Anna Hammer
Anna Hammer
Keine Nachsaison im Kurort
On the 5th of February 2018, the wall formerly separating the two Germanies has been torn down for 28 years, 3 months and 10 days, this is the exact amount of time it stood, dividing a country that is now re-unified but still struggling to come to terms with a history of separation and fragmentation. In this context, the struggle to define identity, be it as a nation or on a personal level, is ever-present, transcending every aspect of political, cultural and private life. Especially in rural areas of the former East, such as Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony and Thuringia, the shockwaves of this sudden change from a socialist dictatorship that controlled every aspect of life to the freedoms of the capitalist free market economy are emanating at a much slower pace than in the bustling metropolis that is Berlin. Growing up in East Germany shortly after the fall of the wall, I was constantly surrounded by this unfolding history and thus decided to approach the subject through a visual exploration of my hometown. The health resort Friedrichroda is a place in rural Thuringia that has always been highly dependent on tourism. A former centre of prestigious hotel projects of the German Federal Republic’s national travel agency, the FDGB, the impact of decreasing numbers of holiday makers is apparent in the towns empty streets and declining infrastrucure. The ageing population is slowly shrinking as young people leave the area in droves for lack of perspective and employment opportunities. Not having lived in my hometown for more than ten years the most obvious impression when returning is how little things appear to have changed when suddenly approaching this familiar space from an outsider perspective. This work attempts to visualise the slow change and the lingering echoes of the soviet legacy that still casts its shadow over the eastern regions of Germany as well as pondering my personal connection to a place and a time that have formed me.
Imprint Photographs & Layout Š Anna Hammer 2018 additional photographs from private archives Typeface Myriad Pro Condensed TGL 0-1451 Engschrift