{"id":1256660,"date":"2026-08-24T03:12:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T03:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/1256660\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T03:12:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T03:12:17","slug":"a-commissioned-reflection-a-project-on-the-myth-of-the-iskra-memorial-in-leipzig-%c2%b7-leipziger-zeitung","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/1256660\/","title":{"rendered":"A Commissioned Reflection: A Project on the Myth of the Iskra Memorial in Leipzig \u00b7 Leipziger Zeitung"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verf\u00fcgbar: Zum deutschen Artikel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

World history or propaganda \u2013 a mystery surrounding the myth of the Iskra Memorial? Last year, the City History Museum\u2019s audio project \u2018Bestellte Erinnerung\u2019 (Commissioned Memory) undertook a critical examination of the memorial\u2019s history. The findings will be presented on Tuesday, 1 September, at 6 pm in the Gr\u00fcner Salon of Leipzig\u2019s Old Town Hall in the form of audio pieces, a lecture and a discussion. Admission is free.<\/p>\n

Who decides what \u2013 and whom \u2013 is commemorated? What happens to the stories of those who stand in the way of political narratives? And what happens when memory becomes more important than historical evidence? The focus is on the former Iskra Memorial in Leipzig-Probstheida, which belonged to the Leipzig Museum of City History as a branch from 1961 to 1991.<\/p>\n

The audio piece reconstructs its origins in the 1950s, questions the printing of the first issue of the Russian exile newspaper \u2018Iskra\u2019 in Leipzig \u2013 a fact that remains unconfirmed to this day \u2013 and, at the same time, tells the story of the Niegel family, who had to give up their house and workshop to make way for the construction of the memorial. Taking this individual story as its starting point, the focus turns to the Stalinist-influenced early years of the GDR and explores the consequences of political memory for those affected.<\/p>\n

Radio play and website<\/p>\n

After more than a year of intensive research, the audio project *Bestellte Erinnerung* (Commissioned Memory), developed by theatre maker and artist Diana Wesser in collaboration with David Sch\u00f6nherr, is being presented to the public. In collaboration with the Leipzig Museum of City History, it combines extensive archival research with interviews with members of the Niegel family and representatives of the Union of Victims\u2019 Associations of Communist Tyranny (UOKG).<\/p>\n

In doing so, the radio play raises broader questions: How is memory formed? Who decides which history is told \u2013 and which is forgotten? What role did the figure of Lenin play in the GDR\u2019s official historical narrative? And how can we deal today with places whose historical significance is closely linked to political narratives?<\/p>\n

The event<\/p>\n

At the event, Diana Wesser and David Sch\u00f6nherr will present the completed audio piece and the accompanying project website. Dr Johanna S\u00e4nger (curator at the Leipzig City History Museum) will provide insights into the academic support for the project. Falk Elstermann (Managing Director of the Leipzig Cultural Foundation) will report on his research in the Saxon State Archives and the City of Leipzig\u2019s building records archive, as well as on how the project will be made accessible directly at the historical site in future.<\/p>\n

The project was funded by the City of Leipzig\u2019s Cultural Office and realised with the kind support of the Saxon State Commissioner for the reappraisal of the SED dictatorship.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommissioned Memory. On the Iskra Memorial\u2019<\/strong>, audio project presentation & panel discussion & lecture, Tuesday 1 September, 6.00 pm (doors open at 5.30 pm), Leipzig Museum of City History, Old Town Hall, Gr\u00fcner Salon, Markt 1. Admission: free. Registration requested at stadtmuseum@leipzig.de or by telephone on (0341) 9651340.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verf\u00fcgbar: Zum deutschen Artikel. World history or propaganda \u2013 a mystery…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1256661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[1832],"tags":[3364,29,233392,30,21640,71,259908,859],"class_list":["post-1256660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-leipzig","tag-de","tag-deutschland","tag-english-version","tag-germany","tag-history","tag-leipzig","tag-memorys","tag-sachsen"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1256660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1256661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1256660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1256660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1256660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}