Schlaining Synagogue
Exhibition
in the former Schlaining Synagogue, Stadtschlaining
March 30, 2022
Former Synagogue in Stadtschlaining
With this restored synagogue, a place of remembrance and reflection has been created, but also a place of dialogue, curiosity, and “getting to know one another anew.”
The permanent exhibition, now complete, sheds light on the development of the Jewish community in Stadtschlaining. Through the objects and texts on display, Jewish life—both past and destroyed, as well as that lived today—here in Burgenland, as well as throughout the Jewish world, is presented and brought to life.
The central element of the exhibition is the symbolic form of a Star of David. The Star of David consists of six triangular black display cases. A black Star of David. But the display cases are illuminated—and so the star shines. A shining star that presents Jewish life, both historically and today. A glowing star representing the hope for a bright, shared future built on mutual understanding.
The former synagogue also houses a memorial dedicated to the Jewish population of Southern Burgenland, who were expelled and exterminated in 1938. The guiding principle, “Giving Space to the Absent,” is realized in the form of a fragmentary, stylized reconstruction of the interior furnishings—as a black shadow. The aim is to restore the spatial and synagogal context and to reconnect with the history of the synagogue and the Jewish residents of Stadtschlaining. By engraving the names and dates of birth, suffering, and death of the last Jews into the pews, these individuals and their personal histories are brought back to Stadtschlaining. In this way, they are rescued from the annihilation perpetrated by the Nazis. The memory of them, of their history, and of their fate remains alive. There is no gravestone bearing their names for the victims. Now that their names stand in the synagogue as a tribute to their memory, the installation serves as a gravestone and memorial. The installation defies any functionality or naturalism; it does not seek to be practical. It is black. Black as a shadow—the shadow of the past and the shadow of pain—as a hint of what once was here.
For a place like this—one that informs and moves people—to come into being, it takes people who develop and realize a shared vision and who work together intensively and with passion. The relevant institutions of the State of Burgenland, the lenders, as well as the Jewish Community of Graz, the Jewish Community of Vienna, LIKRAT, Misrachi Austria, the Austrian Jewish Museum in Eisenstadt, and the Burgenland State Museum.
Last but not least, I would like to thank the team led by Mag. Norbert Darabos for the trust they placed in my idea and concept! And to Prof. (FH) Mag. Awi Blumenfeld of the Jewish Community of Vienna, who, as the project’s academic and Jewish advisor, has guided the project with great passion.
Excerpts from the exhibition credits:
Chair of the Steering Committee for “100 Years of Burgenland”: Governor Mag. Hans Peter Doskozil
KBB – Kultur-Betriebe Burgenland GmbH, Franz Schubert-Platz 6, 7000 Eisenstadt
Friedensburg Schlaining Location
Management: DI Barbara Weißeisen-Halwax
Project Management and Overall Coordination: Mag. Tanja Stacherl, Christoph Langecker
Scientific Patron and Site Director: Mag. Norbert Darabos
Curated by: Mag. Christof Cremer
Academic & Jewish Advisor: Prof. (FH) Mag. Awi Blumenfeld
Exhibition Design, Artistic Direction, and Curation: Mag. Christof Cremer
Contribution to Preliminary Design: Mag. Franz Ehn
Detailed Planning, Bidding, and On-Site Construction Supervision: RIGEWA Riedner Gepp Waldhör Architekten ZT GmbH, Architect Matthias Riedner, Dipl. Ing.
Multimedia: ZONE Media GmbH
Graphic Design: DI Julia Oppermann
Illustration: Jovan Sertić
Structural design, exhibition design, display cases, and scenography: Winter Artservice
Project Leaders: Benjamin Reichert and Herbert Herl
Media Technology: Winter Artservice and cat-x exhibitions Prix KG
Project Manager: Florian Prix
Arthandling: Vienna Arthandling
