2024-08-22 13:12:09
The Potsdam garrison church tower has been rebuilt. Photographer Philipp Oswalt has been fighting for years against the project, which has been infiltrated by right-wing activists. The Federal President, who has now inaugurated the building, supports the activist on an important point.
The tower of the Garrison Church rose again in Potsdam. Not as rocket-like as in old photos and paintings. The stumps of the tower of the renovated tower are also not covered by the dome and the weather vane to reach the original 88 meters, which will make the structure the highest in the city once it is completed, planned for 2026. Many advocates of historical reconstruction in the former residential city marked by war and socialist urban planning are already happy about the reconstruction. They talk about healing.
For the opponents of the reconstruction, it is cosmetic, the garrison church tower is a cosmetic patch on the face of the city. They even believe that the reconstruction – it costs around 42 million euros and is financed primarily by the federal government – is dangerous. The tower is not only a tribute to unfortunate Prussian nostalgia, it can also become a pilgrimage site for right-wing radicals.
In fact, the court and the garrison church, built by Philipp Gerlach between 1730 and 1735, have glorious places in its history. The Nazis took over the baroque military church on March 21, 1933 to celebrate the state ceremony of opening the Reichstag for the first time after the NSDAP came to power. Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels then romanticized the meeting as the “Day of Potsdam”.
The church was badly damaged during the Second World War. In 1968 it was blown up on the orders of the SED despite great resistance from the population. A data center was then built on the site of the nave. In the 1980s, a “traditional community” was created that recreated the garrison church carillon, complete with question marks in the bells. The word came from Max Klaar, a member of the Bundeswehr, who raised millions of people to start the construction of all the churches.
This is where Philipp Oswalt’s criticism comes in. The architect and professor at the University of Kassel is probably Germany’s best-known opponent of the reconstruction. He is not only critical of reconstruction in general, for example of the Berlin Palace, but also of all related construction of “right-wing sites”, for example because of non-revealed donations. According to Oswalt, the idea of rebuilding and using it “to this day” is according to the proposal made by Klaar to then-Bishop Wolfgang Huber in July 2000.
Scary icon or wow landmark?
The Protestant Church is the sponsor of the project and has established the Nail Cross Chapel in the tower. The Garrison Church Foundation operates exhibit rooms and a viewing platform in the “Land of Wow”. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier ceremonially inaugurated the garrison church tower on August 22, 2024 as a supervisor. And Philipp Oswalt, who publicly left the church seven years ago because of the reconstruction, which in his view “establishes unity between the church, the state and the military,” wrote an open letter to the Federal President on August 15, The year 2024.
The history of the church and its reconstruction require a “clear, unequivocal and visible break” with traditions, Oswalt wrote in his letter. The building is “not only a central symbol for Prussian-German nationalism, but also for right-wing extremists,” for example, the right-wing magazine “Compact” commissioned the reconstruction under the headline ” Prussia’s heart must beat once more! ” Oswalt fears that “this place, with its centuries-long history of violence, provides a breeding ground for right-wing extremists.”
In the opening words of the ceremony, Christian Stäblein, the bishop of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia, has released this fear – also of many demonstrators who have gathered again on Breite Straße in front of the buildings- watch to raise flags against. “The Nazi Church” and to protest the “sign of terror” – on: “The enemies of democracy will not have a place here, we will make sure of that,” explained Stäblein and thanked the opponents of the reconstruction for their responsible memory this. . The first exhibition “Faith, Power and Military” at the museum was created with this idea in mind.
In his letter, which was signed by, among others, the curator of the monument Gabi Dolff-Bonekämper, the American Judaizer Susannah Heschel and the British historian Geoff Eley, Oswalt presented a request to Steinmeier to ensure that the foundation accepts three important requirements . . Therefore, even the most bureaucratic Federal President cannot respond seriously to the desire for him to change the controversial part of his policies in a celebratory speech.
Steinmeier said that the Garrison Church “should not be misused for historical revisionism” and asked: “Let us work together to make sure that this place becomes something that does not last long. its history: the birthplace of democracy.”
A church that reflects the power of Prussia
Steinmeier also did not respond to Oswalt’s second request that the gallery refrain from further decorating with military graphic decorations. Between the lines, however, one can hear that a reconstruction without important details will probably not do justice to the future role of the tower. According to Steinmeier, the army church was “the central symbol of Prussian power,” “the symbol of unity between national tradition and National Society,” and where “religion was used in the service of propaganda military.”
When dealing with this place, it is important to him that “we don’t gloss over history and leave something behind.” The tower calls to remember, to make a difference, but under the circumstances to forget, warns the Federal President. “We oppose any attempt to deny German responsibility or to oppose the culture of our memory as a family cult.”
Philipp Oswalt’s long and unsuccessful fight to rebuild the tower also included the fight to preserve the data center from GDR times. In the eyes of cultural trends, the administrative building maintained from 1969 to 1971 is not an architectural masterpiece as the “first work of the North German Baroque” followed, but its mosaic style “Man Conquers Cosmos” in the style of reality The society is a listed building.
And there are still supporters in the urban area of the debate for the reconstruction of the demolished computer lab, in which three “Robotron 300s” were once down. Oswalt set up a “garrison church training facility” in the building, which has been used as a studio since 2015. He must have noticed when Steinmeier said in no uncertain terms: “You should keep the data center, the buildings both must come together.” And Potsdam Mayor Mike Schubert also spoke about “combination”.
And perhaps the Association points to what promises more healing in an urban system characterized by historical ruptures than the dream of a cosmetic silhouette: sometimes harmonious, sometimes disruptive and coexistence of historical traditions and constructive debate on the standard requirements of Buildings, as to their current use.
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