19 opinions of Hellerau fall into the category of benevolent amusement: “Wasn’t that the place where, over a hundred years ago, scantily clad girls skipped barefoot across the meadows?” Those in the know see the bigger picture. They see a centre of reform that attracted and brought together a bevy of brilliant minds. There have been authors who justifiably portray Hellerau as a fascinating arena in which to view the history of ideas and culture in Germany and Europe. Hellerau as a whole can be seen as a monument to architectural modernism, yet Hellerau is equally significant as a place of intellectual and creative interaction. There are also researchers whose concern is focused on questions about the ‘darker sides’ of the garden city’s history, for example its links to the right-wing nationalist völkisch movement. In short, when people look back on Hellerau’s cultural heritage, there is no lack of enthusiasm, on the one hand, and, on the other, no lack of a certain unease with respect to such enthusiasm. Hellerau’s history is just as ambivalent as the history of its interpretation and the judgments of its observers. Ever since the garden city was first founded, texts have been written about Hellerau and attempts have been made to capture the spirit of the place in words. These include, for example, the declarations of its founding fathers, like Wolf Dohrn and Karl Schmidt, who emphatically laid out their own ideas and visions. From 1990 onwards, the publishing house Hellerau-Verlag published many books on the subject. Founded by Lothar Dunsch, a renowned chemist, the Hellerau-Verlag closed down when he died in 2013. In the days of the German Democratic Republic, too, Hellerau enthusiasts and leading local experts on the history of the settlement publicised their knowledge. Michael Fasshauer, a former teacher at the Hellerau school, deserves first mention here. It is thanks to his efforts – in his function as a teacher to pass on all he knew about this site of modernity – that a veritable trove of knowledge about Hellerau was carried forwards into the post-reunification period after 1989. After reunification, more researchers – captivated by the fascination of Hellerau – sprang into action: German scholar and historian Hans-Jürgen Sarfert; museologist and untiring advocate of Hellerau’s historical significance Peter Peschel; and educationalist and historian Thomas Nitschke, to name but a few. Also worthy of mention: an early issue of the periodical Dresdner Hefte (No. 51, 1997) that featured Hellerau. All of the authors and researchers who contributed to that issue had dedicated a good part of their lives to the garden city. As early as 1995, a symposium was convened on the history and the future of the Festspielhaus. The results were published by Werner Durth in 1996 under the title Stand Ort Bestimmung (Status Location Destiny). In June 2008, an international colloquium was held under the title 100 Jahre Hellerau – Geschichte und Zukunftsfähigkeit der Gartenstadtidee (100 Years of Hellerau – History and Sustainability of the Garden City Idea), which Thomas Will and Ralph Lindner subsequently published in book form. Over the past 30 years, two standard works have also been published: in 1993, a history of the Deutsche Werkstätten and the garden city Hellerau; and, in 2014, a history of the garden city Hellerau from its foundation to 1945. In the former book, art historian Klaus-Peter Arnold, for the very first time, summarised his findings from long years of research in the extensive company archives of the Deutsche Werkstätten. Some of these research findings had already formed the basis for an exhibition at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden (Museum of Decorative Arts) back in 1973. In the latter book, musician and architect Nils M. Schinker published what ranks as probably the most comprehensive study of the architectural history of the settlement. Furthermore, his doctoral dissertation also deals with the social and societal backdrops of Hellerau’s creation and its everyday reality. From 3. 11. 2018 to 3. 3. 2019, the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden set a further example with its exhibition Gegen die Unsichtbarkeit – Designerinnen der Deutschen Werkstätten Hellerau 1898 bis 1938 (Against Invisibility – Women Designers of the Deutsche Werkstätten 1898 to 1938). This large-scale exhibition was also shown at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg. And, with this special exhibition, the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Pillnitz re-affirmed its commitment to a collection focus on Hellerau. The Deutsche Werkstätten “visible storage” installation has been part of the permanent exhibition since 2012, occupying an entire wing of the Bergpalais. Yet, in spite of all these events and publications, we were constantly reminded during our preparations for Hellerau’s World Heritage application that, more often than not, this site is either underestimated or only imperfectly appreciated. Even after all these years, although many people have heard the name Hellerau and some have pick out particular aspects to follow up on, very few have enough of a grasp of the place as a whole to be able to describe and classify it in its entire range of historical significance. At most, one might overhear catchwords like “garden city” or “festival theatre”. But here, too, what we are encountering is merely a shimmer of knowledge. This may be due to the sheer multitude of issues that were bundled here at the beginning of the 20th century and that reflected a world in great upheaval. Something very special happened on these 132 hectares between
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTMyNjA1