80 years after the end of the war: New exhibition reveals Bad Honnef's dark past

80 years after the end of the war: New exhibition reveals Bad Honnef's dark past

On April 7, 2025, an important exhibition will be opened in Bad Honnef, which deals with the history of National Socialism in the city on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Under the title "The Topography of National Socialism in Bad Honnef", the exhibition can be seen in the foyer of the city archive of the town hall. Dr. Jens Kremb, who has been working as a city archivist since October 2023, leads the exhibition in close cooperation with the Siebengebirgsmuseum and the historians Dr. Ansgar Klein and Elmar Scheuren.

This presentation is part of the "Small Exhibition" series and offers visitors a classic part with eight compound walls full of information, photographs and documents as well as an interactive area in which a small archive cabinet is available for visitor research. The exhibits include a variety of well -known and new materials, including private items such as a diary that illuminates the personal history of that time.

insight into the Nazi past of Bad Honnef

The exhibition addresses the role of Bad Honnef in National Socialism, including the plans for the construction of large recreation homes and the renaming roads to Nazi sizes. A planned “separatist defense monument”, the laying of the foundation stone on October 15, 1933 by Joseph Goebbels, was never realized. Using publications such as the Honnefer Volkszeitung and the West German observer, the spread of National Socialism in the region is illustrated.

This comprehensive discussion is not only on site, but also digital. A QR code in the exhibition enables visitors to look at the exhibits online. The exhibition is open until May 2 at the regular opening times of the town hall.

Extended context of the Holocaust in Europe

The presence of such exhibitions in Germany is in line with a comprehensive European approach to processing the experience after the Second World War. After the war, exhibitions were organized in various European cities such as London, Paris and Warsaw to document the effects of the Holocaust and the National Socialist crimes. These events, which were often curated by NS persecutors and Holocaust survivors, aim to keep the memory of the violence and the cultural heritage that has been lost. The focus is on the topic of the topic of violence events, resistance and the loss of cultural heritage in Europe. Dr. Agata Pietrasik leads the current efforts within this topic, which is supported by an accompanying program of the German Historical Museum.

The Bad Honnefer exhibition not only offers a reflexive view of the local history, but also enriches the discussion about dealing with the National Socialist past in the further European context. A visit to the exhibition is therefore an opportunity to deal intensively with the dark history of the region and its effects to the present day.