The Ursulas sing

The Ursulas sing at George Beuchelt’s death 100th Anniversary

Monday 30th Sep, 19:00
Place: George Beuchelt’s Tomb in the Millenium Park

The idea of the event was brought up by Marcin Liber – born in Zielona Góra, currently one of the most influential theatre directors of his generation. When I described to him the project of Fundacja Salony and BWA Gallery, founded by Zielona Góra City Council, and we discussed our need to commemorate Beuchelt’s death his first thought that came into his head were Ursulas from his theatre play “Trash Story” signing in the Beuchelt’s Tomb – the only one remaining from former cemetery. Beuchelt’s factory in provincial Grünberg produced over 500 bridges on the Odra River but also for whole Germany, built railway from Bagdad to Damask and lots of different steel constructions, not to mention thousand carriages. Moreover, Beuchelt founded Holy Savior Church in Zielona Góra. We do not know what kind of person he was. We only know his official biography as a businessman, a local council member and a politician. He did not start a family so he might be a type of a businessman devoted to his business and social work. As a matter of fact I am wondering if he was a good man, did he like reading books or work in a garden, what poets did he like and how often did he listen to music? Taking his achievements into account those aforementioned matters may not be substantial, however, we like to know more about people that shape their epochs.
We do have a problem with the German history of our town. We love Zielona Góra, we do our best to make it a better place as well as those who actually built it. Although we do not deny it anymore we should at least try to remember those few of them. We should also come into terms that the cemetery has now a different function and there is no coming back to its previous shape. We still have memories and means of thinking of the past in context what we know about it.
Those quiet and delicate melodies tend to have a little from an elegy and a little from a warning. They remind and warn at the same time. In the Beuchelt’s Tomb, vandalised several times but still present in the park, whose memory it honours is unfamiliar to most of by passers, they sound like memento about madness of the 20th century, mass graves, genocide, moving borders and despair. Those delicate tunes are at the same time hymn for power of memory and creativity and a drive to positive change.
I want to believe this single event will be just the beginning of efforts to commemorate work and life of George Beuchelt in the form that he had deserved. I trust we can renovate his Tomb and it will not be the issue of couple activists but whole community will participate in this and we make the remembrance of him as a part of our locality. We are here at home, we are those who create constantly evolving society and build new cultural values. And we do it in the space that we had to domesticate at first and in time we had to change it completely. We are the conquerors and the heir alike. In this complex context the character of George Beuchelt is symbolically the construction connecting the past with the present.
Text: Wojciech Kozłowski
———————————————-
Organizatorzy: Fundacja Salony, BWA Zielona Góra
Patronat medialny: Res Publica Nowa, Magazyn Miasta, Radio Zielona Góra
Występ odbywa się w ramach projektu „Park Tysiąclecia. Próby, szkice, scenariusze nowej przestrzeni publicznej”. Projekt jest realizowany ze środków Ministerstwa Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego, Austriackiego Forum Kultury w Warszawie oraz dzięki pomocy finansowej Urzędu Miasta Zielona Góra.



Comments are closed.