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With missing link_, conceptual artist Mischa Kuball is creating a temporary light installation on Kasernenstraße that focuses on the memory of the city of Düsseldorf's central synagogue, which was destroyed under National Socialism.
The project will start on Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 11 p.m. on the corner of Kasernenstraße and Siegfried-Klein-Straße.
Kuball's work is intended to give the history of the site a new visibility and offers a resonating space for commemoration and coming together. The project is a cooperation with the Jewish Community of Düsseldorf, the City of Düsseldorf and the Düsseldorf Memorial. missing link_ is created in dialog with the Jewish Community and the chairman of the local council, Dr. Oded Horowitz. The project is also accompanied and supported by Lord Mayor Dr. Stephan Keller and Miriam Koch, Councillor for Culture and Integration.
Lord Mayor Dr. Stephan Keller: "The installation highlights a historically special place in Düsseldorf. It inspires remembrance, attracts attention and motivates viewers to engage with and reflect on German history. The project helps to ensure that the heinous acts of the November 1938 pogroms - an expression of pure hatred and violence - are not forgotten. Because remembering the terrible crimes of National Socialism is an everlasting responsibility that we in Düsseldorf are fully committed to."
The synagogue, completed in 1904 in neo-Romanesque style, was a central cultural hub of Jewish life in the city. In addition to religious services, concerts and public lectures were often held there. On November 10, 1938, the synagogue was set on fire during the Nazi pogroms and later demolished. Today, a simple memorial stone commemorates the existence of this important building.
Dr. Oded Horowitz, Chairman of the Board of the Jewish Community Düsseldorf: "The Jewish Community Düsseldorf still carries an important aspect of the former synagogue with it today. The entrance door to the women's gallery of our synagogue on Paul-Spiegel-Platz was the door of the former rabbi's house. It is very important to us that the commemoration of the victims of the Shoah reaches more people. We are therefore very supportive of the project."
Bert Römgens, Administrative Director of the Jewish Community of Düsseldorf: "New approaches must be found in the culture of remembrance in order to sensitize the general public to the commemoration of the victims of the Shoah and, in particular, to convey the responsibility we all have that something similar must be prevented. We therefore very much welcome the fact that the commemoration of the synagogue on Kasernenstrasse is to be brought to the fore by Mischa Kuball's project."
Mischa Kuball: "The installation missing link_ on Kasernenstraße in Düsseldorf refers to the large gap left in the city of Düsseldorf by the destruction of Jewish institutions, synagogues, stores, hotels and restaurants on the night of the pogrom in 1938. This gap has never really been filled. A very restrained memorial stone markes the site, but gives no indication of the size of the synagogue or the significance of the Jewish community. The installation missing link_ uses the white light and a fragment of the old architecture to create clarification and visibility at this location. A visibility for the gap that still cannot be closed today. missing link_ is also an attempt to offer people a more dignified place for communal gatherings after this loss."
In addition to the missing link_ installation on site, a specially created WebApp offers information, historical images and eyewitness accounts. The content of this information platform was significantly supported by Bastian Fleermann, Director of the Düsseldorf Memorial, and his colleagues Hildegard Jakobs, Angela Genger and Barbara Suchy.
If you have any questions, please contact: Ann-Charlotte Günzel | Text & Communication mail@ac-guenzel.de
missing link_ Webapp:
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