Oberhausen Memorial Hall

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The Oberhausen Memorial Hall is a municipal memorial in Oberhausen founded in 1962 for the victims of National Socialism . It is located in Oberhausen Castle in the Kaisergarten . The main focus of the current permanent exhibition, which opened in 2010, is the history of the city of Oberhausen under National Socialism. The memorial hall offers guided tours and various educational offers for school classes on Nazi-related topics. She has been publishing a series of publications on the history of Oberhausen during National Socialism since 2013. Institutionally, the memorial hall forms a unit with the Oberhausen Bunker Museum .

history

The memorial hall was opened on September 2nd, 1962 as part of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the city of Oberhausen. The city had invited former Jewish people from Oberhausen who had to flee persecution from all over the world to the opening. The creation of the memorial hall resulted from two communal, originally independent, memorial initiatives of the Oberhausen CDU and SPD . As early as 1956, the former submitted an application “for the erection of a memorial to commemorate the victims of the two world wars”. The latter followed suit in 1959 and demanded that two rooms be set up in the Oberhausen Palace in memory of the victims of National Socialism. Victims of National Socialism - typical of the 1950s and 1960s - were understood to include concentration camp prisoners as well as the German civilian population and refugees from the eastern parts of the German Reich who were affected by Allied air raids on the Ruhr area . The memorial sculpture “Die Meller ” by Willy Meller , which belongs to the ensemble, has had an inscription since 1963 that expresses this thought: “In memory of the victims - the wars - the bondage - the expulsion”. The problem with “Der Mrauernden” is not only the equation of the groups of victims, the focus on German victims in the dedication and their Christian iconography. The artist Willy Meller himself is to be viewed critically, as he had previously participated in numerous large-scale building projects by the National Socialists, including sculptures for the NS-Ordensburgen Vogelsang and Krössinsee as well as the Berlin Reichssportfeld .

Permanent exhibition since 1988

The permanent exhibition was completely overhauled for the first time in 1988. On November 9th, on the 50th anniversary of the November pogroms of 1938 , it was opened in the memorial hall under the title “Resistance and Persecution in Oberhausen 1933 to 1945”. The focus on the topics of resistance and persecution can be demonstrated in several Nazi memorials in the 1980s. In the case of the Oberhausen exhibition in 1988, the workers' resistance was particularly emphasized. The critical of capitalism-influenced confrontation with Oberhausen “perpetrators” was particularly the role of industrialists as the stirrup holders of the National Socialists when they came to power in 1933. Paul Reusch , chairman of the Gutehoffnungshütte between 1909 and 1945, was cited as a prominent example . Germany-wide discussions about the German culture of remembrance and the resulting new thrusts in historical studies led to increased criticism of the exhibition content in Oberhausen in the 2000s. The one-dimensional representation of action and behavior spectra along the dichotomy “resistance and persecution”, the inadequate appreciation of the Shoah and the decontexualized use of sources, especially historical photographs, were criticized.

Current permanent exhibition since 2010

Since the permanent exhibition from 1988 was “getting on in many respects”, the Oberhausen cultural committee decided to redesign it in February 2005 at the suggestion of the director of the memorial hall Clemens Heinrichs. The aim of this new concept was to align the exhibition with the current state of historical science and memorial site education . The Oberhausen Advisory Board formed as a result included “representatives of the Oberhausen museums, the three Oberhausen historical associations, the Jewish community, the two Christian churches, the VVN Oberhausen, but also external representatives from memorials and science”. This was followed by a scientific advisory board, which was partly identical in terms of personnel to the previous advisory board and was based on the specifications of this first, communal advisory board. As a result, the scientific advisory board decided on a three-part thematic focus of the exhibition (city history in NS, forced labor in the Ruhr area , culture of remembrance in Oberhausen). The permanent exhibition designed by the Stuttgart-based office of hg merz architects and museums was opened in December 2010 in the converted memorial hall. It is devoted to a number of hitherto neglected aspects, such as the history of marginalized groups of victims of persecution and the diverse behaviors of the local population that range between adaptation, perpetration and resistance. Parts of the VVN BdA NRW criticized the exhibition based on the principles of the “ Beutelsbach Consensus ” as an “emotion-free zone” that paid too little attention to the Oberhausen resistance fighters and the collaboration between the industrialist Paul Reusch and the National Socialists. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the memorial hall in 2012, the memorial hall published a comprehensive catalog in addition to the permanent exhibition, which expanded knowledge to include other previously marginalized groups of victims in Oberhausen.

Publications

  • Clemens Heinrichs (ed.): A - pure - no urban society. Oberhausen under National Socialism 1933 to 1945. Oberhausen 2012.
  • Katrin Dönges: Destroyed future. The deportation of the Oberhausen Jews after the pogrom. Oberhausen 2013.
  • Clemens Heinrichs (ed.): Iwan Tkatsch alias Alex Boiko. Memories of a Ukrainian slave laborer. Oberhausen 2015.
  • City of Oberhausen (ed.): Marlene Dietrich. The diva. Your attitude. And the Nazis. Oberhausen 2016.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Gedenkhalle-Oberhausen.de (last viewed on: October 27, 2016).
  2. ↑ See publications | Gedenkhalle-Oberhausen.de (last accessed: October 27, 2016).
  3. ↑ So far in this series have appeared: Dönges, Katrin: Destroyed Future. The deportation of Oberhausen Jews after the 1938 pogrom, Oberhausen 2013 .; Heinrichs, Clemens (Ed.): Iwan Tkatsch alias Alex Boiko. Memories of a Ukrainian slave laborer, Oberhausen 2015.
  4. ↑ See the Bunkermuseum homepage: Welcome to the Bunker Museum (last viewed on: October 27, 2016).
  5. ↑ a b Cf. Kenkmann, Alfons: Ahead of the time? Commemoration and remembrance in Oberhausen, in: Heinrichs, Clemens (Ed.): Eine-keine-pure city society. Oberhausen under National Socialism 1933 to 1945, pp. 333–346, here p. 338.
  6. ↑ Cf. Sturm, Michael: "An everlasting conflict". Culture of remembrance and its actors since the 1980s, in: Heinrichs, Clemens (Ed.): Eine-keine-pure urban society. Oberhausen under National Socialism 1933 to 1945, pp. 347–363, here p. 350.
  7. ↑ Quoted from: Kenkmann, Alfons: Ahead of the time? Commemoration and remembrance in Oberhausen, in: Heinrichs, Clemens (Ed.): Eine-keine-pure city society. Oberhausen under National Socialism 1933 to 1945, pp. 333–346, here p. 338.
  8. ↑ Cf. Kenkmann, Alfons: Ahead of the time? Commemoration and remembrance in Oberhausen, in: Heinrichs, Clemens (Ed.): Eine-keine-pure city society. Oberhausen under National Socialism 1933 to 1945, pp. 333–346, here p. 339f.
  9. ↑ a b Cf. Born, Günter: The memorial hall at Oberhausen Castle. Memorials in North Rhine-Westphalia - Part 2, in: Lotta. Antifascist newspaper from North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse, No. 29 (2007/2008), pp. 48–50, here: p. 50. ( online ( memento of the original from January 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: Der Archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ) (Last viewed on: October 27, 2016) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lotta-magazin.de
  10. ↑ Cf. Heinrichs, Clemens / Krumme, Pia: Die Meller - Willi Meller at the Memorial Hall., In: Geschichtswerkstatt Oberhausen (ed.): Shift Change - The Journal for the History of Oberhausen Issue 2 (2007), p. 38f, here p 38.
  11. ↑ Cf. Sturm, Michael: "An everlasting conflict". Culture of remembrance and its actors since the 1980s, in: Heinrichs, Clemens (Ed.): Eine-keine-pure urban society. Oberhausen under National Socialism 1933 to 1945, pp. 347–363, here p. 347.
  12. ↑ Cf. Sturm, Michael: "An everlasting conflict". Culture of remembrance and its actors since the 1980s, in: Heinrichs, Clemens (Ed.): Eine-keine-pure urban society. Oberhausen under National Socialism 1933 to 1945, pp. 347–363, here p. 349.
  13. ↑ Zink, Lina: The permanent exhibition “Resistance and Persecution 1933-1945 in Oberhausen” in the memorial hall at Oberhausen Castle, in: Forum Industrial Monument Care and History Culture 2 (2006), pp. 70–72, here p. 70.
  14. ↑ Cf. Sturm, Michael: "An everlasting conflict". Culture of remembrance and its actors since the 1980s, in: Heinrichs, Clemens (Ed.): Eine-keine-pure urban society. Oberhausen under National Socialism 1933 to 1945, pp. 347–363, here p. 348.
  15. ↑ Cf. Sturm, Michael: "An everlasting conflict". Culture of remembrance and its actors since the 1980s, in: Heinrichs, Clemens (Ed.): Eine-keine-pure urban society. Oberhausen under National Socialism 1933 to 1945, pp. 347–363, here p. 356.
  16. ↑ Cf. Sturm, Michael: "An everlasting conflict". Culture of remembrance and its actors since the 1980s, in: Heinrichs, Clemens (Ed.): Eine-keine-pure urban society. Oberhausen under National Socialism 1933 to 1945, pp. 347–363, here p. 357 .; Zink, Lina: The permanent exhibition "Resistance and persecution 1933-1945 in Oberhausen" in the memorial hall of Oberhausen Castle, in: Forum Industrial Monument Care and History Culture 2 (2006), pp. 70–72.
  17. ^ Heinrichs, Clemens / Morsch, Günter : Oberhausen memorial hall. Scientific advisory board for the new conception of the permanent exhibition has started work, in: Gedenkstättenrundbrief No. 127 (10/2005), pp. 28–29, here p. 28.
  18. ^ See Heinrichs, Clemens / Morsch, Günter: Gedenkhalle Oberhausen. Scientific advisory board on the new conception of the permanent exhibition has started work, in: Gedenkstättenrundbrief No. 127 (10/2005), pp. 28–29, here p. 29.
  19. ^ Heinrichs, Clemens: New permanent exhibition in the Oberhausen Memorial Hall, in: Gedenkstättenrundbrief No. 161 (6/2011), pp. 3–13, here p. 7.
  20. ↑ See Heinrichs, Clemens: New permanent exhibition in the Oberhausen Memorial Hall, in: Gedenkstättenrundbrief No. 161 (6/2011), pp. 3–13, here p. 7.
  21. ↑ Cf. Dirk Hein: Exhibition - Oberhausen Memorial Hall reopened after renovation - Oberhausen - derwesten.de of December 13, 2010 (last viewed on: October 27, 2016).
  22. ↑ See Heinrichs, Clemens: New permanent exhibition in the Oberhausen Memorial Hall, in: Gedenkstättenrundbrief No. 161 (6/2011), pp. 3–13, here p. 10.
  23. ↑ VVN / BdA NRW - NRZ: Oberhausen Memorial Hall as an emotion-free zone (last viewed on November 8, 2016).
  24. ↑ Cf. VVN / BdA NRW - Discussion about the Oberhausen Memorial Hall continues. (last accessed on November 8, 2016).

Coordinates: 51 ° 29 '30.9 "  N , 6 ° 51' 30.7"  E