The Initiative for Coming to Terms with Colonial History has launched a competition to contextualize the Bismarck Monument with the aim to open up a critical examination of the monument and its history as well as to set an example for the necessary further development of remembrance culture.
Hamburg was a hub of German colonial policy. In 2014, the city officially acknowledged this legacy and set out on the path to a profound debate. After the Authority for Culture and Media 2021 had organised several workshops in which international experts discussed possibilities for dealing with the Bismarck Monument in the Alter Elbpark, an open international competition of ideas for contextualising the monument is now being launched. Artists and architects are welcome to develop ideas on how the perception of the monument can be broken and its complex references to colonialism, National Socialism, discrimination and questions of social justice can be made visible.
Exposés can be submitted until 31 October. At the end of 2022, the jury will select the designs that will be further elaborated in the second part of the competition. In March 2023, the jury will then decide on the winning design. More information (in German) can be found here.
The Open Call is organised by Authority for Culture and Media (Behörde für Kultur und Medien) and Hamburg Historical Museums Foundation (Stiftung Historische Museen Hamburg).
