What makes the exhibition so unique?
Harald Stockert: Our exhibition "Why should I care?" tries to break new ground in terms of content and technology. We purposely went beyond the actual period of National Socialism, for example, by placing a separate focus on the Weimar period and also highlighting the extent to which this era was similar to our present day in certain aspects. And how, with the destruction of this democracy, a society was brought into line and increasingly radicalised – to the point where civilisation disintegrated. Lastly, the difficult path "back" to a peaceful and open society is also pointed out.
In the execution, we solely rely on multimedia and refrain from employing any analog objects. This is definitely a distinctive feature of our exhibition.
Are there aspects of the exhibition that you are particularly proud of?
HS: We are always pleased to see visitors stop at a specific theme or installation, where they would like to learn more and forget about time. I notice this repeatedly in the room dedicated to the year 1933. Here, historical Mannheim residents tell their story in a first-person perspective, and talk not only about their lives, but mainly their feelings, hopes and fears, staged as a multimedia film.
How do visitors respond to the immersive exhibition?
HS: Extremely positive. Judging by the feedback, they feel directly addressed, drawn into the time. Also emotionalised. This increases understanding of and sensitivity to tipping points, recognising and feeling when a development is going in the wrong direction.
Do you notice any differences in how the different generations visiting the exhibition deal with the topic of National Socialism?
HS: For younger people, the era of National Socialism is a distant epoch with which they initially associate little more than what they are taught at school. Our aim is to build on this, to sharpen the focus, to place what is often learnt in a rather abstract way in a local, more familiar frame of reference - in Mannheim.Older visitors enter the exhibition with a different level of prior knowledge and experience. Many still recall stories from their parents' generation about the National Socialist era and therefore quickly find personal points of reference. They are already able to contexutalise and reflect more - but this does not exclude the possibility that their own or traditional feelings and memories are repeatedly activated by the exhibition.
How do you put the exhibition into context with current events, how do you create a link to the present?
HS: We decided to refrain from linking history directly with our present. We are rather trying – abstractly speaking – to depict social mechanisms. What happens, for example, to a society that becomes polarised, in which members and outsiders are rigorously defined and classified as either friend or foe? How do social disengagement, radicalisation and even a break with civilisation come about? What are the options remaining for the individual? How fragile are the values of a democratic society, how must they be fought for again and again? Ultimately: Why should I care?
Dr Harald Stockert is an Historian and Archivist. From 2001, he was an Archivist at the Mannheim City Archive - Institute for City History, later becoming Deputy Director of the Institute and playing a key role in the transformation of the City Archive into the MARCHIVUM we know today. In August 2023, he succeeded Ulrich Nieß as director of the institute.