The Westwall, which stretches between Kleve and Weil am Rhein, is one of the largest infrastructure projects of the National Socialists, today partly in ruins - and a much-discussed political issue. What should be done with this historically charged site, which is also a tourist magnet in the region? A cooperation project between the Rhineland-Palatinate Peace Academy at the University of Koblenz-Landau and the Protestant Academy of the Palatinate aims to find a constructive way of dealing with this ambivalent legacy.

To this day, few people are familiar with the West Wall, even though it was one of the largest infrastructure projects of the National Socialists, alongside the Reichsautobahnen, with a length of more than 600 kilometers. The fortifications, some of which were blown up in the post-war period, stretched from the district of Kleve on the Dutch border to Weil am Rhein and were staged and mystified in Nazi propaganda as a "military line of defense". Today, the ruins characterize the landscape in the region as a habitat for rare animal and plant species, a nature reserve and a tourist attraction for hikers. Since the Rhineland-Palatinate state government took over responsibility for the Siegfried Line from the federal government in 2014, a controversial debate has ensued. "The question of what the former Siegfried Line commemorates and how this monument should be dealt with is one of the main controversies in this debate. Is the Siegfried Line a place of perpetration? A memorial? A place of remembrance and commemoration?" asks Dr. Sascha Werthes. He is Managing Director of the Peace Academy Rhineland-Palatinate, which is responsible for the project on the Siegfried Line together with the Protestant Academy of the Palatinate. The aim is to show how the Nazi legacy can be dealt with in a contemporary way.

There have already been several initiatives on the Westwall in the past, but so far without a continuous process. That is why the Peace Academy and the Protestant Academy have launched an inclusive and results-oriented process that is set to run for two years. The project is called "Perspectives for the Former Western Wall Memorial - Shared Responsibility for a Border Area". Among other things, the project plans to survey the various stakeholders working on the Westwall, such as the operators of the Westwall museums, employees of the State Agency for Civic Education, academics and volunteers. The potential of the Westwall as an extracurricular place of learning will also be explored. The results of the participatory strategy process will be recorded in a final report to be submitted to the state government. "The Westwall is a place from which much can be learned, as the past and the future are in a reciprocal relationship with each other. With regard to current conflict situations, it can illustrate how important it is to deal carefully with phenomena such as xenophobia, nationalism and walls," explains Werthes.

The launch event in Mainz was a successful start for the two academies. In his speech, Kurt Beck, former Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate, emphasized the importance of the project and the associated challenges. The first central themes crystallized in the working groups. On the one hand, there is a desire for overarching project coordination. On the other hand, it became clear that an overall concept must be developed in order to do justice to a critical contextualization of the Westwall and its history.

 

CONTACT:

Dr. Sascha Werthes (Managing Director)
Jana Hornberger (Project Coordinator)
Tel.: 06341 280-38557
Email: hornberger[at]uni-landau.de

The Westwall, which stretches between Kleve and Weil am Rhein, is one of the largest infrastructure projects of the National Socialists, today partly in ruins - and a much-discussed political issue. What should be done with this historically charged site, which is also a tourist magnet in the region? A cooperation project between the Rhineland-Palatinate Peace Academy at the University of Koblenz-Landau and the Protestant Academy of the Palatinate aims to find a constructive way of dealing with this ambivalent legacy.

To this day, few people are familiar with the West Wall, even though it was one of the largest infrastructure projects of the National Socialists, alongside the Reichsautobahnen, with a length of more than 600 kilometers. The fortifications, some of which were blown up in the post-war period, stretched from the district of Kleve on the Dutch border to Weil am Rhein and were staged and mystified in Nazi propaganda as a "military line of defense". Today, the ruins characterize the landscape in the region as a habitat for rare animal and plant species, a nature reserve and a tourist attraction for hikers. Since the Rhineland-Palatinate state government took over responsibility for the Siegfried Line from the federal government in 2014, a controversial debate has ensued. "The question of what the former Siegfried Line commemorates and how this monument should be dealt with is one of the main controversies in this debate. Is the Siegfried Line a place of perpetration? A memorial? A place of remembrance and commemoration?" asks Dr. Sascha Werthes. He is Managing Director of the Peace Academy Rhineland-Palatinate, which is responsible for the project on the Siegfried Line together with the Protestant Academy of the Palatinate. The aim is to show how the Nazi legacy can be dealt with in a contemporary way.

There have already been several initiatives on the Westwall in the past, but so far without a continuous process. That is why the Peace Academy and the Protestant Academy have launched an inclusive and results-oriented process that is set to run for two years. The project is called "Perspectives for the Former Western Wall Memorial - Shared Responsibility for a Border Area". Among other things, the project plans to survey the various stakeholders working on the Westwall, such as the operators of the Westwall museums, employees of the State Agency for Civic Education, academics and volunteers. The potential of the Westwall as an extracurricular place of learning will also be explored. The results of the participatory strategy process will be recorded in a final report to be submitted to the state government. "The Westwall is a place from which much can be learned, as the past and the future are in a reciprocal relationship with each other. With regard to current conflict situations, it can illustrate how important it is to deal carefully with phenomena such as xenophobia, nationalism and walls," explains Werthes.

The launch event in Mainz was a successful start for the two academies. In his speech, Kurt Beck, former Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate, emphasized the importance of the project and the associated challenges. The first central themes crystallized in the working groups. On the one hand, there is a desire for overarching project coordination. On the other hand, it became clear that an overall concept must be developed in order to do justice to a critical contextualization of the Westwall and its history.

 

CONTACT:

Dr. Sascha Werthes (Managing Director)
Jana Hornberger (Project Coordinator)
Tel.: 06341 280-38557
Email: hornberger[at]uni-landau.de