Open Monument Day
Why is a bunker a monument - on Open Monument Day 2023, the Lower Monument Protection Authority offered guided tours of the bunker on Friedrich-Ebert-Allee.
On Sunday, September 10, 2023, the air raid shelter opened its heavy steel doors to visitors for the first time. On this year's Open Monument Day, the municipal monument protection authority guided around 250 visitors through the monumental exposed concrete structure.
The guided tours were conducted jointly by employees of the Lower Monument Protection Authority, Steinberg Hinkel Projektentwicklung GmbH, Michael Müller from Stilbruch United Designers and Wiesbaden-based architectural historian Dr. Martino La Torre.
Film about the Open Monument Day
Witness to history
The high-rise bunker is an important witness to history in the middle of Wiesbaden and yet is hardly noticed. On the Open Monument Day, the chunky exposed concrete cube shows its talents to interested visitors. The guided tours explore the question of why this brittle, seemingly unapproachable building is a cultural monument at all and what possibilities are hidden inside.
Only recently has there been intensive discussion about the future of this difficult architectural monument in Wiesbaden, which has so far received little public attention, even though it stands directly opposite the Rhein-Main Congress Center (RMCC). In the meantime, it has become clear that this special place is to be given a new function and thus made accessible to visitors. Although the plans for this are not yet ready for presentation, now that the bunker has been cleared, there is an opportunity to show it to interested members of the public for the first time.
Further extensive information, texts and images can be found here:
Background to the Open Monument Day?
Once a year, always on the second Sunday in September, culture enthusiasts go on a nationwide discovery tour. Over 7,500 historical sites open their doors and inspire a large number of visitors.
Once again this year, monument owners and people who work full-time or on a voluntary basis to communicate, preserve and maintain our cultural heritage are inviting visitors to the "Open Monument Day". This year, the motto of the day is "Talent Monument". Monuments that are often otherwise inaccessible can be visited and experienced while their unique characteristics and qualities are put in the spotlight. This year, everything revolves around the question "What makes a monument a monument?". This always has to be answered individually and the special "talents" of each monument must first be discovered and worked out.
In addition to particularly beautiful and artistically designed monuments, there are also equally uncomfortable, sometimes even difficult monuments that are less convincing with their beautiful appearance. However, they often perform an important function as contemporary witnesses and are therefore also worthy of preservation in terms of the concept of monument protection. After all, they are also part of our cultural memory, they are intended to remind us and future generations of certain events, living conditions or cultural achievements of mankind, sometimes also as memorials to encourage us to learn from history.