Open process – Podcasts
Reading: The elders
Info
Texts from conversations with senior citizens from Chemnitz about memory, loss and social change
In a public reading, dramaturge Kerstin Behrens, actress Katharina Behrens and Leipzig actor Ulrich Wenzke presented texts from the research project DIE ÄLTESTEN. The reading is based on conversations with senior citizens from Chemnitz.
During their residency at the Documentation Center for the NSU Complex Open Trial, Ella Ziegler (artist, curator) and Stefanie Kulisch (photographer) sought dialogue with senior citizens in community centres, care facilities, assisted living facilities, cafés and private apartments in Chemnitz from September to November 2025.
DIE ÄLTESTEN is a documentary, photographic and ethnographic research project. Encounters, conversations and memorabilia from the past are re-read and interpreted in dialog and placed in contemporary social contexts.
Stefanie Kulisch’s photographs accompany these voices with restraint and attention. They capture encounters, spaces, gestures and traces of memory with care and enter into a sensitive dialog with the texts.
Ella Ziegler is an artist, curator and mediator working at the interface of art, ethnographic research and science communication. Ziegler works with participatory formats and artistic interventions in everyday contexts that transform public spaces and social infrastructures into lively spaces of resonance and experience.
Stefanie Kulisch is an artist working at the cultural intersections between the margins of Berlin and Brandenburg. Using a variety of media such as photography, video, poetry and archival materials, Stefanie explores the conditions of (co)existence, incorporating both individual and collective experiences.
The actors Kerstin and Katharina Behrens and Ulrich Wenzke will read:
Kerstin Behrens, born in Laage (Mecklenburg), has been a dramaturge at the Staatsschauspiel Dresden since the 2017/2018 season.
Katharina Behrens is a freelance actress and intimacy coordinator. Born in Meiningen, she lives with her son in Berlin.
Ulrich Wenzke, born and raised in Potsdam-Babelsberg, now works as a therapist and is also active as an actor. Ulrich Wenzke has lived with his family in Dresden since 2006.
The event was recorded on 7.02.2026.
Fishbowl discussion: What remains of summer 2018?
Info
Fishbowl on civil society perspectives on the 2018 racist mobilization
In August/September 2018, there were massive protests and racist riots by right-wing and right-wing populist groups in Chemnitz following a homicide. People with a supposed migration background were physically attacked, racially insulted and chased through the streets. The city became the focus of (inter)national media attention overnight. Up to 6,000 participants from Chemnitz, the surrounding area and the whole of Germany traveled to the marches organized by right-wing activists. They marked a public alliance between the AfD and neo-Nazis.
We would like to use the open discussion format “Fishbowl” to take a critical look at this event, which has had a major impact on the city’s recent history. We will discuss the causes, how the city dealt with the event and the role of the police and media. In exchange with the audience, we want to gather experiences and effects, but also take a look at civil society reactions. With reference to the European Capital of Culture 2025, we will ask: What has happened in Chemnitz since then?
In a fishbowl, the experts provide the content framework with their specialist knowledge, while the moderator encourages interested participants to contribute with their different voices and thus continuously continue the discourse.
Guests:
Julia Voigt is involved in #wirsindmehr, an initiative against right-wing extremism and for an open society, which responded to the mobilizations of violence with a highly acclaimed public concert
Prof. Dr. Frank Asbrock TU Chemnitz, social psychologist, researches prejudice and discrimination and, in his study “The Situation in Chemnitz – Moods after August 2018”, investigated how the events in late summer 2018 affected the feeling of safety, threat and contact behaviour of Chemnitz residents.
Dr. Kati Lang Lawyer, represents and supports victims of right-wing and discriminatory violence, especially those affected by the racist mobilizations of that time.
Moderation: Caroline Galvis
CPPD podcastepisode “Erinnerungsfutur”:
Panel discussion “Practices of Remembrance in Digital Spaces”
Info
This podcast episode is a recording of the panel discussion “Practices of Remembrance in Digital Spaces” with Dr Jonas Fegert(@jonasfe ), Nhi Le(@nhile_de ) and Susanne Siegert(@keine.erinnerungskultur ) , moderated by Benjamin Fischer(@bennympfischer ), which took place on 8 October 2025 as part of the CPPD festival ‘MEMORY MATTERS’ at OFFENER PROZESS – a documentation center on the NSU complex in Chemnitz.
Digitalization opens up new possibilities for the culture of remembrance – from AI-supported interviews with contemporary witnesses to holographic encounters and globally accessible digital archives. At the same time, new challenges arise. As this year’s European Capital of Culture, Chemnitz is a city of contrasts – characterized by lively diversity and, at the same time, by the challenges of a violent past. The Offener Prozess – a documentation center on the NSU complex – embodies this engagement with local history and offers a special setting for discussing the future of remembrance culture and exploring digital methods without compromising the integrity or significance of physical places of remembrance. The experts address the question of how digital methods can transform the culture of remembrance. They discuss both opportunities – such as new approaches to historical experiences or innovative communication formats – and risks, such as questions of authenticity, manipulation or the use of private platforms.
In ERINNERUNGSFUTUR, scholars, artists, intellectuals, and activists share their work and perspectives on cultures of remembrance in Germany and Europe. This series is part of the DialoguePerspectives e.V. podcast.
Speakers: Nhi Le, Dan Thy Nguyen, Vu Thanh Van, Vu Van Pham; Editorial team: Hannah Blumas, Angela Mani, Nihal Çalışır; Audio-Edit: Gal Yaron Mayersohn; Film Glitch by Snowflake ©2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial (3.0) license; Illustration: Rosa Viktoria Ahlers; Curators: Jo Frank, Johanna Korneli, Max Czollek | © 2025 DialoguePerspectives e.V. | http://www.cppdnetwork.com
Fishbowl discussion: How does “The East” remember?
Fishbowl discussion as part of the Pochenbiennale 2025.
How does “The East” remember? In an open fishbowl round, we invited people to discuss the culture of remembrance: How do personal experiences influence our view of the past? How is history processed artistically? How do archives preserve subjective impressions?
Voices from the documentation center
Episode 1: with Hannah Zimmermann
Zeran Osman talks to Hannah Zimmermann about how the path to a documentation center developed. There are also interesting facts about the NSU complex, racist structures and continuities, artistic and political projects and realizations that commemorate, show solidarity with those affected and educate preventively.
