by the Peace Academy Rhineland-Palatinate in cooperation with the Protestant Academy of the Palatinate

Dealing with symbolic ruins and landscapes that served both militaristic and propagandistic purposes during the Second World War is currently a major social challenge. At the beginning of 2017, the Peace Academy RLP and the Protestant Academy of the Palatinate took on this task for two years and dedicated themselves to the ruins of the 'Westwall', the largest material legacy of the Nazi era in Germany in terms of area.

The aim of the project was to develop a sustainable strategic concept for a contemporary and future-oriented approach to the former Westwall and to explore its potential as a political learning space together with active players in the field.

The results of the process were recorded in an impulse paper by Jana Hornberger, the project's lead researcher, and published in the akademie_skizzen series on November 30, 2020. It outlines the central requirements for action and areas of tension and formulates criteria for an overall concept for political education work on dealing with the former Siegfried Line.

On the occasion of the digital presentation, the Managing Director of the Peace Academy Charlotte Dany, the Director of the Protestant Academy Christoph Picker and project employee Jana Hornberger discussed the project with the Chairman of the Foundation's Board of Trustees Ralph Erbar, the Director of the State Agency for Civic Education Bernhard Kukatzki and the President of the German Museums Association Eckart Köhne.

"The discussion showed us ways in which we can make people in Rhineland-Palatinate more aware of the Siegfried Line so that it can become a place of learning about peace. This is important for future-oriented political education work," said Charlotte Dany, Managing Director of the Peace Academy. Academy Director Christoph Picker considers the conceptually well thought-out handling of the West Wall complex, which does justice to the various dimensions of the building, to be a challenging and rewarding task: "We still have a long way to go."

The publication entitled 'Mahnmal ehemaliger Westwall - Geteilte Verantwortung für einen Grenzraum' is available online here. Print copies can be ordered from the Evangelical Academy of the Palatinate at a price of 9.90 euros plus postage at info@eapfalz.de.

The recording of the presentation of the impulse paper and the discussion below is kindly provided by the Evangelische Akademie der Pfalz.