After having been built for three years, the biggest steam ocean liner of its time hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage on the night of 14 April 1912. Titanic, nicknamed the "unsinkable", sank within two hours and forty minutes to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The biggest disaster in shipping to date claimed 1517 victims. The causes of the tragedy remained hidden till 1 September 1985. It was then that Dr. Robert Ballard’s expedition succeeded in discovering the exact location of the wreckage. After working hard for years, they brought the artifacts laying 4000 meter deep to the surface with the help of special robot technology developed for this purpose.
RMS Titanic, INC. has organized an exhibition of the artifacts it owns to make the surviving memories of the disaster accessible for larger audiences.
At the Titanic exhibition, a collection of several thousand artifacts retrieved from the bottom of the ocean can be seen. The exhibition is trying to make the event more hands-on for visitors through the reconstruction of some of the ship’s rooms – first class and steerage cabins, corridors and the boiler room.
The expert background noises, music, and the special lighting all help visitors of the exhibition experience the excitement of the Southampton launch, the luxury of the first class, the puritan style of the third class, the hard work of those working next to the boilers in the engine room, and the unbreakable strength the captain’s bridge.
The incomparable atmosphere and uniqueness of the Titanic exhibition are solely down to the excellently preserved and almost hands-on artifacts. Among these, you can find china preserved in fantastic condition, highly decorated crystal bottles and personal belongings of the travelers, including glasses, wallets, and clothes.
The exhibition appeals to all senses of the visitors. They can touch a real iceberg so that they can sense how mercilessly cold the water was on the night of the disaster.
Since 1991, the Titanic exhibition has attracted 16 million visitors in 18 countries of the world. Some extraordinary statistics from the past few years: Japan – 3,000,000, visitors Hamburg – 1,042,000 visitors, Chicago –861,000 visitors, London – 720,000 visitors, St Petersburg – 820,000 visitors.
In Central Europe, Hungary is the first country to welcome the exhibition thanks to ShowTime Budapest and RTL Klub. The two companies’ cooperation is outstanding: Never before has such a big exhibition been organized by private companies without government support. The Titanic exhibition will welcome visitors at the Millenáris Park from 2 September to 26 November 2007.