The ability to imagine symmetry and the spatial arrangement of atoms and molecules is crucial in chemistry in general. Teaching and understanding crystallography and the composition of the solid state therefore require understanding of symmetry elements and their relationships. To foster the student's spatial imagination, models representing a range of concepts from individual rotation axes to complete space groups have been designed and built. These models are robust and large enough to be presented and operated in a lecture hall, and they enable students to translate conventional 2D notations into 3D objects and vice versa. Tackling them hands-on means understanding them.

Symmetry considerations are vital in chemistry and even more so in crystallography [1][2]. Typically, students first come into contact with this during their studies in the context of stereochemistry or spectroscopy where usually the Schönflies notation is used. Learning and teaching about molecular symmetry naturally requires spatial imagination. To develop and refine this, models and model kits are of outmost importance and are readily available for a broad range of purposes [3].