You can hear trains at the DIALOGMUSEUM time and again. They enter and exit deep beneath the Hauptwache – one of Frankfurt’s most important transportation hubs. On October 8, they’ll provide the perfect soundscape for a very special literary journey: Petty Waagö, blind team leader of the DIALOGMUSEUM’s blind and visually impaired guides, will read from the Braille translation of Jaroslav Rudiš’s “Gebrauchsanweisung fürs Zugreisen" (Train Travel: A User’s Guide). The author will be present and will speak about his book, his passion for railroads, and the ways in which life takes unexpected turns. After all, hardly any book could be a better fit for this location.

Jaroslav Rudiš is a passionate rail traveler. Railroads run through his family history: his grandfather was a switchman, his uncle a train controller, and his cousin a train driver. Rudiš himself also dreamed of becoming a train driver, but due to his limited vision, this career was out of reach for him. An experience that is connected to the DIALOGMUSEUM in a special way. Many blind and visually impaired people have had to set aside their career aspirations, strike out on new paths, and develop different perspectives for their future. During this evening, therefore, it is not only literature and railroads that come together, but also different life paths and the question of what happens when a path that seemed predetermined suddenly leads in a different direction.

In “Gebrauchsanweisung fürs Zugreisen”, Rudiš takes us on a rail journey through Europe: from Berlin to the Gotthard Tunnel, from Sicily to Lapland, on a night train through Poland and Ukraine, on a narrow-gauge railway through the Harz Mountains, and in a dining car from Hamburg to Prague. He writes about train stations as cathedrals of transportation, about “singing” locomotives, missed connections, and why the fastest route is by no means always the most beautiful.

Rudiš writes with such rich detail and vivid imagery that landscapes, sounds, movements, and atmospheres become tangible far beyond what is visible. His writing is almost multisensory – the way the DIALOGMUSEUM designs its exhibitions. A train isn’t just something you see. You hear it rolling and braking, feel its movement and vibration, and take in spaces, voices, and encounters. It is precisely through this that Rudiš’ language offers blind and visually impaired readers direct access to his journey.

When Petty Waagö reads this story from the Braille translation using her fingers, the evening takes on yet another dimension. Literature is not merely read aloud; instead, it draws attention to a different way of reading—one that both sighted and visually impaired guests can experience together.

The evening will be moderated by Tino Dallmann from MDR Kultur. As a cultural journalist and literary educator, he brings exactly the perspective this event requires – on literature and its social contexts, on the stories behind a book, and on conversations with authors. Together with Jaroslav Rudiš, Petty Waagö, and the audience, he guides us through an evening exploring the joy of being on the move, perception, detours, and the idea that sometimes a different route is the one that leads to the destination. And while the next S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains pull into the Hauptwache station below, up at the DIALOGMUSEUM, Rudiš’s invitation holds true for one evening: Don’t always take the fastest route. Listen more closely. Perceive things differently. And let yourself be carried away by the journey.

As part of the Czech Republic’s appearance as Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair, in cooperation with Czechia 2026, the German Center for Accessible Reading dzb lesen, and Piper Verlag.

Language: German

Admission: Free

Location: DIALOGMUSEUM, Hauptwache, Level B, Passage 10, exit Roßmarkt, 60313 Frankfurt am Main.

The event “Experiencing the Czech Republic Through Touch – Braille and Tactile Books from Tactus.cz” takes place at the same time.