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RÉMY MARKOWITSCH. WE ALL [Except the Others]

27.8.23 – 27.9.27 RÉMY MARKOWITSCH. WE ALL [Except the Others]
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The multimedia installation of Rémy Markowitsch

Contamination of nature and culture, forced labor then and now, Hermann Röchling and his legacy: Swiss artist Rémy Markowitsch's multimedia installation WE ALL (Except the Others) in the historic suspension railway workshop illuminates and condenses central themes and significant places in the history of the Völklingen Ironworks.

A Conférencière and numerous other protagonists lead us from the Hermann and Dorothea slag heaps with the smelter's overburden to today's parking lot and the benzene houses, once the site of the highly polluting coal-value operations, to the apotheosis of the Röchling family in the expansive ceiling painting of the Völklingen Church of Reconciliation. At the site of the repair, the suspension railway workshop, the circles close both literally and figuratively.

A woman dressed in black is delighted.
Rémy Markowitsch. WE ALL (Except the Others), The Conférencière

Ein Frau in schwarz gekleidet verzeiht das Gesicht

"After MOTION POWERS HISTORY now follows the second milestone of the examination of the history of our place in the anniversary year 150 YEARS OF VÖLKLINGER HÜTTE. With WE ALL (Except the Others), Rémy Markowitsch directs his genuinely artistic gaze at the history and themes of our exemplary setting and contributes with creative exaggeration to a deeper understanding of the ups and downs of the former ironworks," says Dr. Ralf Beil, curator of the exhibition and General Director of the Völklingen Ironworks World Cultural Heritage Site.

The suspension railway workshop lives

Historical photographs and film footage, as well as new video sequences shot with actors and actresses, are projected directly onto the floor, ceiling and side walls. The workshop is thus always an integral part of the projections and their stories. The artist focuses on key locations and significant figures associated with the ironworks, such as the industrial magnate Hermann Röchling and his wife Theodora, known as Dorothea.

An installation view of the exhibition

In a large-scale audiovisual collage, texts, archival film and photographic footage, and audio recordings from the history of the Saarland, Völklingen and the Völklingen Ironworks are interwoven with dialogues by the actors Laura Trapp (Dorothea) and Benjamin Kelm (Hermann), Gina Markowitsch (Conférencière) and Magali Helene Vogel (Benzol Spirit). For the first time, filming took place on the Völklingen conical slag heaps. There are also video recordings in the car park of the World Heritage Site and in front of the benzene houses, a motorbike ride through Völklingen accompanied by a song version of ‘Moorsoldaten’ by Taranja Wu, right up to the Church of Reconciliation, including its ceiling paintings, as well as choral recordings with Rainer Oster and the ‘Moorsoldatinnen’ at the same location.

The installation’s numerous film screenings, the ‘Hermann & Dorothea’ mountain dialogue featuring AI-animated portraits, narrated by Barbara Scheck and Peter Tiefenbrunner, a sound installation featuring the voice of Marie Bonnet and a text by Elfriede Jelinek in the locker room, and interviews with contemporary witnesses – all come together in the historic setting of the suspension railway workshop, which is being opened to visitors for the first time, to form an impressive, walk-through total work of art about the Völklinger Hütte and the world around it.

Components of the installation

An installation view of the exhibition
Video still from the installation WE ALL (Except the others) in the overhead monorail car workshop.

Video installation, approx. 80 minutes, comprising five projections in the front workshop area on three walls, as well as on the floor and ceiling, featuring the dialogue ‘Hermann & Dorothea’ on two monitors, and the sound installation ‘Claudia’ – a ‘locker monologue’ in the side room with a collage of historical magazines and interviews with contemporary witnesses – in the workshop’s former control room.

INTERVIEWS

Hubert Kesternich (*1944)

is a trained miner and has been active as a trade unionist since the age of 13. He worked at the Völklingen Ironworks for around 44 years. Since 1990, he has been conducting research into the coal and steel industry and the Saar ironworks. His publications include, amongst others, *Coal, Steel and Class Struggle. 1918–1935 in Völklingen and the Surrounding Area’ and ‘Rise and Change: 140 Years of the Völklinger Hütte’ (2 volumes).

Norbert Krämer (*1935)

was Foreman of Electrical Maintenance for Blast Furnace Inspection from 1970 to 1986. Together with his colleagues from the Working Group on the History of Technology at the World Heritage Site Völklinger Hütte, he authored the documentation ‘The Former Pig Iron Production Facilities at the Völklinger Hütte’, covering the period from the site’s inception in 1881 to the closure of the blast furnace operations on 4 July 1986. His father and grandfather had also worked at the Röchling steelworks.

Dr. Inge Plettenberg (*1946)

studied at Saarland University from 1969 to 1975, worked as a research assistant at the Regional History Museum of the Saarbrücken City Association from 1985 to 1989, and was a television editor at Saarländischer Rundfunk from 2004 to 2011. Since 1987, she has published several works, particularly on Nazi forced labour in the Saarland. Since 2013, she has been a freelance research associate at the World Heritage Site Völklinger Hütte. In 2021, her book *The Röchling Murder Case: The Death of a Steel Industrialist on the Home Front, 1944* was published.

Olaf Reeck (*1938)

is an illustrator, painter, graphic designer and photographer. After studying graphic design in Saarbrücken, Olaf Reeck worked as head designer at an advertising agency specialising in illustration for Röchling-Werke, and for many years taught drawing as part of the basic training programme. Reeck has been working as a freelancer since 2004.

Kaya Urhan (*1936)

had been working at the Völklingen Ironworks since 1972 as a blast furnace operator on Blast Furnace III. On 29 May 1986, he used his video camera to capture memories of his workplace. Kaya Urhan continued to work in the Saarland steel industry until 1996, before taking his well-deserved retirement. He and his family still live in Völklingen today.

A work by Rémy Markowitsch

Curator Dr. Ralf Beil, Director-General of the Völklinger Hütte World Cultural Heritage Site

CAST

Marie Bonnet (voice for Claudia’s locker monologue)
Benjamin Kelm (Hermann)
Gina Markowitsch (Conférencière)
Barbara Scheck (voice for Dorothea, the mountain spirit)
Peter Tiefenbrunner (voice of Berg Hermann)
Laura Trapp (Dorothea)
Magali Helene Vogel (Benzolspirit)

MUSIC

Taranja Wu (song version of ‘Moorsoldaten’ and soundscape)
www.taranjawu.com

Choral piece ‘Die Moorsoldatinnen’
(Völklingen Church of Reconciliation)
Rainer Oster (organ and choir director)

Choir

Yuliia Andriichuk, Sophia Buhl, Monika Deligiannaki, María Sól Ingolfsdottír, Paula Marie Jorks, Eunbi Lee, Daphné Macary, Anna Major, Seung A Ryu

Audio recording & editing: Thomas Becher
Lyrics: Joey Heymann
Image description: Franziska Wilmsen

TEAM

Co-director, script, acting coach:
Joey Heymann (Zimmermann), Berlin & Rheinfelden

Script collaboration: Elina Finkel, Berlin
Script editing: Dr Franziska Wilmsen, Düsseldorf-Lippstadt

Artistic consultancy, production, editing & post-production:
Sebastian Fischer, Leipzig

Camera, animation & editing (interviews):
Stephan Wicki, Zurich, wickifilm.ch

Audio recording & editing: Nemo Hill, Berlin

AI animation: Suhail Mirza, India

Drone and action camera, mountains, car park and motorbike:
Markus Trennhäuser, InPuls Productions, Saarlouis

Motorbike: Sven Peters, Saarbrücken

Costumes: Maya Roos, Berlin & Lucerne

Catering: Marie Götze, Saarbrücken

TEAM WORLD HERITAGE SITE VÖLKLINGER HÜTTE

Project Manager: Frank Krämer
Footage Management: Daniel Bauer
Content Support: Hendrik Kersten