Denk_mal

The culture of remembrance in Germany is often characterised by rituals and monuments. However, personal voices tend to fade into the background.

The project Denk_mal – Erinnern heißt Zuhören (Remember – Remembering means listening) opens up a new approach to the history of German reunification and the Peaceful Revolution. It makes personal perspectives on unity, division and transformation visible and audible in public spaces.

At two symbolic locations – in Dresden, one of the starting points of the Peaceful Revolution, and in Frankfurt am Main, often considered the cradle of German democracy – striking orange tension straps mark the beginning of a temporary installation. They feature a reference to the website www.bei-anruf-einheit.de. Behind this lies an open audio archive: a participatory podcast that collects memories, questions and perspectives from East and West.

There, citizens can use a telephone answering machine to record their personal memories, thoughts and experiences on various topics. The contributions are documented, evaluated and form the basis for the participatory podcast ‘Bei Anruf: Einheit’ (Call: Unity), which combines original voices with expert commentary and archive material.

The project responds to current debates on memory culture and understands monuments as dynamic, negotiable places and hubs of collective memory. Denk_mal encourages people not only to remember history, but to tell it together.