Memorial for the gay and lesbian victims of National Socialism in Cologne

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The memorial for the gay and lesbian victims of National Socialism in Cologne has been a prominent reminder in the cityscape of Cologne since 1995 , on the banks of the Rhine at the Hohenzollern Bridge, mainly of the homosexual persecution at the time. Thus, on June 24, 1995, the second memorial in Germany not designed as a plaque was erected in Cologne to commemorate the persecution of homosexuals. The Frankfurter Engel, a memorial dedicated to this topic, has existed in Frankfurt am Main since December 11, 1994 . On May 27, 2008, the monument to the homosexuals persecuted under National Socialism was inauguratedin Berlin. Until then, there were only memorial plaques in the former concentration camps of Mauthausen , Neuengamme , Dachau and Sachsenhausen in German-speaking countries , and a plaque in Berlin on Nollendorfplatz . The Cologne memorial was given as a gift to the city of Cologne by the initiator, the Cologne Public Services, Transport and Traffic Union (ÖTV, now the United Services Union Ver.di ). For the first time in history, a special memorial for lesbian and gay Nazi victims was erected by a union .

Event January 27, 2008

Historical background

The memorial is mainly intended to commemorate the persecution of homosexuals during the National Socialist era . Although there was no systematic persecution of lesbians during National Socialism , they are expressly mentioned in the inscription on the memorial because their living conditions and infrastructure were also affected by National Socialism . With the inscription "Totgeschlagen - Totgeschwiegen", the memorial is also intended to commemorate the situation of the victims in the post-war Federal Republic.

History of the memorial

In March 1990 the working group for lesbians and gays (formerly AK Homosexuality ) of the ÖTV Cologne started the initiative to erect the memorial. The initiator Jörg Lenk remained the main responsible contact and the driving force for this project until the memorial stone was erected. The official applicant, the German Trade Union Federation ( DGB ) district of Cologne, was publicly supported by various organizations and parties. After a statement by the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne, the mayor's initial idea to expand the board at the Cologne fair in Cologne-Deutz to commemorate the deportation of Jews , Sinti and Roma , was dropped. The initial doubts about the persecution of lesbians by the representatives of the City Council of Cologne could be dispelled by the Nazi Documentation Center. The council representatives initially wanted to replace the words "gay and lesbian" in the label with "homosexual". At the initiative of the GRÜNEN parliamentary group , the formulation was left to the initiators. In 1993 there was a restricted invitation to tender among 25 artists proposed by the City of Cologne's cultural office. With the exception of votes against from the CDU , the erection of the memorial took place in principle with broad consensus and without public discussion. To finance the memorial, a fundraising campaign was initiated, which raised DM 30,900.00 (€ 15,798.92). In June 1995 the memorial was opened to the public.

inscription

In addition to the location, the inscription “Totgeschlagen - Totgeschwiegen, the gay and lesbian victims of National Socialism” was the only requirement for the design of the memorial. The words "Totgeschlagen - Totgeschwiegen" had already found use on the memorial plaque on Berlin's Nollendorfplatz. This is intended to point out the fate of the persecution of homosexuals under the National Socialists for the Cologne AK Lesbians and Gays in the ÖTV, as well as the further persecution in post-war Germany and the ongoing discrimination against lesbians and gays in today's Federal Republic. The inscription "homosexual" seemed too medical to the AK employees. Since they refer to themselves as lesbians or gays, the use of these words was undisputed.

Memorial inscription

Location

The location chosen was the Rheingarten / Frankenwerft area, which is heavily frequented by Cologne residents and tourists, directly on the Hohenzollern Bridge, with the Ludwig Museum and Cologne Cathedral in the background. The place of installation is not chosen without historical reference. The Rhine area at the Hohenzollern Bridge has long been a popular meeting place for homosexual men, which offered the opportunity for anonymous contacts without the risk of becoming known as gay in bourgeois life. At the Hohenzollern Bridge, until its destruction in World War II, there was a urinal that gay men had used as a meeting place since the turn of the century. In the post-war years, the war-torn stair towers of the Hohenzollern Bridge were converted into a meeting place by the gays.

Memorial site on the Rhine

selection

An independent jury of experts unanimously voted for the work of the Rostock sculptor Achim Zinkann as the second prize from among the 11 submitted competition entries. No first prize was awarded. From June 14 to July 15, 1994 the eleven submitted copies were presented in an exhibition in the forum of the adult education center in Cologne.

Artist

Achim Zinkann (* 1960) designed the memorial. After studying art and history to become a teacher at the University of Siegen , from 1991 to 1993, Zinkann held a teaching position at the Siegen University in the fields of stone, steel sculpture, sculpture and sculpture. Since 1993 teacher and art teacher at the music high school Käthe Kollwitz Rostock , in the Rostock -Land district. Since 1986, Zinkann has participated in various exhibitions as an artist.

layout

The memorial is made of pink and gray granite . It has a height of 120 cm and an edge length of 69 cm.

The pink triangle was a symbol that was used during the Nazi era to identify male prisoners in concentration camps who had been deported there because of their homosexuality.

The artist Achim Zinkann describes his work as follows:

“The starting point for this work are two blocks of granite of the same size, colored gray and pink. These two blocks were sawn up over a side diagonal and reassembled. The square surfaces of the gray wedges stand on the floor, the inclined sawed surfaces face each other diagonally and, in the middle of the notch that has been created, accommodate the two pink wedges joined together to form an equilateral triangle.
In the sculpture, there is a correspondence between the wedges. Pressure, counter pressure and friction are prerequisites for overall cohesion. If one of the wedges is removed, at least one other loses its grip. The structure is destroyed. The inner tension and the dissolution of the block-like character is created by the diagonal position of the gray stones.
The interplay of body shadow and drop shadow reinforces this tension, as does the changing silhouette when the viewer moves in front of the sculpture.
The proportions in the sculpture result from the geometric conditions of the equilateral triangle and a fixed height of 120 cm. This height is easy to grasp for a person. At this height, the text is carved into the square areas of the pink wedges and can thus be experienced haptically and visually.
There are a large number of interpretative approaches.
Two blocks, two colors, two cuts, put together into one whole. One gray, one pink block. Parts of a society. Men women. Lesbians, gays, oppressing each other, rubbing against each other, lifting one another, conditioning one another. I leave further interpretations to the viewer. "

Memorial in the Rheingarten

revelation

The ceremony for the installation on June 24, 1995 was celebrated both as a contribution by the ÖTV trade union to the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Germany from the Nazi reign of terror and as part of the gay and lesbian events for Cologne Pride .

Mayor Norbert Burger's speech was his first official appearance at a CSD .

In the ZDF news programs heute und heute journal on the same day, there were films about the line-up as well as reports and interviews in various radio programs. Reports also followed nationwide in various daily newspapers, the trade union press and gay and lesbian media at home and abroad.

Current

On the annual official German memorial day for the victims of National Socialism, on the occasion of the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, on January 27, wreaths and flowers will be laid at the memorial as part of an event.

In the regular city tours on gay / lesbian topics, the memorial is often the starting point or the end of the tours.

The Cologne gay male choir “ Zauberflöten ” has been sponsored by the city of Cologne. He volunteers in the maintenance of the memorial and musically accompanies the annual commemorative events.

source

literature

  • Limpricht / Müller / Oxenius: Seduced Men - The Life of Cologne Homosexuals in the Third Reich . Cologne 1991.
  • Center for Gay History Cologne (ed.): "They are enemies of the people" - The persecution of homosexuals on the Rhine and Ruhr 1933-45 . Cologne 1998.
  • Jürgen Müller: Exclusion of homosexuals from the "Volksgemeinschaft" - The persecution of homosexuals in Cologne 1933–1945 . Cologne 2003.
  • Claudia Schoppmann: Forbidden Conditions - Woman's Love 1938–1945 . Berlin 1999.
  • Jellonnek, Burkhard / Lautmann, Rüdiger (eds.): National Socialist Terror against Homosexuals - Repressed and Unpunished . Paderborn 2002.
  • Pierre Seel: Me, Pierre Seel, deported and forgotten . Cologne 1996.
  • Stümke-Winkler: Pink angles, pink lists . Hamburg 1981.
  • Frank Sparing: "Arrested for offenses under Section 175" - The persecution of Düsseldorf homosexuals . Düsseldorf 1997.

Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 27.31 "  N , 6 ° 57 ′ 45.43"  E