In the organizer's words:
Right-wing violence has accompanied the Federal Republic of Germany since its foundation. To this day, however, its history is primarily one of looking away, ignoring and forgetting. However, right-wing terror was also highly visible again and again after the Second World War. The Oktoberfest attack in 1980, for example, or the racist pogroms in Hoyerswerda and Rostock-Lichtenhagen. More recently, the attacks in Hanau, Kassel and Halle. In other cases, however, it was less obvious that acts of violence were motivated by right-wing motives. Here it was easy to look the other way, even when those affected by the violence accused the arsons and killings of being right-wing extremist. For them, right-wing terror was always visible in a different way than for politicians, the media and many people who were not affected by the violence. The series of murders by the National Socialist Underground (NSU) showed this particularly clearly. Photographer Mark Mühlhaus visited more than 30 locations throughout Germany where racist or anti-Semitic acts were committed by right-wing terrorists, neo-Nazis, skinheads and violent youths: Public squares, rows of houses, country roads, lakeside promenades or bathing lakes that seem familiar to viewers. The photographs capture their apparent normality, which is provocative: they challenge viewers to engage with the stories of right-wing terror associated with these places. The encounter with the photographs is accompanied by audio pieces that allow survivors and those affected to speak for themselves. In audio pieces, they provide insights into the many ways in which they have dealt with the attacks, assaults and attacks they have experienced and bear witness to the deep scars they have left on many people.
The exhibition was created as a cooperation project between the NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne and the Federal Agency for Civic Education. The audio pieces are available in German, English and Turkish. "Un|visible terror. Places of right-wing violence in Germany" can be seen from December 4 to 23, 2024 and January 6 to 31, 2025, Monday to Friday during our opening hours, usually from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., as well as during events.
Opening on December 4 at 5 pm with photographer Mark Mühlhaus.
This content has been machine translated.