; exhibition at the LUX Pavilion in fall 2020 On January 27, 1945, Red Army troops liberated the Auschwitz extermination camp. This place stands, like no other, as a symbol of the unimaginable horror of the industrial-scale mass murder of six million Jews by the Nazis. The eyewitnesses and survivors of the Shoah are gradually passing away. Their legacy, however, must remain an ongoing commitment—not merely through stone plaques and institutionalized commemorative ceremonies.
Project
During the summer semester of 2020, 27 students in the Interior Design program at Mainz University of Applied Sciences, under the direction of Prof. Antje Krauter and Prof. Wolf Gutjahr, conducted research on sites of Nazi crimes in Mainz, focusing on scenographic-performative and architectural-spatial aspects. The projects were supported by the Rhineland-Palatinate State Agency for Political Education, the Haus des Erinnerns in Mainz, and other institutions in Mainz, as well as local residents.Award-Winning Projects
On July 7, 2020—in the immediate vicinity of several sites of Nazi atrocities—a judging session for the student projects took place at LUX, the central exhibition pavilion of Mainz University of Applied Sciences on Ludwigsstraße, with all participants in attendance. In addition to Prof. Antje Krauter and Prof. Wolf Gutjahr, the jury members included the Vice President of Mainz University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr. Regina Stephan, as well as Dr. Cornelia Doldt (Haus des Erinnerns Mainz) and Angelika Arenz-Morch (State Agency for Political Education of Rhineland-Palatinate). Six projects were awarded prizes:- Mainz University of Applied Sciences Special Prize: “IM WEG” by Victoria Klettenhofer
- Jury’s Special Mention: “Enge” by Anastasyia Okshina
- 1st Prize for Architectural Space: “Versus” by Zeliha Yüksel
- Second Prize for Architectural Space: “Rampe” and “Spuren in die Zukunft” by Nina Ludwig
- 1st Prize for Scenographic-Performative Space: “Lichtspielhäuser” by Ina Bernsdorf
- 2nd Prize, Scenographic-Performative Space: “Schwellclub” by Lukas Kurze
Commitment to Democratic Values—Against Forgetting
Recent political events have made us all aware of how important it is to commit ourselves every day to our democratic values and achievements. The participating students all belong to a generation that must explore memories of National Socialism among their living relatives and, in doing so, can actively challenge selective perceptions. The connotations of prominent buildings and squares in Mainz as sites of Nazi institutions, prisons, or deportation centers—such as the Osteiner Hof on Schillerplatz, the Dalberger Hof on Klarastraße, or Goetheplatz in Neustadt—as sites where Nazi crimes were openly committed—is usually not apparent on the ground, much less emotionally tangible. The destruction of democratic structures—once cynically orchestrated in our society—and the widespread permeation and acceptance of fascism in everyday life thus become a historical event that is (both spatially and temporally) isolated and renovated out of existence. The effort to bridge the gap—using the sites of these crimes in the heart of our daily lives, drawn from the history of 20th-century crimes committed in this country, to the globally visible current right-wing populist and fascist tendencies in our society that threaten democracy and freedom—is thus either neglected or, in some cases, actively obstructed. The effects of these “blind spots” on our present have been felt in our society for some time now, including through the increasingly widespread right-wing populist, revisionist, and marginalizing attitudes toward the barbarism of National Socialism. Locations researched by students as part of the project- Osteiner Hof / NSDAP District Headquarters, SA, SS / Schillerplatz 1
- Dalberger Hof / Police Prison / Klarastraße 4
- Court Jail / Diether-von-Isenburg-Straße
- Mainz branch of the Darmstadt Gestapo / Kaiserstraße 31
- “Book Burning” / Route of the “Torchlight Procession” from Holzstraße to Jockel-Fuchs-Platz
- Stresemann Memorial / Fischtorplatz
- Mainz Cathedral
- Capitol Cinema / Neubrunnenstraße 9
- Anna Seghers’ Birthplace / Parcusstraße 5
- Deportation Houses / Adam-Karrillon-Straße 13/45, Walpodenstraße 17, Breidenbacherstraße 25, Margarethengasse 19/21/28, Kaiserstraße 32, Frauenlobstraße 4, Taunusstraße 45
- Former Jewish District School / Main Synagogue / Synagogue Square
- Goethe School Gymnasium / Colmarstraße
- Feldberg School Gymnasium / Feldbergplatz 4
- Forced Labor Camp at Goetheplatz
- Freight Yard / Mombacher Straße / Goethestraße
