Cultural association "Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN"

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN
legal form Municipal cultural institution
founding 1998
Seat Lublin , Poland ( ⊙ coordinates: 51 ° 14 ′ 58 ″  N , 22 ° 34 ′ 11 ″  E ) PolandPoland 
purpose Cultural heritage, education
Managing directors Tomasz Pietrasiewicz
Website teatrnn.pl
Grodzka Gate

The cultural association "Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN" ( Polish Ośrodek "Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN" ) is a cultural institution in Lublin . It is located in the Grodzka Gate , which is also known as the Jewish Gate. Historically, it served as a link between the Christian and Jewish parts of the city. The institution mainly deals with issues of cultural heritage. The Polish-Jewish past of Lublin forms the cornerstone of the institution's educational work.

History of the establishment and use as a theater

The NN Theater was founded in 1990 by the Lublin Drama Association, which at that time was located in the Grodzka Gate and adjacent buildings. In 1998 the theater became an independent organization and was named Ośrodek "Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN".

At the beginning, the theater performed plays by Kafka , Hrabal and other authors. As Tomasz Pietrasiewicz explained, after the interpretation of the novella " Moby-Dick " by Herman Melville , the main focus was no longer on the producer himself, but on the narrator.

The organization also organizes festivals such as “Miasto Poezji” ( German  “City of Poetry” ) and “Śladami Singera” ( German  “Follow IB Singer's footsteps” ).

Exhibitions in the Grodzka Gate

Part of the archive in the NN theater

The building contains many exhibitions, although its floor plan, which is characterized by many branched corridors, is far from a place for a typical exhibition. As a result, the exhibition was adapted to local conditions.

In 2010, with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, an exhibition called “Lublin. Pamięć Miejsca ”( German  “ Lublin. Remembrance of the place ” ) initiated , which still exists today. Among other things, it contains a room in which markings on the floor show the living situation of a Jewish family at that time. The former cityscape is also shown there. There is also the “wall of voices” on which loudspeakers are attached. By pushing a button you get an impression of Lublin before the Second World War .

Within the entire exhibition there is the possibility of viewing historical photos of Lublin through an imperial panorama . This gives you an impression of the conditions at that time. There is also a room dedicated to the Holocaust victims. There are 70 color photos of the Lublin ghetto - these were taken by the German soldier Max Kirnberger. In 2012, 2700 new photos were added. They were found during renovation work, wrapped in paper and towels, in the attic of the building at number four Rynek Street. The owners of the house left the pictures for the Grodzka Gate for a period of ten years. The photographer is still unknown today.

A separate room was also dedicated to the Righteous Among the Nations of the Lublin region (= people who saved Jews during the Holocaust ). There, visitors can share their personal stories and memories. Another eye-catcher of the exhibition is the Lublin model from the 1930s. It includes apartment buildings, shops, synagogues, etc.

Historical-educational-technical assignment of the institution

“Jews who come here ask us: Why are you doing this? After all, you are not Jews, you are Poles and that is not your story.
Poles who come here ask us: Why are you doing this? After all, you are Poles and that is not our story.
Are you Jews perhaps?

We always declare that it is our shared Polish-Jewish history. You don't have to be a Jew yourself to remember the Jews who were killed.
There should be more of these gates in the world, not just the Polish-Jewish ones. "

"Poemat o Miejscu" (German: poem about the place )

A courtyard in the Lublin ghetto

The Jewish quarter around Lublin Castle existed from the late 14th century until it was destroyed by the National Socialists as part of the dissolution of the Jewish ghetto in November 1943 . Nowadays the bus station can be found there. The main street of the Jewish quarter - "Szeroka" - has given way to an asphalt parking lot.

In order to preserve the memory of Jewish life that existed there from oblivion, the institution organized the event “Poemat o Miejscu” ( German  “Poem about the place” ). This took place at night in March in 2002 and 2004. During this time, all lights in the former Jewish ghetto were turned off to create a contrast to the life-filled neighborhoods. A street winds through this part and ends at the Maharszala synagogue, which no longer exists . On the way one encountered pillars of light that shone out of open manholes and voices that echoed through the streets. Voices from inmates of the Lublin Castle Prison and residents report on the functioning and destruction of the ghetto. As you approached Tysiąclecia Street, the stories themselves could be heard from the loudspeakers of the bus station. But as soon as you reached the synagogue, the way was blocked by a black curtain.

In 2004 another symbol of the Jewish quarter, which has now disappeared, became visible. An original street lamp on Podwale Street, which was already there in pre-war times. This lights up continuously to indicate the former Jewish presence.

"One Country - Two Places of Faith"

Grodzka Street during the “Mystery of Remembrance” parade

The “Mystery of Remembrance” Polish Jedna Ziemia - Dwie Świątynie 'One Country - Two Places of Faith' was organized as part of the Congress of Christian Culture, which took place from September 15th to 17th, 2000 in Lublin. It was a large event with around 2000 participants. The Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich , collected some soil from the place where the Maharszala synagogue was located. Józef Życiński , Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lublin, collected some soil from the place where the Roman Catholic Church of St. Michael was located. Now the containers were passed from hand to hand - the Catholics were represented by the youth of Lublin and the Righteous Among the Nations , the Jews by the Jewish survivors of World War II and youth from the twin town of Rishon Le Zion . Under the archway of the Grodzka Gate, the contents of both containers were mixed in a large barrel by a Polish and a Jewish child and the professor at the Catholic University of Lublin, John Paul II, named Romuald Jakub Weksler-Waszkinel . A grapevine was then planted in the barrel.

Professor Weksler-Waszkinel was not chosen at random. He is a Roman Catholic priest who learned from his mother at the age of 35 that he was not her biological son, but that he had Jewish roots and was born in a Jewish ghetto . He managed to find out the names of his biological parents and added the name of his biological father (Jakub Waszkinel) to his Polish name (Romuald Weksler). Despite the fact that Weksler-Waszkinel sees himself as a Jew, he continues to carry out the work as a Roman Catholic priest. In addition, he is involved in various projects that aim to reconcile people of different religions.

Henio Żytomirski

The last picture of Henio on the stairs to the bank, July 5, 1939

Henio Żytomirski is a Jewish boy who was born and raised in Lublin. He was murdered in a gas chamber at the Majdanek concentration camp at the age of nine .

Part of the exhibition in Grodzka Gate is dedicated to Henio Żytomirski. Apart from that, the institution regularly organizes various commemorations, such as the “Listy do Henia”. There was also a profile on Facebook . Henio's profile was maintained by Piotr Brożek, an employee of Grodzka Gate. He shared pictures and posts in Polish on behalf of the boy. Finally, the profile also won friends abroad, who translated it into their mother tongue. The association collected a considerable amount of data about Henio (with letters and pictures sent from his family to relatives), which made it possible to make a very accurate reconstruction of his life. But due to the new terms of use of Facebook (creating a fake account), Henio Żytomirski's page was deleted in July 2010.

Oral transmission

The “Historia Mówiona” ( German  “Oral Tradition” ) project has been part of the exhibition in Grodzka Gate since 1998 . It is based on a collection of audio and video material from witnesses to various historical events. As a result, the Grodzka Gate collected memories of almost 2,000 people and recordings with more than 3,000 hours of audio and video material. The interviews are mainly about everyday life, cultural exchanges, World War II, the Holocaust, Polish-Jewish relations during the war and the opposition, as well as about underground publications during the years of the People's Republic of Poland . The collected materials form the largest collection of its kind in Poland available on the Internet. Each file meets the requirements of the DCMI (Dublin Core Metadate Initiative) and is saved in dLibra.

The collected material is also used in other projects selected by the institution, such as exhibitions, facilities, plays, educational work, etc., in order to create a unique atmosphere, “breathe life” into the story and give personality.

Individual departments of the "Grodzka Gate" institution

“Lublin's Road through the Underground” ( Polish: Lubelska Trasa Podziemna ) is one of the sections of the “Grodzka Gate” and was opened to visitors in 2006. It is 280 meters long and is used for tourism and educational purposes. It runs under the houses of the old town from the 16th to 17th centuries. It begins at the Crown Tribunal , continues under the streets "Złota" and "Archidiakońska" and terminates on the Plac Po Farze . On the way, visitors come across fourteen exhibition rooms with reproduced models that show the history of Lublin since the 8th century. The highlight of the path is a large, multimedia-supported model of the great Lublin fire in 1719.

The House of Words ( Dom Słów in Polish ) on “Żmigród” street, house number 1, is another section of the “Grodzka Gate”. It was founded in 2006. Originally it was called "Izba Drukarstwa" ( German Chamber of Printing ). The institution opened for the second time on October 3, 2014. The revised exhibition places special emphasis on the importance of words - printed and spoken - in social life and culture. The “House of Words” gives the visitor an insight into the steps involved in book production - the numbering of the pages , the printing of images, the typography , etc. Some of the institution's projects aim to highlight the role of freedom of expression as a milestone in social change. Numerous workshops organized there are geared towards reading and promoting it.  

Web links

Commons : Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tomasz Pietrasiewicz, Florentyna Nastaj: Teatr NN 1990-2010 . Lublin 2010, ISBN 978-83-61064-14-5 (Polish).
  2. ↑ Nowa wystawa w Ośrodku «Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN» In: Wirtualny Sztetl. 02.2011.
  3. ↑ “Twarze nieistniejącego miasta” - film o szklanych negatywach. - Wiadomości. - 3 listopada 2013
  4. ^ Wystawa «Lublin. Pamięć Miejsca »- Ośrodek Brama Grodzka Teatr NN. - Lublin Tourist and Cultural Information Center.
  5. ↑ NN: Opowieści zasłyszane. In: Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN. 2013.
  6. ↑ Tomasz Pietrasiewicz: Misterium "Poemat o miejscu» In: Gazeta Wyborcza. November 9, 2002.
  7. ↑ Katarzyna Jabłońska: Poemat o miejscu In: Tygodnik Katolicki Niedziela. 2004.
  8. ↑ Wojciech Nieśpiałowski: “Latarnia pamięci” na Podwalu - Polish To symbol, a nie awaria , mmlublin.pl, May 27, 2011.
  9. ↑ Jedna ziemia - dwie świątynie. (PDF) In: Kurier Lubelski. No. 206, September 5, 2000.
  10. ↑ Dariusza Rosiaka: Człowiek o twardym karku. Historia księdza Romualda Jakuba Wekslera-Waszkinela - Radio Trójka, March 11, 2014.
  11. ↑ Tomasz Pietrasiewicz, Florentyna Nastaj: Animacja sieci w programie . In: Ośrodek "Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN" 1990–2010. Self-published, Lublin 2010, ISBN 978-83-61064-18-3 .
  12. ↑ "Historia mówiona" - program i archiwum Ośrodka "Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN" - Platforma Kultury.
  13. ↑ Lubelska Trasa na Podziemna zdjęciach (relacja za akredytację). - mmlublin.pl.
  14. ↑ Marcin Jaszak: Wędrówka Lubelska Trasa Podziemna for Ośrodkiem Brama Grodzka Teatr NN. In: Kurier Lubelski. April 29, 2014.
  15. ↑ Nowa Placówka kultury w Lublinie. Dom Słów już otwarty Dziennik wshodni, November 3, 2014.