Traces of the Nazi Past, Here and Now
f.l.t.r: Gabu Heindl, Niko Wahl, Hito Steyerl, Sebastian Markt
Copyright: Linz09
Revealing the Nazi past of the Brückenkopfgebäude (Bridgehead Building) on Linz’s Main Square is the aim of Linz09’s “Amidst Us” project. An integral part of it is Hito Steyerl’s new video installation entitled “Der Bau” (The Construction).
A gashed-away section of the façade of the Brückenkopfgebäude on Linz’s Hauptplatz is immediately evident to locals as well as visitors to this city. The plaster has been removed intentionally in conjunction with “Amidst Us,” an effort to commemorate the slave laborers used on this construction project. Now, a video installation by filmmaker/author Hito Steyerl has been set up in a former retail premises on the ground floor of the Brückenkopfgebäude to report on how exactly this structure came into being.Steyerl presented her work on Friday, February 27, 2009, and thus at the same time as the release of the Linz09 History Book by Niko Wahl. This volume sheds light on the darkest chapter in the history of this city, the time of National Socialism. It also looks into how the omnipresent remnants of the Nazi era have been dealt with in Linz.
The book (in German and English) costs €4 and is available at the Linz09 Infocenter. Half of the proceeds will be donated to the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies.
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