Kunst im Dialog – What an eventful day in Königstein

This year’s hike as part of Kunst im Dialog attracted almost 50 interested people who wanted to learn more about “The Long Shadow of Wismut”. We were very pleased with the great interest!

Long-time Wismut employees Ulrich Nesbor and Ulrich Nagler led the audience to the former uranium mining area very close to Königstein Fortress. At the beginning, we took a look from the fortress at the Wismut site, which mined uranium for military use for the Soviet Union for decades.

During the three-hour tour, both witnesses spoke about the exciting background, the questionable working conditions and above all about the dangers to which the employees were exposed. Other Wismut miners were also among the participants, which led to lively conversations. The fact that Ulrich Nesbor clashed with the GDR’s state security and still felt this after the fall of communism aroused the guests’ particular interest.

The partly surprisingly cool temperatures and the rain did not dampen the good mood during the hike. This remained the case in the evening at the Königsteiner Lichtspiele. There, the artist Susanne Kontny presented her short film “ULI & ULI” to the public for the first time. The work was made as part of Kunst im Dialog in the summer of 2021 and was followed by an insightful panel discussion with the filmmaker, the two protagonists, Thomas Haase from Sachsen im Dialog and Marcus Oertel from Kultur Aktiv. The audience enriched the event with their questions. Lively individual discussions followed.

Es zeigte sich schon während der Wanderung deutlich, wie aufwühlend das Thema Wismut ist und dass auch Jahre nach dem Ende der DDR unverändert sehr viel Redebedarf besteht.

It became clear during the walk how stirring the topic of Wismut is and that even years after the end of the GDR there is still a great need to talk about it. A complete reappraisal of the past events has not yet taken place – and we are particularly pleased that Kunst im Dialog was able to contribute to bringing people together for a constructive exchange. Ulrich Nesbor concluded that more approaches like Kunst im Dialog are needed. People need to talk to each other again – and it needs formats like these to deal with the past in a factual way.

For us, 23 October 2021 was a wonderful day that was able to initiate an open dialogue on the ground. The enormous response also makes it clear that our intention to initiate dialogue and make personal stories heard is right and important.

A big thank you goes to Ulrich Nesbor, Ulrich Nagler, the Königsteiner Lichtspiele, weltbewusst e.V. – Werkstatt 26 and all other partners in Königstein. See you next time!