29 July 2021 press release

Every estate and every personal object tells a story – of small incidents, farewells and new beginnings, of shattered dreams and important encounters. The exhibition “Life in Exile” in ZDFkultur’s Digital Art Gallery uses selected objects and documents from the German Exile Archive 1933–1945 at the German National Library to trace the life-trajectories of nine people who were forced to flee Germany during the Nazi era on account of their Jewish heritage or political beliefs. The exhibition’s architecture is shaped by narrow, labyrinthine passageways to reflect the oppressive search for refuge.

The virtual exhibition “Life in Exile” tells the moving stories of nine people: of Irma and Hanns W. Lange, mother and son; of the antifascists Hubertus, Prince of Löwenstein and Helga, Princess of Löwenstein; the author Walter Meckauer and his wife Lotte and daughter Brigitte; the photographer Eric Schaal; and the future best-selling author Stefanie Zweig.

From the starting point, visitors to the Digital Art Gallery can access five exhibition rooms via maze-like corridors. Here they can get up close to the exhibits, especially the written testimonies, in a way few physical museums can match. The exhibition is a collaborative project and was jointly curated: the texts and documents were provided by the German Exile Archive 1933–1945, while ZDFkultur developed and implemented the exhibition’s architecture as well as integrating complementary film footage, including two interviews withStefanie Zweig from the ZDF archives. The exhibition will be available on ZDFkultur for 18 months.

The exceptional childhood story of Stefanie Zweig became world-famous with the Oscar-winning film adaptation of her book “Nowhere in Africa” (1995). In it, the author describes how she emigrated to Kenya with her parents in 1938. Nine years later, she returned to Germany with unforgettable memories. After completing her secondary education, she found work as a journalist in Frankfurt am Main and wrote countless best-sellers. A small sack of earth from the grave of her grandmother in Poland and two small wooden antelopes from Kenya are among the touching mementoes she kept with her all her life.

Eric Schaal emigrated to the USA in 1936, where he made a name for himself as a portrait photographer. Many famous exiles, as well as key figures of American cultural life, posed for him – from Thomas Mann and Sergei Rachmaninov through to Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin. Their personal dedications on the photographs show just how impressed they were with his work.
Even before the National Socialists came to power, Hubertus, Prince of Löwenstein and Helga, Princess of Löwenstein were subjected to a series of attacks by the Nazis due to the couple’s antifascist convictions. They fled to Austria in 1933 before later making their way to the USA. Here Hubertus, Prince of Löwenstein founded in 1935 the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom, an important aid organisation for German-language exiles. Its supporters included Thomas Mann, Sigmund Freud and Hannah Arendt. Among other things, the exhibition at ZDFkultur shows a selection of the Löwensteins’ correspondence.

Walter and Lotte Meckauer as well as their daughter Brigitte also went into exile in 1933. The family fled to Italy via Switzerland, then to France, then back to Switzerland and finally on to their dream destination in 1947: the USA. Walter Meckauer, who was an author, always carried a suitcase containing his short stories with him.

Mother and son Irma and Hanns W. Lange emigrated to England and were interned there after the outbreak of the war – resident Germans were then classed as “hostile foreigners”. Irma Lange documented her experience during her two years in an internment camp in colourful embroidery and appliqués on a hand-crafted Hessian bag. Hanns Lange made toys during his internment. The bag, diaries and other documents provide deep insights into everyday life in the camp.

"Life in Exile"
A virtual exhibition by ZDFkultur and the German Exile Archiv 1933-1945
From Wednesday 4 August 2021 at the Digital Art Gallery of ZDF

Preview link / Photos / Press folder

On request, the exhibition can be visited with a preview link. Access is available from Katharina Rudolph and Britta Schröder. Photos are available from ZDF Press and Information Office, Phone:+49 6131 – 70-16100, and via the Press portal of ZDFkultur. Comprehensive press folder (only available in Germman)

Background

The German National Library’s German Exile Archive 1933–1945 is a platform for discussing the subjects of exile and emigration during the Nazi era. It collects testimonies of this exile: publications, institutional and personal legacies – from all walks of life and regardless of the prominence of the individual concerned. The Archive’s goal is to capture the phenomenon of exile in all its variety and to facilitate access to our holdings. The establishment of the Exile Archive during the early post-war period was initiated by a number of émigrés and other persons who saw it as an instrument of political enlightenment. This is another reason why the Archive continues to attach particular importance to the dissemination of cultural knowledge. With its exhibitions, a diverse events programme and publications, the Exile Archive makes an important contribution to a vibrant culture of remembrance while always highlighting connections between the historic exile and current phenomena.

The original, physical version of many of the objects presented in the Digital Art Gallery can be found in the permanent exhibition “Exile. Experience and Testimony” of the German Exile Archive 1933-1945 at the German National Library in Frankfurt am Main.

In the Digital Art Gallery ZDFkultur presents exceptional, expert-curated temporary exhibitions in collaboration with cultural institutions. Visitors to the virtual museum move through an interactive web module where they view the presented objects, archive material, paintings, drawings, sculptures or photographs, receive background information and discover interesting stories surrounding the exhibits. The exhibitions increasingly also include film footage. This makes art and culture accessible to everyone at any time, regardless of their location. Works that, in real life, are scattered far apart can be viewed in close proximity with just a few clicks at ZDFkultur. Using innovative technology and multimedia content, the virtual museum visit becomes a unique experience.

The Digital Art Gallery is part of ZDF’s digitally-based cultural offering. Embedded in the ZDFmediathek, ZDFkultur consolidates and produces content from all cultural genres in order to give its users a space for current discourse and new perspectives.

Contact

Press contact ZDFkultur:

Dr. Katharina Rudolph

Dr. Britta Schröder

Presse-Desk, Phone: +49 6131 – 70-12108

Press contact German Exile Archive 1933–1945:

Dr. Sylvia Asmus, Head of the German Exile Archive 1933–1945, Phone: +49 69 1525-1900