The Neuhardenberg Castle Foundation commemorates the German resistance with rarely shown testimonies from the National Socialist era in the special exhibition Night in Germany. Persecution – Destruction – Resistance, which opens on 20 July 2024, as well as various events as part of the exhibition. Over decades, the collector Gerhard Schneider has amassed drawings, paintings and prints from the years 1933 to 1945 that tell of destruction, fear, persecution, but also of resistance. These are works that were created in secret and whose discovery could have meant a death sentence for their creators due to their political explosiveness. Hidden, sometimes buried, the works survived the years of the Nazi regime. Particularly impressive is a previously unpublished collection of drawings by the artist Ernst Kaufmann from the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Alongside many others, Carl-Hans Graf von Hardenberg (1891 – 1958) also played a key role in the resistance campaign against the Nazi dictatorship. Neuhardenberg Castle was the scene of preparations for the attempted coup. Those involved in the resistance met here to plan the reorganisation of the state for the period after the Hitler regime
Image above: Sammlung Gerhard Schneider in der Bürgerstiftung für verfolgte Künste / Zentrum für verfolgte Künste, Solingen. Georg Netzband: Der Abgrund, 1935
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the failed assassination attempt of 20 July 1944. Alongside many others, Carl-Hans Graf von Hardenberg (1891 – 1958) played a key role in the resistance campaign against the Nazi dictatorship. Neuhardenberg Castle was the scene of preparations for the attempted coup. Those involved in the resistance met here to plan the reorganisation of the state for the period after the Hitler regime. To mark the anniversary, the Neuhardenberg Castle Foundation is commemorating the German resistance with an extensive programme consisting of an exhibition, a reading and – in cooperation with the Neuhardenberg Protestant parish – a church service. A memorial site with a sculpture by Brandenburg artist Sylvia Hagen will be inaugurated in Neuhardenberg Castle Park as a permanent reminder of the German resistance.
The programme on 20 July 2024 begins at 2 pm with a memorial service in Neuhardenberg’s Schinkel Church. Afterwards, the special exhibition Night in Germany, supported by the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung and Sparkasse Märkisch-Oderland, will open in the Orangery. Persecution – Destruction – Resistance with rarely shown artefacts from the National Socialist era will open in the Orangery. Over decades, the collector Gerhard Schneider has collected drawings, paintings and prints from the years 1933 to 1945 that tell of destruction, fear, persecution and resistance. These are works that were created in secret and whose discovery could have meant a death sentence for their creators due to their political explosiveness. Hidden, sometimes buried, the works survived the years of the Nazi regime. Particularly impressive is a previously unpublished collection of drawings by the artist Ernst Kaufmann from the Theresienstadt concentration camp.
With a reading entitled Die verbrannten Dichter (The Burnt Poets), Nicole Heesters and Gerd Wameling recall the books and fates of persecuted authors with texts from the anthology of the same name by the recently deceased literary historian and journalist Jürgen Serke. From 1976 onwards, Jürgen Serke sought out and interviewed surviving authors, initially for a series in Stern magazine, and made their writings accessible to a wide audience. Based on the series, his epochal collection Die verbrannten Dichter (The Burned Poets) was published, which is now available in a third and expanded edition. It also includes memories of writers who died in exile or on the way there.
The work Gegen den Strom by Sylvia Hagen (*1947) is dedicated to the memory of Carl-Hans Graf von Hardenberg and the men and women of the German resistance and will be permanently installed in Neuhardenberg Castle Park from 20 July. The ambiguous, hesitant and vulnerable-looking sculpture has nothing in common with a classic heroic statue and perfectly illustrates the ambivalence of the German resistance: as a disjointed movement, it took place too late, too hesitantly, with far too few actors and supporters. Nevertheless, individual members acted courageously, in an exemplary manner and went “against the tide” with a hopeless act.
WHEN?
Programme on Saturday 20 July 2024:
at 2 pm: Schinkel-Kirche – Memorial service organised by the Protestant parish of Neuhardenberg, Sermon: Prof. Dr. Notger Slenczka, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Management: Pfarrer Thomas Krüger, Neuhardenberg. Free admission.
at 3 pm: Orangerie – Exhibition opening: Nacht in Deutschland. Verfolgung – Zerstörung – Widerstand, Werke aus der Sammlung Gerhard Schneider. The exhibition Nacht in Deutschland is supported by Ostdeutsche Sparkasseenstriftung together with Sparkasse Märkisch-Oderland. Free admission.
Schlosspark – Inauguration of the memorial to Carl-Hans Graf von Hardenberg and the German resistance Against the tide. Free admission.
at 6 pm: Großer Saal – Reading, Die verbrannten Dichter Texts from the anthology of the same name by Jürgen Serke read by Nicole Heesters and Gerd Wameling
Opening hours:
Wed – Sat, Public holidays 11 am until 6 pm
Exhibition period:
Saturday, 20. July until Sunday, 11. August 2024
WHERE?
Schloss Neuhardenberg
Schinkelplatz
15320 Neuhardenberg
COSTS?
free admission to Schinkel-Kirche, Orangerie and Großer Saal
Regular: 20 €
Reduced: 16 €
Ticket service on 033476-600-750 (daily 10 am – 6 pm) or at schlossneuhardenberg.de
