Räumliche Überlagerungen. Erkenntnisse zu den Raumbeziehungen der Mahn- und Gedenkstätte Ravensbrück durch eine zeichnerisch-räumliche Analyse
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Anne Mertins
Abstract
Spatial Overlapping: Spatial Relations in the Ravensbrück Memorial Site from a Graphical-spatial Perspective At memorial sites of concentration camps, historical spaces overlap. I argue that an analysis of the present space in its materiality and design can help us understand the relationship between different historical spaces. A visual mapping of the present site can serve as a starting point for gaining new insights about how history is represented at a certain memorial site and how the site was dealt with after the camp’s existence. This graphical-spatial method is based on an understanding of the landscape’s architectural design as a means of historiographical analysis. Using the Ravensbrück Memorial as an example, this paper demonstrates and reflects on the potential (and limitations) of this method. The Ravensbrück Memorial site developed in three phases following historical caesurae, the chronology of which can still be seen at the site today. With their respective designs, they refer to different layers of time. I analyze the successive spatial development of the memorial site by examining landscape architectural motifs such as the spatial sequence, the orientation of paths and vistas, as well as the handling of preexisting trees; thus, spatial-material elements such as buildings and plants become objects of investigation. This paper presents graphics that map different spaces of the present-day memorial site. Producing maps and superimposing them reveals a broad spectrum of spatial relationships: contrasts, contradictions, simultaneities; it uncovers what is left, what disappears, and how historical spaces interfere with each other.
Abstract
Spatial Overlapping: Spatial Relations in the Ravensbrück Memorial Site from a Graphical-spatial Perspective At memorial sites of concentration camps, historical spaces overlap. I argue that an analysis of the present space in its materiality and design can help us understand the relationship between different historical spaces. A visual mapping of the present site can serve as a starting point for gaining new insights about how history is represented at a certain memorial site and how the site was dealt with after the camp’s existence. This graphical-spatial method is based on an understanding of the landscape’s architectural design as a means of historiographical analysis. Using the Ravensbrück Memorial as an example, this paper demonstrates and reflects on the potential (and limitations) of this method. The Ravensbrück Memorial site developed in three phases following historical caesurae, the chronology of which can still be seen at the site today. With their respective designs, they refer to different layers of time. I analyze the successive spatial development of the memorial site by examining landscape architectural motifs such as the spatial sequence, the orientation of paths and vistas, as well as the handling of preexisting trees; thus, spatial-material elements such as buildings and plants become objects of investigation. This paper presents graphics that map different spaces of the present-day memorial site. Producing maps and superimposing them reveals a broad spectrum of spatial relationships: contrasts, contradictions, simultaneities; it uncovers what is left, what disappears, and how historical spaces interfere with each other.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Tracing Oblivion: The Collected Works of Yael Atzmony 1
- Tracing Oblivion 15
- Spatial Thinking in Holocaust Studies 31
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Part I: Theoretical-methodological Approaches
- Expanding Geographies of the Holocaust: Refugees and Spatial Histories 49
- Space and Violence as Analytical Categories in Holocaust Research 67
- Why is Landscape Research Important for Holocaust Studies? 79
- How Can We Map the Holocaust? 89
- Daily Experiences of Persecution in the City: Mobilizing Diaries to Study the Holocaust in Urban Settings 111
- Space in Holocaust Film 119
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Part II: Case Studies
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Fleeting Spaces
- Motion, Fluidity, and Virtuality of Space 133
- Multipurposing Jewish Spaces: German Jewry’s Struggles to Provide Places for its Activities in Hostile Surroundings 143
- Remembering Arcadia in Auschwitz: Pastoral Representations of the Death Camps 159
- Domestic Space in the Films of Chantal Akerman and Claude Lanzmann 177
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Institutionalized Spaces
- Institutionalization as a Socio-spatial Process: Norms, Rules, and Behavior 195
- Blocked Pathways: Regional Room for Manoeuvre of the Jews in the Administrative District of Zichenau, 1939–1945 205
- Denkmäler als Raumproduzenten – Der Gedenkkomplex Trascjanec bei Minsk 229
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Border/ing Spaces
- Drawing Lines, Crossing Frontiers, Transgressing Boundaries 249
- Treblinka Geography: Nazi Building, Jewish Breaking, Historical Reconstructing 261
- Fensterblicke auf den Genozid 277
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Spatial Relations
- Overlapping, Overwriting: Syn/Diachronic Spatial Relationships 293
- Wandlungen eines Exil- und Erinnerungsraumes: Shanghai – Hongkou – Tilanqiao 305
- Räumliche Überlagerungen. Erkenntnisse zu den Raumbeziehungen der Mahn- und Gedenkstätte Ravensbrück durch eine zeichnerisch-räumliche Analyse 327
- List of Contributors 353
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Tracing Oblivion: The Collected Works of Yael Atzmony 1
- Tracing Oblivion 15
- Spatial Thinking in Holocaust Studies 31
-
Part I: Theoretical-methodological Approaches
- Expanding Geographies of the Holocaust: Refugees and Spatial Histories 49
- Space and Violence as Analytical Categories in Holocaust Research 67
- Why is Landscape Research Important for Holocaust Studies? 79
- How Can We Map the Holocaust? 89
- Daily Experiences of Persecution in the City: Mobilizing Diaries to Study the Holocaust in Urban Settings 111
- Space in Holocaust Film 119
-
Part II: Case Studies
-
Fleeting Spaces
- Motion, Fluidity, and Virtuality of Space 133
- Multipurposing Jewish Spaces: German Jewry’s Struggles to Provide Places for its Activities in Hostile Surroundings 143
- Remembering Arcadia in Auschwitz: Pastoral Representations of the Death Camps 159
- Domestic Space in the Films of Chantal Akerman and Claude Lanzmann 177
-
Institutionalized Spaces
- Institutionalization as a Socio-spatial Process: Norms, Rules, and Behavior 195
- Blocked Pathways: Regional Room for Manoeuvre of the Jews in the Administrative District of Zichenau, 1939–1945 205
- Denkmäler als Raumproduzenten – Der Gedenkkomplex Trascjanec bei Minsk 229
-
Border/ing Spaces
- Drawing Lines, Crossing Frontiers, Transgressing Boundaries 249
- Treblinka Geography: Nazi Building, Jewish Breaking, Historical Reconstructing 261
- Fensterblicke auf den Genozid 277
-
Spatial Relations
- Overlapping, Overwriting: Syn/Diachronic Spatial Relationships 293
- Wandlungen eines Exil- und Erinnerungsraumes: Shanghai – Hongkou – Tilanqiao 305
- Räumliche Überlagerungen. Erkenntnisse zu den Raumbeziehungen der Mahn- und Gedenkstätte Ravensbrück durch eine zeichnerisch-räumliche Analyse 327
- List of Contributors 353
