Reuse
Symposium, 1-2 July 2023
Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin
HG Merz, Harald Bodenschatz, Benedikt Goebel, Carolin Schönemann, Akademie der Künste, harald.bodenschatz@tu-berlin.de
The symposium accompanies the exhibition on planning and building in the National Socialist era and examines how the legacies of the dictatorships of the first half of the 20th century are dealt with in Europe. The speakers will present examples of places in Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Ukraine. European politics of remembrance are often dominated by national tunnel vision. It is therefore time for a cultural and political exchange about the respective approaches.
The culture of remembrance that Germany cultivates today differs considerably from that found in other countries. In Italy, experts recognise virtually every significant work of architecture and type of building that came about and every architect who worked under the dictatorship. Buildings are declared works of art and are often placed outside of their historical context. Architecture and symbols of the dictatorship such as the fasci — bundles of several wooden twigs, often called “bundles of twigs” — and Fascist calendar numbering are not only preserved and maintained, but are also restored and renovated. For the most part, on-site historical explanations are not provided.
During the Putin era in Russia, the memory of the Stalinist period has been gradually nationalised, steered and transformed into a culture of reverence. In Spain, a culture of forgetting was for decades supported through legislation. This is currently changing, as shown by the reinterment of the remains of General Franco in 2019, and by renaming the Valle de los Caídos (“Valley of the Fallen”) the Valle de Cuelgamuros (“Valley of Cuelgamuros”) in 2022 — Spain’s largest mass grave, which buries more than 30,000 victims from the Spanish Civil War and which may no longer be used by Franco nostalgics for rallies in the future. In the European politics of remembrance, national tunnel vision is a widespread phenomenon. A cultural exchange on how to deal with the legacies of the dictatorships rarely takes place — Europe remains a task in this field as well.
Further information > Akademie der Künste
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