The city of Hanau has made a big step forward in the search for a shape for its own memorial to honor the victims of the attack on February 19, 2020. The form and location of a central memorial to commemorate the victims had been the subject of intense discussion in society over the past year and a half. At that time, right-wing Hanau resident Tobias R. shot nine people with foreign roots at two crime scenes, after which he judged himself and also killed his sick mother. The Brothers Grimm Monument spontaneously developed into a memorial site where people put candles and flowers. But that shouldn't remain permanent. At the weekend, five artists presented their works to the public in the Congress Park Hanau. You are the winner of a competitionin which 118 applicants participated.

Luise Glaser-Lotz

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Main-Kinzig district.

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A jury chaired by Lord Mayor Claus Kaminsky (SPD) made the selection based on the assessment of an advisory board.

In addition to leading representatives from politics and administration, relatives of the victims were also represented.

Now the opinion of the citizens should also be obtained, although according to Kaminsky there will be no classic vote.

"But we will not favor a draft that has clearly failed the relatives or the citizens," announced Kaminsky.

At the end of the process, the magistrate said he would submit a draft to the city council for approval.

Different, but in a modern guise

The five winning models are very different, they all have one thing in common: they are dressed in modern clothes. The artist Stephan Quappe from Trier simply calls his work “9” after the number of those killed. He designed a walkable spiral with 2.60 meter high, transparent panels in different colors. In between, pale and unobtrusive, on transparent panes, portraits of the victims. According to Quappe, the spiral stands for infinity, while the colors are supposed to reflect the diversity of life. Heiko Hünnerkopf from Wertheim combines the names of the victims - Gökhan Gültekin, Sedat Gürbüz, Said Nesar Hashemi, Mercedes Kierpacz, Hamza Kenan Kurtovic, Vili-Viorel Paun, Fatih Saraçoglu, Ferhat Unvar and Kaloyan Velkov - to form a transparent semicircle made of stainless steel is embedded in a concrete ring,from which the lighting is to take place. In front of the semicircle, which is intended as a silent memorial, there is a square column with an inscription and a text panel. With a view to the impression of the unfinished part of his sculpture, Hünnerkopf calls his ensemble “incision”. The name is also intended to indicate the incision that the terrorist incident meant for the victims, their relatives and the citizens of Hanau.

Nine steles, set up in parallel, made of polished stainless steel result in the word “we”. This is what Susanne Lorenz from Berlin calls her memorial design. Each victim is remembered individually on the back of the stelae. The viewer is reflected in the surfaces and thus becomes part of the community and thus of “we”. Carla Mausch from Nuremberg wants to involve citizens of Hanau in the creation of her unusual memorial through a workshop. She would distribute nine bases in the city center. They are marked with gold-highlighted notches that run around the base. In the gaps there should be space for words and terms that citizens and relatives should suggest. She would have pebbles as a symbol of “diversity”, which is also the name of her design, cast in bronze in a workshop. Then these should be mounted on the base.

Looking for a suitable location

Matthias Braun from Würzburg threw a wall made of Corten steel.

It is 2.50 by 2.50 meters and stands as a sign of the turmoil that the attack has caused in society and the victims' families.

It is broken through in many places.

The reflective surface is intended to involve the viewer.

The names of the victims can be found on the back.

According to the artist, the relatives should also be given space there to express themselves.

It is common for the designs to connect to the memorial pages on the Internet via QR code.

It was also the task of the competition to suggest a suitable location for the respective work of art. The market square and the Freiheitsplatz are mentioned several times, but due to other monuments such as the Brothers Grimm monument and the large monument to Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, they are ruled out. Hünnerkopf could also imagine the palace gardens for his spiral, while Mausch envisions the Kanaltorplatz, where the center for democracy and diversity is being built. At the two attack sites, the Heumarkt in the city center and the Kurt-Schumacher-Platz in the Weststadt, there are already memorial plaques that the city designed together with the relatives. Also in the main cemetery, where the victims buried in Hanau are buried in a grave of honor, there is a plaque with the portraits and résumés of all those killed.

The central memorial should not only remember the victims, but also represent a commitment by the city against hatred and violence, for tolerance and peaceful coexistence. 75,000 euros can be spent on implementation. It should be ready on the second anniversary of the Terror Night. From September 6 to 18, the works can be seen in a showcase exhibition in the Kulturforum on Freiheitsplatz on the second floor (Monday to Friday between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.). The presentation is also available on the homepage www.hanau-haben-zombination.de.