Thingstätten
Looking at open-air theaters from Nazi Germany today
September 7–October 27, 2023
Thingstätten: the unknown history of Nazi open-air theaters
An exhibition of documentary photography, art and science in New York.
Between 1933 and 1936, so-called “Thingstätte” (literally: thing sites) were erected as propagandistic open-air theaters and meeting places in early Nazi Germany. Four hundred Thingstätten were planned, and around sixty constructed. Many of these barely known sites can still be found scattered across Germany, Poland, and Russia—some forgotten, some still actively in use as open-air theaters. In the deeply researched photobook Thingstätten (Kerber, 2020 / Geymüller, 2021) and interactive website, an interdisciplinary mix of international artists, scholars, and writers facilitates a critical examination of the unusual history of the “Thingstätte,” and how this forgotten problematic past continues to manifest explicitly and implicitly in our present moment.
The project received a special mention by the Jury of the European Heritage Award, for its innovative way of researching the problematic history with a network of artists, photographers and scientists.
The project was initiated by artist and photographer Katharina Bosse from HSBI University of applied Sciences and Arts in Bielefeld, Germany, whose previous work has been featured in the New Yorker, GEO, National Geographic, and the New York Times Magazine.
The exhibition includes works by the artists Katharina Bosse, Rebecca Budde de Cancino, Doug Fitch, Jan Merlin Friedrich, Jakob Ganslmeier, Andrea Grützner, Rebecca Hackemann, Konstantin Karchevskiy, Hendrik Lüders, Daniel Mirer, Felix Nürmberger, Ralph Pache, Abhijit Pal, Philipp Robien, Jewgeni Roppel, Simon Schubert, Kuno Seltmann, Erica Shires, Thomas Wrede.
The exhibition runs through October 27. Please make an appointment to visit the exhibition by emailing Sarah Girner, cultural program Deutsches Haus at NYU (sig1@nyu.edu)
The publication Thingstätten is available in English via artbook D.A.P. and in Germany at Geymüller Publications (German Edition).
This website features a map and database: thingstaetten.info (bilangual)
Contact for project info and press material: katharina.bosse@hsbi.de
