Wounds of memory

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Memorial plaque on the house, Sigismundstrasse 4, in Berlin-Tiergarten

Wounds of Memory is a European art project by Beate Passow (* 1945) and Andreas von Weizsäcker (1956–2008), both of whom are graduates of the Munich Academy of Fine Arts . The project was created between 1993 and 1995. Panes of glass with the inscription “Wounds of Memory” mark the traces in the cityscape that the Second World War left behind.

It originally started as a memorial in the public space of Munich , where there are three memorial plaques:

The project was later expanded to include sixteen panels in nine neighboring European countries. Today there are more panels in

  1. Berlin , Germany (on the left above the entrance to the Pareysche Villa in Sigismundstrasse 4a),
  2. Warsaw , Poland (under the title "RANY PAMIĘCI" attached to the remains of a building of the Polish National Bank; there was also a temporary glass panel on the charred remains of a restored Corpus Christi figure on the cross in the Kościół św. Kazimierza church ),
  3. Prague , Czech Republic (the installation entitled "Zející rány vzpomínek" shows bullets from the Prague city archive in a showcase in the palace at Husova 20, today's city archive),
  4. Pilsen , Czech Republic (installation on the top floor of the then dilapidated Great Synagogue in Sady Pětatřicátníků 35/11 (main street)),
  5. Vienna , Austria (plaque in front of the studio building of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna ),
  6. Avignon , France (on the facade of the school at 36 Rue Joseph Vernet),
  7. Ammerschweier , France (under the title "Les blessures de la mémoire" on the gate pillar of the small community cemetery),
  8. Echternach , Luxembourg (under the title "D'WONNEN VUN DER ERENNERONG" on a preserved rotunda of the abbey church that was blown up by the Wehrmacht),
  9. Diekirch , Luxembourg (marking of fragments of grenades and bombs that have penetrated the wood and that oxidize over time and thus damage the tree trunks as timber),
  10. Hauset , Belgium (under the title "Wounds of Memory" in the predominantly German-speaking city (plaque on the undamaged Viaduc du Hammerbrücke railway bridge on Ligne 37)),
  11. Antwerp , Belgium (under the title “WONDEN VAN DE HERINNERING” in the predominantly Flemish-speaking city (at a bunker in the city park in the Diamantbuurt (diamond district))) and
  12. Rotterdam , Netherlands (Marking of bullet holes under the title "WONDEN VAN DE HERINNERING" on a bridge pillar. The bridge itself was demolished in the 1980s.)

The installation of a plaque at the Royal Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen was refused. In the predominantly French-speaking Houffalize , where a plaque was to be attached to a slate rock with bullet holes on Rue de Libramont, this failed due to resistance from the responsible mayor's office.

With the art project, Weizsäcker and Passow pursued the idea of documenting the traces of the Second World War that the attack by the Wehrmacht left in many European countries. Most of the war damage to the buildings has been repaired, but minor damage has been preserved, which, on a cursory glance, is hardly perceived as war damage. The two artists now focused their magnifying glass precisely on this small destruction. In front of the war damage, the two artists installed square panes of glass on which the words "Wounds of Memory" were etched in the respective national language. The transparent panes do not hide anything, but leave the wound open to prevent it from healing and thus from being forgotten. With the transparent design, the viewer's gaze is not directed at the art object itself, but at the damage to the building or the sculpture. The title “Wounds of Memory” puts the destruction of the war in the context of the war without promoting museumization. By locating it in public space, the war and its consequences are preserved in the everyday environment.

In 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, an exhibition on the art project "Wounds of Memory" took place in Munich's Haus der Kunst , documenting all of the project's installations in 32 color photographs by Laurenz Berges (* 1966).

literature

  • Passow, Beate / Weizsäcker, Andreas von (ed.): Wounds of memory: A European project; [Exhibition: Haus der Kunst, Munich, 5.5.1995–28.5.1995; German Historical Museum Berlin, May 18 - July 17, 1995; Centrum Sztuki, Warsaw, August 1995] [ed. from the Institute for Modern Art Nuremberg], Nuremberg: Verl. für Moderne Kunst, 1995 ( ISBN 9783928342438 ).
  • Biller, Josef H./Rasp, Hans-Peter: Munich Art and Culture Lexicon, City Guide and Manual, Munich: Ludwig, 1994 ( ISBN 377872133X ).

Web links

Commons : wounds of memory  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on an exhibition on the Haus der Kunst website.