and most beautiful public play area that a major German city has to offer in the summer. Elsewhere, a 150-ton sandbox on such a representative square would be unthinkable — Aachen makes it a tradition.

Aachen — Imperial City with University Spirit

Aachen is located in the tri-border region of Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands and is home to one of Europe's largest technical universities (RWTH Aachen, ~47,000 students). This density of universities shapes city life — and the Archimedean Sandbox is a prime example of how research and the city's population communicate. Those combining the event with a city visit should see the Aachen Cathedral and City Hall (UNESCO World Heritage), try the Printen bakeries (Aachen's biscuit specialty), and take a stroll through the Lousberg park with views of the tri-border region.