Sunday 18.5.2025 3.00 p.m. - 4.00 p.m.
Speakers:
Sue Hetzinger & Lena Kögler, students at HTW Berlin
Dr. Urte Evert, museum director
The Schaudepot Bastion Königin, which houses unwanted objects of remembrance culture, was established when the Spandau Citadel took over two larger-than-life bronze horses from 1939—often referred to in the media as “Hitler’s Horses.” One of the horses was incorporated into the museum “Unveiled. Berlin and Its Monuments” in 2021, while the other was placed in the bastion, which had been converted into a storage and exhibition space. Additional unwanted monuments and sculptures from various Berlin cultural institutions were brought in to be exhibited here and to have their stories told, rather than being hidden away.
In terms of content, the Schaudepot ties into the permanent exhibition “Unveiled. Berlin and Its Monuments,” but defines itself as an experimental exhibition space. Each year, new curators from the fields of academia, art, or education are invited to offer a fresh perspective on the objects.
This year’s exhibition was created by students of the Museology B.A. program (HTW Berlin). As part of their practical semester, they developed a curatorial concept that was first publicly presented at the university in 2024—and is now being realized with the original objects. The students engaged deeply with current debates surrounding problematic—or “toxic”—objects:
How should we deal with Nazi-era, colonialist, and racist sculptures from the past? Display them? Provide context? Intervene?
The result is an exhibition about this negotiation process itself, featuring video installations and displays. Informative without being didactic, it invites visitors to share their own thoughts and wishes on the topic of “Toxic Objects.”
Picture: © Andressa Clemente, HTW Berlin
