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08/29/2024 | Pressemitteilung

Hesse's oldest Nazi memorial celebrates its anniversary

On Saturday next week, 7 September 2024, the Breitenau Memorial will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a public program. It is the oldest Nazi memorial in Hesse. At the historical site of the concentration camp and later "labor education camp" (AEL) in Guxhagen in northern Hesse, it has been carrying out continuous remembrance work since 1984. The memorial emerged from a research project at the University of Kassel.

Picture of a memorial demonstration that took place on May 8, 1985 and ended at the memorial site. The event was organized by the DGB Schwalm Eder.Image: W. Bernhardt.
Picture of a memorial demonstration that took place on May 8, 1985 and ended at the memorial site. The event was organized by the DGB Schwalm-Eder.

On May 7, 1979, the city council of Kassel commissioned today's university, then known as the Gesamthochschule (GHK), to come to terms with Kassel's Nazi past. The young professors Dietfrid Krause-Vilmar, Jörg Kammler and Wilhelm Frenz took on the role of Project Leader. Through conversations with contemporary witnesses, Krause-Vilmar and Reinhard Nolle came across a collection of files in the cellar of the former Breitenau labor camp in 1979. Preserved admission books, administrative files and case files documented the use of the institution on the grounds of the former Benedictine monastery Breitenau as an early concentration camp (1933/34) and later as an AEL (1940 - 1945).

Professors and students who came together to form the "Breitenau Project Group" subsequently created a traveling exhibition entitled "Remembering Breitenau". With significant support from the Landeswohlfahrtsverband Hessen, owner of the property, this exhibition was shown at the historical site from 1982. Two years later, the memorial work was made permanent with permanent staff and regular opening hours.

The University of Kassel continues to support the Breitenau Memorial in a variety of ways to this day. The memorial is integrated into the research and teaching activities of the University of Kassel. There is close cooperation between Dr. Christine Pflüger, Professor of History Didactics, who represents the university on the memorial's advisory board, and Dr. Hubertus Büschel, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History.

The 40th anniversary of the memorial will be celebrated with a public program on 7 September. At a market of opportunities from 3 p.m., players from the field of historical and political education will present themselves, including the Hadamar, Trutzhain and Adlerwerke memorials, the Evangelical Forum, the Hesse Mobile Advisory Team, the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) North Hesse, Kopiloten e.V. and many others. The official ceremony will take place at 4 pm. From 5.30 p.m., Prof. Dr. Dietfrid Krause-Vilmar, Dr. Ann Katrin Düben (Director of the Breitenau Memorial), Dr. Gunnar Richter (former Director), Judith Sucher (Hadamar Memorial) and Thomas Altmeyer (Adlerwerke History Site) will take part in a discussion. Moderation: Cornelia Siebeck (Memorial Site Department, Topography of Terror Foundation Berlin).

 

September 7, 2024
3 to 7 p.m.

Breitenau Memorial
Brückenstraße 12
34302 Guxhagen

Further information:
gedenkstaette-breitenau.de

Contact:
Dr. Ann Katrin Düben
Breitenau Memorial
Management
gedenkstaette-breitenau.de