Book presentation: Eine Pflanz- und Pflegestätte deutschen Geistes?

The Festspielhaus Hellerau under National Socialism as a cultural venue and police school

Parallel to the restoration of the East Wing, the last remaining unrenovated part of the Festspielhaus ensemble, research into the history of these wings, which were first built in the 1930s as SS police barracks, was also intensified.

On the initiative of HELLERAU and the state capital of Dresden, historian Robert Badura from the Institute for Saxon History and Folklore (ISGV) has been working intensively on the history of the Festspielhaus under National Socialism, which represents an unexpected, contrary accent to the much-cited “place of modernity”.

The 2025 publication examines the building from the perspective of the history of violence in the 20th century and describes its role as a training facility for the Nazi police and its operations, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.

Program

Welcome speech by:

• Carena Schlewitt, Director of HELLERAU

Welcome speech by:

• Prof. Dr. Joachim Schneider, Head of the History Department Institute for Saxon History and Folklore

Presentation by:

• Annekatrin Klepsch, Mayor, Councillor for Culture, Science and Tourism, “The Festspielhaus Hellerau between past, present and future.”

Book presentation by:

• Robert Badura, “Eine Pflanz- und Pflegestätte deutschen Geistes? The Festspielhaus Hellerau under National Socialism as a cultural venue and police school”

Panel:

• Contributions and discussion by: Christiane Wolf, Dr. Markus Urban and Prof. Dr. Daniela Spiegel on the topics “Festspielkultur im Nationalsozialismus”, “NS-Architektur” and “Das architektonische Erbe des Nationalsozialismus”

The discussion will be moderated by historian Dr. phil. Justus H. Ulbricht

Duration: ca. 2 h
Language: German

You can sign-up for the book presentation via the following link:
Register here