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06/10/2024 | Pressemitteilung

Path of remembrance at HoPla reopened after renovation

The "Path of Remembrance" at the University of Kassel has been complete again for a few weeks now, and several damaged information boards and steles have been replaced. Today, on June 10, 2024, it was reopened. Since its opening in 2014, the trail has commemorated the industrial history of the central campus as the former Henschel site, which is also closely linked to the National Socialist tyranny.

University President Prof. Dr. Ute Clement (right) and Chancellor Dr. Oliver Fromm (left) with Ingo Buchholz (CEO of Kasseler Sparkasse, 2nd from left) and Professor Emeritus Dr. Dietfrid Krause-Vilmar from Kassel, who was involved in the original planning of the Path of Remembrance ten years ago, in front of one of the renovated stations of the trail at K19.

"The university as a place of science and education was - quite deliberately - built on a site where production had previously also taken place for the National Socialist war economy. The Path of Remembrance is a reminder of this history," emphasizes University President Prof. Dr. Ute Clement. "Precisely because right-wing extremist and populist movements are currently gaining strength, we want to preserve and cultivate this memory. The ten stations of the Path of Remembrance raise our awareness of the heritage of our location here at Holländischer Platz."

The Path of Remembrance consists of a total of ten stations spread across the Holländischer Platz central campus, which highlight the history of various buildings. It also includes the memorial "The Ramp" by Kassel artist E. R. Nele, which has stood on the university grounds since 1985. After some of the stations had been damaged in the years since the path was inaugurated, the janitor's office and building department of the University of Kassel replaced the affected stations. Two previously removed steles (stations K9 and K10) have been reinstalled together with an information board and another text panel (K11) has been reattached. The text panel in front of building K19 was also replaced as the content had become outdated. Damaged Braille stickers were also reprinted and replaced.

The restoration of the Path of Remembrance was generously supported by a donation of 7,000 euros from Kasseler Sparkasse. "As Kasseler Sparkasse, we see it as our duty to ensure that our past is not forgotten through our support. Because it is up to all of us to ensure that the atrocities are not repeated," explains Ingo Buchholz, Chairman of the Board of Management of Kasseler Sparkasse.

All information about the Path of Remembrance and the individual stations can be found online at: https://wde.uni-kassel.de

The original press release on its opening can be found here: https://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/aktuelles/meldung/post/detail/News/universitaet-kassel-eroeffnet-weg-der-erinnerung/