Municipalities - City council supports plans for NS documentation center
The Bayreuth City Council will push forward with plans for an NS Documentation Center. The council unanimously decided this on a Wednesday during their meeting, according to a spokesperson. The plan includes the formation of a curatorium to create a concept - it will include external experts and scholars from academia and other documentation centers. "The necessary steps must be taken," the resolution states.
There have been delays in the plans recently due to concerns raised by members of the Cultural Committee in April. These concerns included the cost of the project and fears that the center could become a pilgrimage site for right-wing extremists and racists. The plan calls for a significant part of the documentation center to be located in the former residence of Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855-1927), son-in-law of Richard Wagner and proponent of racism and antisemitism in the circle of the Festspiele. Whether the center will actually be built in the Chamberlain House remains open for now. Construction-related questions will be addressed later.
State Funding in Sight
A calculation from 2022 showed costs of 23.1 million Euros for the project. Extensive state funding is in sight, including from the federal government, the municipality has emphasized.
In recent weeks, there has been heated debate in the city about the need for a separate documentation center for dealing with Nazi history or if existing institutions can handle it.
The Richard Wagner Association Bayreuth welcomed the idea of a documentation center. A thorough and above all scientifically competent processing of Bayreuth's history benefits all - residents and non-residents as well as festival guests from all over the world, the association stated. Many questions and aspects about Wagner's life and work, as well as the role of the Wagner family and the co-optation of the festivals by the Nazi regime, are still open. "We must face these questions. The more transparent and competent the answers to these questions are, the better."
Wagner and Hitler
A network of racism, antisemitism, and folk ideology had formed around the Bayreuth Festspiele at the beginning of the 20th century, which the National Socialists took advantage of. Adolf Hitler was a fervent admirer of Richard Wagner's works and a frequent guest in Bayreuth - as a friend of the Wagner family.
Large and well-known NS Documentation Centers already exist at significant locations in Bavaria for the history of National Socialism: on the Obersalzberg in Berchtesgaden, in Munich, and on the former Reich Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg.
Richard Wagner Museum
- The municipality of Bayreuth plans to create an NS Documentation Center, with the formation of a curatorium that includes experts and scholars from academia and other documentation centers.
- The construction of this center may include a significant part located in the former residence of Houston Stewart Chamberlain, a proponent of racism and antisemitism in the circle of the Bayreuth Festival.
- State funding, including from the federal government, is in sight for the 23.1 million Euro project, according to the municipality.
- There has been a heated debate in Bayreuth about the need for a separate documentation center for dealing with Nazi history or if existing institutions can handle it.
- The Richard Wagner Association Bayreuth supports the idea of a documentation center, stating that a thorough and scientifically competent processing of Bayreuth's history benefits all, including residents, non-residents, and festival guests. This includes addressing questions about Wagner's life, work, and the role of the Wagner family and the co-optation of the festivals by the Nazi regime.
