Stadtkuratorin
Leipzig

Art in public spaces in Leipzig — central themes and historical ambivalences

A large part of Leipzig's history is reflected in monuments and artistic works in the city’s public spaces. While architecture and monuments historically served to represent and assert political power and manifest (commemorative) political perspectives, the aim of contemporary artistic projects in public spaces is to ask questions and involve the public in a dialogue.

In addition to historical monuments dedicated to individuals, the city's architectural culture of remembrance consists primarily of memorials to the Battle of the Nations, war memorials and memorials to the victims of National Socialism. There are also many examples of architecture-related art from the GDR as well as more recent monuments commemorating the events of the Peaceful Revolution in Leipzig, mainly located in the city centre. These include the current plans for the Leipzig Freedom and Unity Monument on Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz.

On the basis of these examples, the text illustrates how history is superimposed in the monuments and art objects, and how engaging with them can have a special relevance for public discourse in the city today.

© Atelier Hermann Walter; From: Ulrich, C. (1994). Verschwunden – Schicksale Leipziger Denkmale, Gedenksteine und Plastiken. Verlagsbuchhandlung Bachmann, Leipzig. pp. 7f, 13.

The first monuments in Leipzig date back to the late 18th century. The Friedrich August Monument, dedicated to the first King of Saxony, was inaugurated in 1780 on the esplanade in front of Peterstor, where Wilhelm Leuschner Platz (previously also Königsplatz) is located today. Friedrich, ruler of the authoritarian corporative state of Saxony, was carved in Saxon marble and depicted as a Roman emperor with a laurel wreath. The Friedrich August Monument was dismantled in 1937 in keeping with the National Socialists’ long-term urban planning strategy, and moved to the park at Gohliser Schlösschen, where it still stands today.  

Art in public spaces has always functioned as a symbol and a tool for legitimising existing power structures. Throughout history, artists have shaped urban spaces on behalf of the ruling classes, reflecting their authority through the dominant artistic styles of the era. Although sculptural representations of “white, mighty men on horses and/or pedestals”1 were far more common in the royal seat of Dresden, some examples could also be found in Leipzig, alongside the statue of the King of Saxony with the Victory Monument by Berlin sculptor Rudolf Siemering (1835-1905). Art educator Nora Sternfeld describes these monuments as power set in stone, designed primarily to be accepted without question. “The purpose of these manifestations was certainly not to provoke thought or invite discussions that might challenge the status quo.” While Robert Musil’s famous statement that “there is nothing in this world as invisible as a monument”2 holds true in everyday life, systemic upheavals and shifts reveal a persistent awareness of the impact of art in public spaces. Like Friedrich August, the Victory Monument, which had been standing on Leipzig's market square since 1888, was dismantled in 1946 at the instigation of the Saxon state administration and members of Leipzig's city council under Soviet command. Erected to commemorate Germany’s victory in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, it was seen as a symbol of militarism after the Second World War.3

© Author unknown / public domain

The war memorial by sculptor Kurt Günther shows a naked soldier with a steel helmet and iron cross. It was intended to commemorate the 725 victims of the Kreuzkirch parish in the First World War of 1914 / 1918. The monument, which stands in front of Heiligkreuzkirche on Neustädter Markt in Neustadt-Neuschönefeld, was commissioned by the church council and financed through donations, collections, theatre and music performances and the sale of a postcard. It was unveiled in a ceremony on 12 September 1926. 

© Jule Würfel

For years, the sculpture has been the subject of discussion and the scene of a large number of interventions, acts of vandalism and gestures of appropriation. Due to the lack of contextualisation, the sculpture has become a projection surface on which graffiti, text and sculptural extensions have been used in an attempt to gain interpretational sovereignty over the sculpture and its historical context. 
The photo is from the Instagram account of artist Jule Würfel and shows her sister, author Carolin Würfel. In their work, both frequently explore themes of remembrance culture and coming to terms with the past. 

There are constant discussions on this type of historical memorial in Leipzig. Nowadays, criticism is often also expressed in the form of graffiti and social media comments. These concerns are not completely unfounded. According to historian Claus Uhlrich, most World War I memorials built between 1922 and 1927 were not motivated by pacifism, contrary to common belief. Rather, in the era of the “stab-in-the-back myth” and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories claiming that the German army had not been defeated, the aim was to blame the Social Democrats and international Jewry for the lost war and to honour the victims for their “self-sacrifice” and “devotion to the emperor, people and fatherland”.4

The withdrawal of the German colonies from 1920 onwards, under the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, was also perceived as a great humiliation by revanchist groups in Leipzig. The “colonial idea” and memory of the “protection troops”, who played a role in the genocide of the Herero and Nama during the course of colonisation in what is now Namibia, was to be preserved at all costs. Because of the First World War, no representative colonial monument was ever erected in Leipzig. However, on 27 April 1924, 40 years after the takeover of the first colony in Namibia and 5 years after the forced surrender, a colonial memorial day was held by the Protection Troops and Colonial Association Leipzig in the crypt of the Monument to the Battle of the Nations, with the laying of a colonial stone in Wilhelm Külz Park. This was intended to express propagandistic aspirations to reclaim the former German territories. The original inscription “Germans, remember your colonies!” was removed without comment in the GDR era. The AG Postkolonial (Postcolonial Working Group) describes this as typical of the way colonial legacies were dealt with in the GDR, while colonial monuments and street names often remained completely uncommented in the FRG.5 Although it appears in the list of monuments, the stone remains unmarked to this day.

The work of the transdisciplinary initiative Colonial Memory: Re*telling DOA was concerned with colonial heritage in Leipzig. On its initiative, a stele was erected in Clara Zetkin Park in 2022 to commemorate the 47 men, women and children who were exhibited and racialised in the “German East African Exhibition” (DOAA), a special exhibition of the Saxon-Thuringian Industrial and Trade Exhibition (STIGA) in 1897. These people were “recruited” under unclear conditions in the former colony of “German East Africa” and put on display, a fence separating them from the public.

The initiative writes: “In this display, Africans were viewed in contrast to a German culture, which was deemed superior. This constructed superiority only worked through the devaluation of the Africans. Not all of them survived the racist practice of exhibiting people in the DOAA.” Colonial Memory: Re*telling DOAA drew attention to this often-overlooked aspect of Leipzig's history, which has received little recognition in both urban planning and public discourse. This was rectified with an exhibition at the GfZK and a publication during Leipzig’s STIGA theme year. 6

© Kristin Kirajn

At the inauguration of the DOAA stele in Clara Zetkin Park on 24 April 2022, numerous speeches were held, accompanied by a spoken word performance by artist Landouma Ipé. The performance made a statement against forgetting, and highlighted the importance of collective resistance to racism. 

How do monuments like the war memorials and the colonial stone contribute to the cohesion of a diverse society? What opportunity do they present for self-reflection or a reappraisal of the past, when in 2021 around 103,000 people with a migration background were living in the city, making up 16.8% of the city's population? A glance at the main themes of art in public space and art in architecture reveals that they do not reflect Leipzig's current urban society - some groups are even excluded or violated by the contents. This underscores the importance of addressing social exclusion mechanisms, particularly in artistic work in public spaces. These aspects should be considered both when reflecting on existing sites and designing and implementing new projects.

In this context, the Monument to the Battle of the Nations continues to be a subject of critical examination today, just as it was at the centre of controversial debate during its planning and construction in the 19th and early 20th centuries. While monarchists considered the monument to be a triumph of Wilhelmine engineering and the German Patriots' Association saw it as a memorial to fallen heroes and the German people, the Social Democrats described it as a “pile of stones” denoting exaggerated nationalism.

All subsequent political systems, whether they be democratic or totalitarian, tried to interpret the site in their own way. In the Weimar Republic, it was declared a symbol of peace. The Nazis appropriated the monument with its Germanizing figures for their racist ideology. In the GDR, it became a symbol of German-Soviet brotherhood in arms, in reference to the Prussian-Russian victory over Napoleon in the Battle of the Nations. After reunification in 1990 and years of confusion concerning how to deal with it, current politicians are trying to find new ways of interpreting the recently renovated monument, which has been the scene of several neo-Nazi marches in recent years.”7 Since the celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of its opening, urban policy has presented the monument as a symbol of peace and international understanding within a united Europe.

© Clara Hofmann

The obelisk by sculptor Gustav Tschech-Löffler commemorates the massacre of prisoners carried out by members of the SS and Volkssturm at the Abtnaundorf subcamp on 18 April 1945. 84 people died in the flames or were shot as they fled from the burning barracks. Arriving at the scene shortly afterwards, U.S. army soldiers documented it with photographs and film footage. The victims of the massacre were buried in Leipzig's Südfriedhof (South Cemetery). An artistic depiction of the prisoners dying in the flames can be found on the right-hand side of the memorial, which was inaugurated in 1958. The inscription on the front reads: “Eighty resistance fighters were burnt alive on this spot by SS murderers on 18 April 1945. May their deaths always be a reminder to us.” 

Along with the Battle of the Nations, National Socialism is a central theme of Leipzig's memorials. The annual commemorative event on 27 January in the New Town Hall and at the memorial to the victims of National Socialism in Abtnaundorf is a permanent fixture in the city's remembrance culture. The memorial by sculptor Gustav Tschech-Löffler (1912–1986), inaugurated in 1958, features an artistic depiction of the prisoners of the Buchenwald subcamp dying in the flames. On 18 April 1945, 1500 prisoners were sent on a death march as American troops approached, while 307 sick inmates were left behind. They were locked into wooden barracks by members of the SS and the Volkssturm and set alight. 84 people died.8 In 2018, an art installation by Leipzig artist Harald Alff was added to the memorial: the installation, nine metres long and one metre high, is made of 208 steel angles and intended to resemble barbed wire. The biographical data of the people who died in Abtnaundorf between 1943 and 1945 are cut out on 205 steles. The aim of the installation was also to make the memorial site more visible. In 2013, the HGB project “Places You Should Know” was dedicated to sites testifying to Leipzig’s National Socialist past. Alongside documentation and texts on existing memorial sites, a symposium and various publications, several artistic projects were developed. These include initiatives such as those at the memorial site in Abtnaundorf, as well as projects focussing on previously overlooked topics such as child euthanasia in the Nazi era – an area in which Leipzig played a central role – and the National Socialist history of the Richard Wagner Hain, which has increasingly become a subject of public discussion in recent years.

© Julia Kurz

The relief is part of the Richard Wagner Grove of Honour planned in 1933, which was co-financed and sponsored by Hitler's Reich government. It is part of a series by the sculptor Emil Hipp, which show depictions of naked, muscular women and men within the grove architecture and symbolise fate, myth, redemption and bacchanal and thus the ‘atmospheric content’ of Wagner's works. 

In the spring of 2021, the Stadtgeschichtliches Museum, in cooperation with the Richard Wagner Association, purchased a natural stone relief by the sculptor Emil Hipp (1893-1965), which was part of the monumental Richard Wagner memorial designed by Hipp in 1933. The central block of the monument was to be framed by a 430-metre-long wall with reliefs depicting scenes from Wagner's operas. Some of these reliefs had already been completed. The foundation stone was laid by Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler himself on 6 March 1934. Art historian Marie-Luise Monrad Møller emphasises that the plan was not merely to erect a monument to an artistic personality born in the city; the Richard Wagner National Monument of the German People was intended as a site for National Socialist mass propaganda. Due to the war, it was never completed.9 A redevelopment of the Richard Wagner Hain could, for example, present an opportunity to add a visibly critical perspective to a site originally intended for Nazi mass propaganda.

© Alexandra Ivanciu

In 2013, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Richard Wagner’s birth, a long-anticipated monument was unveiled. The life-sized, vividly coloured sculpture by Stephan Balkenhol (*1957) depicts a young Richard Wagner standing in front of a larger-than-life silhouette of the composer in his later years. Balkenhol used a plinth made by the Leipzig sculptor Max Klinger (1857-1920) in 1913 for his own Richard Wagner statue, which was never realised. The plinth shows motifs from Wagner's cycle “The Ring of the Nibelung”. The monument is located in the green spaces on the inner city ring road in front of the former Stasi headquarters. 

It is clearly difficult for the city to position itself in relation to Richard Wagner, who represents an important marketing factor for Leipzig. In his anti-Semitic pamphlet “Das Judenthum in der Musik”, Wagner, who was held in high esteem under National Socialism, publicly incited hatred against his Jewish mentor and honorary citizen of Leipzig, the composer Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.10

It is therefore plausible that this played a role in the decision to demolish the Mendelssohn monument on the east side of the old Gewandhaus in the music quarter. The demolition, ordered by NSDAP mayor Haake on 9 November 1936,11 was clearly driven by anti-Semitic motives. In 2008, the city reinstalled an exact replica of the bronze monument erected in 1892, designed by Werner Stein (1855-1930), in front of St Thomas' Church on Dittrichring.

The ring that runs around Leipzig’s old town was laid out from 1777 onwards, following the gradual demolition of the old city fortifications and the introduction of greenery. Over time, it became a popular location for monuments. Leipzig's Promenadenring, the oldest urban landscape park in Germany, is now considered “overcrowded” in terms of its art objects and monuments. Alongside various memorials and artistic objects, the Leipzig Music Trail has several stations here, for example at the Richard Wagner Memorial and at Augustusplatz, home to the Opera House and Gewandhaus. A stele for the Leipzig Sports Route at Europahaus and various stations marking the events of the Peaceful Revolution in the autumn of 1989 are also located at Augustusplatz.

Only a small number of women have been honoured with a memorial in Leipzig’s public space. One of them is Louise Otto Peters, a Leipziger by choice, who initiated the first women’s movement in Germany. She founded the Leipzig Women's Education Association, which organised the first German women's conference. Here, the General German Women's Association (ADF) was founded, with Otto-Peters serving as its chairwoman for the next 30 years.12 The Louise Otto Peters monument, created by Adolf Lehnert, had stood at the Alter Johannisfriedhof cemetery since 1900, but was removed to make way for the construction of the new Grassi Museum.

© Julia Kurz

Designed by Leipzig sculptor Adolf Lehnert, the memorial was funded through a large number of small donations and a lottery. It was officially opened on 10 June 1900 at its original site in the Alter Johannisfriedhof cemetery. Many women from all over Germany came together for the opening ceremony in honour of Louise Otto-Peters, the pioneer of the German women's movement. In the words of Auguste Schmidt, then chairwoman of the Federation of German Women's Associations, the inauguration of the monument was aimed to serve as “a reminder to the women of today and tomorrow to grow with their greater purposes and to attain true humanity.”

Responsible parties in the city administration at the time decided that the monument was to be relocated to Leipzig's first children's playground in Rosental, even though the women's rights activist Otto Peters never became a mother herself. The early women's movement certainly provided important impulses for the role of mothers, but as far as we know, there is no direct link between the location and the person. Since spring 2023, the app “A new movement: Re*mapping Leipzig”, has used artistic contributions to highlight historical and contemporary women's movements in the city. One of its stations specifically draws attention to this legacy.13

Women and FLINTA* people14 as underrepresented groups, have rarely been honoured in the city’s urban space in this way. An exception is the sculpture of the politician and women's rights activist Clara Zetkin, designed in 1967 by Walter Arnold (1909-1979), a Leipzig sculptor and chairman of the Association of Visual Artists of the GDR. The Otto von Bismarck monument, which had previously stood at the same site in Johannapark, was removed in 1946 following a power struggle between the SED and the city administration.

© Julia Kurz

The memorial in honour of the women's rights activist and politician Clara Zetkin was unveiled on 3 July 1967 on the occasion of her 110th birthday. It is located at the southernmost tip of Leipzig's Johannapark. The bronze statue, designed by sculptor Prof Walter Arnold, is accompanied by a memorial stone engraved with a quote from Zetkin: “Ich will dort kämpfen, wo das Leben ist” (I want to fight where life is.) 

© Adolf Lehnert and Josef Mágr (artists), from Uhlrich 1994

The Bismarck Monument in Johannapark after the toppling in 1946

The removal of the monument was a focal point in the debate between pro- and anti-monarchy groups, a controversy dubbed the “Leipzig monument war” by the Leipziger Volkszeitung. This debate was also concerned with the Victory Monument and the Kaiser Wilhelm Stone in Leutzsch.15 The figure of a blacksmith, originally standing at Bismarck's feet, was melted down for armaments production during the Second World War.16

Female and FLINTA* perspectives are still underrepresented in the realisation of artistic projects in Leipzig. The majority of public art commissions awarded through competitions in the 2000s and 2010s went to male artists. These include the Luther - Melanchthon monument, the design of Herzliyaplatz and most recently the competition at the Stadtgeschichtliches Museum, as well as art-in-architecture projects such as the design of the foyer for the Anker socio-cultural centre and the acoustic curtain in the Thomas Alumnat. However, some women and FLINTA* individuals have been awarded commissions in various art-in-architecture projects, particularly in connection with new school buildings.

The article “Leipzig – Local context and ongoing urban development concepts,” available in this website’s library, outlines the concept for the city of Leipzig's culture of remembrance, as proposed in 2013 by the Department of Culture’s working group on the subject. It identifies central themes related to Leipzig's remembrance culture, partly based on population surveys. The article also recommends adopting new, multi-perspective approaches that should shape the city's future initiatives in this area.

GDR architectural art

The wall relief by Bernhard Heisig, located in a former GDR guest house and captured in a photograph by Margret Hoppe as part of her series “Die Verschwundenen Bilder” (Lost Pictures), is protected as part of the building’s heritage. Due to protection requirements, the wall relief is being maintained by a property company during the renovation process. Heisig's work is considered a valuable asset, not only because of the artist’s prominence, but also for the significant contribution it makes to the building’s overall worth.

Not every artwork enjoys such good fortune. Referring to Halle-Neustadt, the subject of her research, Anja Jackes emphasises that the removal of GDR art in the 1990s is a process that continues to this day. In addition to vandalism and theft, the primary cause for this is the removal of artworks by federal states, local authorities or property owners during the course of deconstruction or renovation, frequently due to a lack of appreciation or awareness. After 1990, architecture-related artworks were automatically transferred to new property owners. Due to the high costs of restoration and maintenance, many chose to forego preserving the artwork. As a result, a significant number of artworks in architecture and public spaces have been lost since reunification.17

There is a significant backlog of GDR-era sculptures in Leipzig that require monument protection to preserve the region’s cultural heritage in the long term. While efforts are underway, more action is required to ensure their safeguarding. The inventory of architecture-related art from the GDR in Leipzig remains an underexplored topic in contemporary art history research. Peter Guth‘s important 1995 publication “Wände der Verheißung” remains the only comprehensive overview to date, even though the first national symposium on Kunst am Bau (art on the building) – a term that, notably, was never used in the GDR, where it was referred to as architekturbezogene Kunst (architecture-related art) - finally took place in unified Germany in 2020. The symposium, which was accompanied by the publication “Kunst am Bau in der DDR”, was organised by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning. However, it makes little reference to Leipzig.18

© Alexandra Ivanciu

The sculpture "die Jugend” by Irene Marquardt has stood in front of the sports hall of what is today the Montessori school centre in Alte Salzstraße in Grünau since 1982. Irene Marquardt from Leipzig was one of the few women to actively study and practice sculpture in the GDR. She created numerous sculptures in public spaces for new housing areas, often exploring the role of women in the GDR through her art. In 2021, her listed group sculpture underwent a comprehensive restoration by the City of Leipzig, supported by funding from the Free State of Saxony. 

The term “Kunst am Bau” (Art on the building), introduced in Germany in the 1920s, was no longer used in the GDR from the 1960s onwards. Thomas Topfstedt, an art historian from Leipzig, believes this is because this kind of art had a programmatic ambition aimed at the design of urban space.

“As visual art concepts show, the aim was to create a new kind of ‘synthesis of architecture and visual art’. The contents were prepared in extensive committee work, with the district and city leaders of the SED specifying the basic content and monitoring its implementation in coordination with the district and city councils and the Verband Bildender Künstler (Association of Visual Artists). Extensive plans were developed, especially for the artistic design of city centres along with outstanding social buildings.”

Topfstedt quotes Peter Guth, who estimates that in many locations, especially in new housing estates, the desired organic integration of architecture-related works of art into the urban context did not really succeed, as these spaces “were not technologically mastered and not thought through in a conceptual sense. This is evident, for example, in the remarkable number of genre-like sculptures and sculptural groups designed to create at least visual cohesion within otherwise fragmented urban spaces.”19 Nevertheless, according to Guth, the boom in architectural art reflected the state’s growing self-confidence. The Marxist world view was to be visually conveyed in a way that the population could relate to, while also embodying the desired new attitude to life. In this context, “…Lebensgefühl (attitude to life) [...] was expressed primarily in interior spaces, whereas themes related to Weltanschauung (world view) were prominently featured in exterior spaces.”20

Guth describes that from the late 1970s onwards, for example in the course of gable design competitions initiated by Leipzig artists, party officials increasingly considered the relationship between specific locations, artistic intentions and the needs of the public. According to Guth, during the planning of the Paunsdorf/Heiterblick development area in 1981/1982, the art concept shifted away from abstract political messaging, instead focusing on the area’s existing urban and historical context.21 In the site inventory published in 1990 by the Leipzig Office for Architecture-Related Art, Peter Guth, as its director, summarises the policy for future art in architecture as follows:

"Naturally, the question arises as to what role the “Office for Art in Architecture and Monument Preservation” (as it is called again as of 1.1.1990) can play in the future. Its survival seems uncertain if its function is confined to installing isolated artworks in urban spaces. [...] The only way ahead is through close co-operation with the municipal planning office, democratic bodies and citizens' interest groups. Together with them, we must draw up and implement a strategic guideline for a complex, city-wide development programme. Because of its qualifications, the office must assume the role of cultural authority. However, this means abandoning an exclusive preoccupation with ‘high’ art, i.e. painting, graphics and sculpture, in favour of a focus on urban culture as a whole. If the profile of the office's activities explicitly focuses on a lively and attractive urban organism incorporating all its functions, our tasks would be redefined. Basing future activities on an individual object would once again be merely wishful thinking, which would ultimately be punished by reality.”22

This contemporary perspective on art in public spaces and architecture could serve as a starting point for a comprehensive examination of the GDR’s legacy and the approach to its public art, which has so far been addressed only selectively. In addition to the 2008 workshop on art in architecture, organised by the Federal Office for Building and dedicated to “Art in Architecture as a Legacy of a Divided Germany”, with a focus on Leipzig, discussions have often emerged in the context of urban restructuring and the public debates that accompany such changes – most notably ahead of the opening of the new university building on Augustusplatz in 2011. For the realisation of this project, the new GDR university building erected at the end of the 1960s was demolished. This building had itself been built following the demolition of the Paulinerkirche in 1968, carried out on the instructions of the SED. An intense debate ensued concerning two artworks that were removed due to the demolition: the mural “Arbeiterklasse und Intelligenz” (Working Class and Intelligentsia) by Werner Tübke, which was installed in the Rectorate of Karl Marx University, and the bronze relief “Der Aufbruch” (Departure) by Klaus Schwabe, Frank Ruddigkeit and Rolf Kuhrt, also known as the “Karl Marx Relief”. The artistic design of the relief resulted from a competition on the theme of “Leninismus – der Marxismus unserer Epoche” (Leninism - the Marxism of our era) as part of the redesign of Augustusplatz (known as Karl-Marx-Platz from 1945 to 1990).

© Waltraud Raphael Source: Bundesarchiv

The intention behind Werner Tübke's “Arbeiterklasse und Intelligenz” (Working Class and Intelligentsia) was to convey the programmatic goals of socialism as formulated by Karl Marx - the reconciliation of labour, art and science. It depicted members and students of the then Karl Marx University, as well as people involved in the construction of the new university building on Augustusplatz and three party functionaries.

After the political changes in 1989, a discussion arose on how to deal with ideologically influenced works of art, which for some sections of the population symbolised the oppression and propaganda of the former regime. Many called for their removal, arguing that their imagery was incompatible with the values of the new democracy. In the case of both the mural and the relief, the university decided that the artworks should be reinstalled within the campus grounds. The rectorate and curatorial department argued that the artworks should be preserved as historical testimonies, providing the opportunity for a critical analysis of the legacy of the GDR.23 The relief “Der Aufbruch” was removed in 2006 and has been on display on the university's sports campus since 2008. The artwork is one of the few works from the GDR to be listed as a historical monument. “Arbeiterklasse und Intelligenz”, also removed in 2006, has been on display in a corridor of the university's lecture theatre building since 2011.

The remarkably low number of monuments and architectural art projects included on the state's monument list highlights the urgent need for the city's institutions to address the gaps in research through various artistic, curatorial and academic initiatives. It should also serve as a catalyst for encouraging further dialogue – in transdisciplinary processes – with the cultural, architectural and social heritage of the GDR in the city, on the basis of artistic works.

New forms of remembrance culture

Not only with regard to architecture-related art from the GDR, the question arises as to how what is already there can be activated more effectively. For example, the setting of an annual theme by the Department of Culture has proven to be an important stimulus for involving associations and initiatives, contextualising the monuments worthy of discussion through various formats and encouraging a critical, diverse and creative debate.

© From: Guth, 1995. Photographer unknown.

The Sculpture Garden was an initiative by Leipzig artists, commissioned by the Parks Department, to create a green link between the Ring and Johannapark as part of the redevelopment of the neighbourhood from 1987 onwards. The foundations and plinths installed there in 1987 were to be used for temporary sculpture exhibitions. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the initiative came to a standstill. The permanent installation, including Bernd Sikora's sculpture in memory of the former baroque garden on this site, was completed in 1993.

© Arthur Zalewski

In an action by the KV — Verein für zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig and artist Bastian Muhr in 2021, along with several initiatives in 2023, several attempts were made to reactivate the listed Sculpture Garden in Leipzig (also known as Sculpture Park). These included a performance by the collective Organism_LR.23/2-14 and a discussion between Marc Herbst & Ines Schaber on the occupation of public space under different regimes and the possibility of establishing institutionalised and informal counter-histories. 

Media theorist Dieter Daniels describes a new debate emerging from Germany’s evolving culture of remembrance since the 1990s. This discourse is driven by diverse forms of commemoration related to the crimes of National Socialism in both the former Federal Republic and the GDR. It seeks to distinguish between the memory of the Holocaust as a negative horizon and “the new German self-image since reunification, made possible by the Peaceful Revolution”.24 Since the 1990s, several new artworks have appeared in the public space that highlight various aspects of the Peaceful Revolution. As part of the transformation of the courtyard of the Nikolaikirche into a place of reflection in 2003, Leipzig artist Tilo Schulz installed the colourful light installation “Öffentliches Licht” (Public Light), featuring 144 glass cubes embedded in the pavement. A granite fountain in a historic location was designed by London architect’s office David Chipperfield. As early as 1999, the Nikolai Column by artist Andreas Stötzer was erected to commemorate the start of the Monday demonstrations with prayers for peace in the Nikolaikirche in 1989. It recreates a column crowned with palm fronds from the nave of the church outside on the square. The “Democracy Bell”, created by artist Via Lewandowsky, is also noteworthy. Installed on Augustusplatz in 2009 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Peaceful Revolution, it stands as a symbol of how the Monday demonstrations helped “herald” the end of the GDR.

© Frank Vincentz CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Three monuments mark the special significance of the Nikolaikirche courtyard for the 1989 protest: the light installation “Öffentliches Licht” (Public Light) by Tilo Schulz, the granite fountain by David Chipperfield and the Nikolai Column by Andreas Stötzner. 

the diverse range of formats that can be developed around this theme. One of the most significant ongoing projects is the development of a Freedom and Unity Monument – a process that began in 2009 but faced a setback with an initial failed attempt in 2014. Highlights also include the Leipzig Light Festival, held annually since 2009 on Augustusplatz and along the city ring road to commemorate the historic Monday demonstration of 9 October, 1989. Another key initiative is the redevelopment of Matthäikirchhof, the site of the former Stasi headquarters, which incorporates a participatory process and aims to establish a “Forum for Freedom and Civil Rights”. Smaller initiatives, such as the Revolutionale - Festival for Change, also deserve recognition. This reflects a significant shift in commemorative culture, moving towards the creation of spaces that encourage active engagement with and through remembrance.

© Roland Quester

The Revolutionale was initiated by the Peaceful Revolution Foundation. In the spirit of the so-called Peaceful Revolution of 1989, its aim is to promote the work and networking of socio-political activists and to support international democracy and freedom movements. At the 2019 festival, the Revolutionale took up residence in the shop windows of the former Karstadt building. Here, in addition to artistic actions in public space, each individual was called upon to actively shape and take responsibility, answering questions relating to both individual and social fears and hopes. 

Three examples of private initiatives for art in public spaces since the 1990s are given below. The most ambitious to date is the permanent installation of sixteen artistic works developed at the Neue Messe site by international artists including Angela Bulloch, Isa Genzken, Dan Graham, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Rosemarie Trockel. The installation was opened together with the new trade fair centre in 1996, on the initiative of Leipziger Messe GmbH.

© Schaubühne Lindenfels, photographer unknown.

In the heart of Leipzig’s western district, directly on Karl-Heine-Straße, the Schaubühne transformed a vast wasteland into a field of grain at the turn of the millennium, naming it the “Jahrtausendfeld” (Millennium Field). The project began in 1999 with a symbolic sowing, using topsoil transported from the construction site at Leipzig airport. In 2000, a large area was planted with spring rye, and the field gradually became a gathering place for local residents and visitors who came to enjoy concerts, theatre performances and festivals. The project ended with the second harvest in 2001, but the name “Jahrtausendfeld” is still used to describe the area, which has remained undeveloped up until today. A steel sculpture was erected in 2018 to commemorate the project. 

Since 2022, a 25×25 metre mural at Angerstraße 55 in Lindenau has honoured the comic artist, graphic designer and illustrator Ralph Niese (1983-2020) from Leipzig. Realised in part by Niese's friends and colleagues on a voluntary basis, the mural was made possible with financial support provided by the property owners.

Adopted by the City Council in 2019, the Leipzig//City//Space//Art strategy and guideline enables the Department of Culture to support the integration of public art into urban development projects, such as new schools and kindergartens, administrative and cultural buildings. The strategy also promotes the implementation of art in public spaces with the support of the Advisory Board on Art in Public Spaces and Buildings, some of which are based on City Council resolutions.25 To date, such projects have been realised through invited and open competitions, direct art acquisitions or direct artist commissions. The most recent projects include the following art in architecture projects organised by the Cultural Office: The design of the foyer of the Anker socio-cultural centre by Leipzig artists Christian Göthner and Michael Hensel with the object series “Konsole” (2016) and the design of an acoustic curtain in the Thomas Alumnat (2013) by Oliver Philipp, an art/design student from the Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau.

Recent competitions for art in public spaces include the 2018 design of Herzliyaplatz by Leipzig architect Ingo Andreas Wolf, the Luther Melanchton monument in the Sculpture Park by Viennese artist Gerald Aigner (in progress) and the redesign and revitalisation of the south-eastern area of the square at the rear of the Stadtgeschichtliches Museum by Leipzig artist Maix Mayer.