This offer for school classes from the 9th school year onwards consists of a reading of contemporary witness reports from Wiesbaden and theater texts, the short film of the same name and a moderated dialogue with the pupils on the question "What can I do?" and a look at Wiesbaden's city history.
The early thirties in Wiesbaden: A new pastor of the German Christians is appointed in the Bergkirche church to divide the restive congregation. Franz-Ludwig von Bernus, pastor of the Confessing Church, resists him. Young Else, newly in love, is looking for work. Rudi, her boyfriend, has his own idea of a German woman. And Heinrich, a confirmand, is also feeling the pressure of the political changes. How will they decide?

Film, reading and discussion
On request, Emma - the theater workshop
Short feature film 2022
Information, costs & registration at
ticketsemma-und-code
An event of the Free Theater Wiesbaden

Join in, adapt quietly or oppose? Johannes Herwig's captivating portrayal of growing up in a dictatorship is frighteningly close to our own times. In "Bis die Sterne zittern", the Leipzig author tells of growing up in the Nazi era and the dangerous resistance of oppositional youth cliques. The "Leipziger Meuten", similar to the "Edelweißpiraten", inspired Herwig to write his debut.
We meet 16-year-old Harro in Leipzig on the first day of the summer vacation in 1936. When he gets involved in a fight with Hitler youths, he receives help from like-minded people who, like him, want nothing to do with Nazi ideology.
Johannes Herwig experienced the post-reunification period as a punk. He studied sociology and psychology and has been working as a freelance author since 2013. He was nominated for the German Youth Literature Prize for his first novel "Bis die Sterne zittern" and was awarded the Paul Maar Prize. In 2024 he received the Anna Seghers Prize. He has also published "Scherbenhelden" and "Halber Löwe".

School reading by Johannes Herwig
Thu January 15, 2026
11 am, Literaturhaus Villa Clementine
Closed school reading for 9th and 10th graders
Registration required at
literaturhauswiesbadende
An event of the Literaturhaus Villa Clementine Wiesbaden

The years 2019 and 2020 represent a sad climax in the history of right-wing violence in Hesse: With the murder of Kassel District President Dr. Walter Lübcke and the assassination attempt in Hanau, eleven people were ripped from their lives in cold blood within a very short space of time. These are just the most drastic examples of recent years that have made it abundantly clear: Right-wing terror can also break out at any time in Hesse.
A look at history shows that right-wing terror is anything but a new phenomenon - not even in its deadly dimension. Since the state was founded, at least 20 people have lost their lives as a result of brutal right-wing violence.
In their book "Rechter Terror in Hessen - Geschichte, Akteure, Orte", political scientist Sascha Schmidt and political scientist Yvonne Weyrauch have examined the continuity of right-wing acts of violence in Hesse since 1945. The results of their work are brought together with images by Hanover photographer Mark Mühlhaus in the exhibition.

Opening of the exhibition
Mon January 19, 2026
6 p.m., Wiesbaden Town Hall, Foyer
Duration: Tue January 20 to Fri January 30, 2026
An exhibition of the DGB-Bildungswerk Hessen, sponsored by the Hessian State Center for Political Education

Based on the story of the Jewish woman Anna Kaletska, who was interviewed by the psychologist David P. Boder in Wiesbaden in September 1946, Christina Wirth deals with the complex issue of liberation in 1945. Kaletska was liberated together with almost 800 Jewish women in a Westphalian village and in her interview talks about her experiences in a hopeless and highly traumatized way. Her story shows that for many the liberation was the end of the persecution but not the end of the suffering.

Lecture on Jewish life after the liberation in 1945 by Christina Wirth
Mon January 19, 2026
7 pm, Jewish Community Wiesbaden
Registration required at
infojg-wide or phone (0611) 93 33 030
An event organized by the Jewish Community of Wiesbaden in cooperation with the Wiesbaden City Archive

Gerda M. Meyer, 1910-2009, was a student at the Alice Salomon School for Women's Social Work in Berlin before 1933 and was persecuted during the Nazi era because of her Jewish origins. The documentary reading of her diary entries from 1939 to 1945 impressively illustrates how the life of a young woman who was labeled a Jewish "half-breed" by the Nazi regime changed.
Descriptions of walks and visits to the cinema, of brutal exclusion and forced isolation show the simultaneity of what was preserved and what was destroyed. A note tells of the suicide of her fiancé Werner Rabinowicz, who came from Wiesbaden.
Adriane Feustel, co-founder and long-time director of the Alice Salomon Archive Berlin, introduces the film. She interviewed Gerda M. Meyer in 1991 and 1992.

Film about the perceptions of a Jewish survivor of the Nazi regime in diary entries and interviews
Wed January 21, 2026
5.30 pm, Murnau-Filmtheater
Documentary film with discussion
An event organized by the Aktives Museum Spiegelgasse für Deutsch-Jüdische Geschichte in Wiesbaden e.V. in cooperation with the frauen museum wiesbaden and the Murnau-Filmtheater. The film is provided by the Alice Salomon Archive of the ASH Berlin.

After the November pogrom of 1938, around 20,000 children from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia were brought to Great Britain and other countries in an extraordinary rescue operation.
Angelika Rieber published the anthology "Save at least the children" in 2018. It presents 20 biographies of children. In recent years, she has researched numerous other life and family stories, including those of children who came from Wiesbaden.
The life stories of the rescued children vividly show how the policies of the National Socialists affected their lives, how the forced flight from Germany and the mostly permanent separation from their relatives shaped their future lives. The people involved in the rescue operation will also be examined.

Lecture by Angelika Rieber
Thursday, January 22, 2026
6.30 pm, vhs Wiesbaden, Villa Schnitzler
Registration required at anmeldungvhs-wiesbadende or on the web at www.vhs-wiesbaden.de
Course number G13250, participation fee: 10 euros
An event organized by vhs Wiesbaden in cooperation with Gegen Vergessen - Für Demokratie e.V.,
RAV Taunus, and the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation Wiesbaden e.V.

From time to time, there is a public outcry when anti-Semitic and/or anti-Judaic dimensions of Christian works of art are made public. The Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Schlesische Oberlausitz (EKBO) no longer wants to leave these "discoveries" to chance and has therefore committed itself to actively searching for works of art with anti-Semitic and/or Nazi references at all levels.
Marion Gardei, the EKBO's Church Commissioner for the Culture of Remembrance, will report on this pioneering work. Following her keynote speech, we will discuss the situation in our region with her, Dr. Markus Zink (Art Commissioner of the Evangelical Church of Hesse-Nassau) and the Commissioner for Interreligious Dialogue, Dr. Dr. Peter Noss.

Lecture and discussion on dealing with contaminated art in Protestant churches
Thursday, January 22, 2026
7 p.m., Haus an der Marktkirche Wiesbaden,
Friedrich Naumann Hall
Participation is free of charge, registration not required
An event of the Protestant Deanery Wiesbaden in cooperation with the Center for Ecumenism
the Center for Proclamation of the EKHN, the Jewish Community Wiesbaden and the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation Wiesbaden e.V.

An obscure document from Tsarist Russia continues to shape modern anti-Semitism to this day. The film follows the traces of the so-called Protocols of the Elders of Zion from their creation to their global digital return. It shows how conspiracy myths became socially acceptable and continue to incite hatred and violence today. A stirring look at the emergence of the most dangerous anti-Semitic narrative of modern times - the alleged "Jewish world conspiracy".

Movie
Fri January 23, 2026
8.15 pm, Murnau-Filmtheater
Screening of the documentary followed by a discussion with the director
and historian Dr. Felix Moeller
DE 2025, Director: Felix Moeller
80 min., DF, FSK: requested
An event of the Murnau-Filmtheater

The experienced musicians Gernot Süßmuth (violin), Johannes Krebs (violoncello) and Monica Gutman (piano) will play compositions by D. Shostakovich, E. Schulhoff, J. Achron and A. von Zemlinsky shortly before the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of National Socialism. The trio has put together a program with tragic but also life-affirming perspectives on Jewish life by composers from Russia, the Czech Republic, Austria and Lithuania.

Concert to commemorate the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp
Sun January 25, 2026
5 p.m., Wiesbaden Town Hall, Festsaal
Registration requested at
infogcjz-wiesbadende
An event organized by the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation Wiesbaden and the German-Israeli Society Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden was once a central location for National Socialist "hereditary and racial care". Forced sterilizations were organized from the Landeshaus and the psychiatric clinics in Hesse and Nassau were coordinated, including the Hadamar, Kalmenhof and Eichberg killing and intermediate institutions.
The historian and winner of the Science Book of the Year 2025, Dagmar Herzog, recalls the violence against people with disabilities that continued after 1945: "People with disabilities were by no means 'forgotten', but rather aggressively denied victims." The hostility towards people with disabilities reached its cruel peak during National Socialism
but did not disappear after 1945. Eugenic ways of thinking and practices lived on in education and social work. The panel discussion explores this history and asks about its significance for the present.

Digital panel discussion on the history of ableism in social work
Mon January 26, 2026
7 pm, live on YouTube, with:
- Prof. Dr. Dagmar Herzog, University of New York (confirmed)
- Prof:in Dr:in Anne-Dore Stein, Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (confirmed)
- Nicoletta Rapetti, social pedagogue, systemic consultant, anti-discrimination consultant, BiBeZ e.V. Heidelberg (requested)
Participation at www.youtube.com/@Spiegelbildwiesbaden
An event organized by Spiegelbild - Politische Bildung aus Wiesbaden e. V. and form RheinMain University of Applied Sciences

The National Socialists not only restructured the state according to their ideas. They also intervened deeply in society and culture. Composers who were disliked because of their origin, religion or nationality were successively deprived of their livelihood. Their pieces were no longer performed. They no longer received commissions, but only those colleagues who fitted into the National Socialist world view.
Students at the Wiesbaden Music Academy will pay tribute to some of these ostracized artists as part of the central commemorative event. In a workshop with a master class on this topic under the direction of Prof. Kolja Lessing, students dealt with composers persecuted by the Nazi regime and worked together on selected pieces.

Central commemorative event on the "Day of Remembrance of the Victims of National Socialism"
Tue January 27, 2026
7 pm, Cultural Forum Wiesbaden
With a welcoming address by the head of the city council, Dr. Gerhard Obermayr
and a welcoming address by Lord Mayor Gert-Uwe Mende
Please register at veranstaltung-stadtarchivwiesbadende or call (06 11) 31 30 80

The NSDAP quickly gained a foothold in Wiesbaden and the city developed into a center of propaganda and militarism. Many sites of its activities and crimes are still present in the city today. We will visit them together on a tour and then deepen our impressions using the objects in the museum.
As part of the event series "Remembering the Victims", sam offers free guided tours for school classes on the topic of "Wiesbaden under National Socialism" from Tuesday to Friday in the last week of January. There are two times to choose from on each of the campaign days. Only one class can be guided per time and day, so be quick and book!

Themed tours for school classes

Tue January 27 to Fri January 30, 2026
9 am and 11.30 am each day, duration approx. 120 min.
Entrance sam - Stadtmuseum am Markt, Dern'sches Gelände
Information and booking, Lisa Sommer: l.sommerstadtmuseum-wiesbadende or phone (06 11) 44 75 00 63
An event organized by sam - Stadtmuseum am Markt and the Schuld Foundation
The guided tours are sponsored by the Schuld Foundation.

The National Socialist past seems distant to many, represented only by black and white photographs from another era. However, as everywhere in Germany, many traces can be discovered in the cityscape of Wiesbaden:
Traces of the persecution of political opponents and entire population groups. Traces of the destruction of life classified as "unworthy", planned and organized down to the last detail. Traces of resistance against National Socialist state terror.
We want to track down exemplary places of the past, walk through the history of the city between 1933 and 1945 and make its after-effects visible. At each stop, there will be a short input on the historical background and the opportunity for questions and discussion. The city tour takes about one and a half hours and leads through Wiesbaden's city center.

Tour
Wed January 28, 2026
5 p.m., Bahnhofsplatz / Lili Wiesbaden
An event by KI:Wi - Critical Intervention Wiesbaden

Two families lived in Wiesbaden's Bahnhofstrasse during the Second World War. The Jewish Strauss family lived at number 46, while the Moos family - staunch Nazis until the end of the war - lived at number 44. Veronika Moos, head of the painting room at the Hessisches Staatstheater, has delved deep into her own family history and that of her neighbors.

The reading from her book with actors from the Wiesbaden State Theater is intended for people aged 14 and over.

Reading
Fri January 30, 2026
10 am, Hessian State Theater Wiesbaden, Wartburg
Sat January 31, 2026
11 am, Hessian State Theater Wiesbaden, Wartburg Castle
Performers: Jan-Emanuel Pielow, Sophie Pompe, Evelyn Faber, Sherwin Douki
An event of the Hessian State Theater Wiesbaden

"One day this terrible war will end, one day we will be human beings again and not just Jews."
Anne Frank's diary entries are a testimony to future generations about escape and self-empowerment through writing and language - as the only instrument for her activism. They represent the legacy of an aspiring writer and are part of world literature. By recording her thoughts, Anne Frank was able to escape the conflicts of isolation. It is an adolescent's story of humanity and survival that still has profound resonance today and reminds us to preserve humanity in the midst of the darkest of times.

The play is intended for ages 14 and up.

Play based on the notes of Anne Frank
Fri January 30, 2026
6 pm, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Wartburg
Production: Emel Aydoğdu, set design: Eva Lochner,
Dramaturgy: Luisa Schumacher, assistant director: Evi Rohde,
Mediation: Rebecca Rasche / Luisa Schumacher,
Play: Maurizia Bachnick
An event of the Hessian State Theater Wiesbaden

His operettas were popular; his film music even made it to Hollywood. Nevertheless, he was long forgotten in his native city of Wiesbaden: the Jewish composer Heinz Lewin (1888-1942). After extensive research, music historian Carol Falling created a documentary film about his life and music. The film sheds light on Lewin's education and compositional successes in Wiesbaden and Berlin, his exile in Paris, his imprisonment in the Septfonds camp (France) and his deportation to Auschwitz. Interviews with Lewin's granddaughter Yvonne Mocatta and the musicologist Dr. Albrecht Dümling bring personal memories and the more recent history of Jewish musicians to life. On this evening, musicians from the Staatstheater will complement the music in the film with newly discovered compositions by Lewin and his contemporaries.

Film and chamber music
Sat January 31, 2026
8 pm, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Studio
Performers: Galina Benevich (vocals), Igor Mishurisman (violin), Anastasiya Mishurisman (viola), Miyeon Eom (piano)
The film was made as part of the "Stadtteil-Historiker Wiesbaden", a project of the Wiesbaden Foundation.
An event in cooperation with the Hessian State Theater Wiesbaden

The NSDAP quickly gained a foothold in Wiesbaden and the city developed into a center of propaganda and militarism. Many sites of its activities and crimes are still present in the city today. We will visit them together on a tour and then deepen our impressions using the objects in the museum.

Themed tour
Sun February 1, 2026
11.30 am, duration approx. 120 min.
Entrance sam - Stadtmuseum am Markt, Dern'sches Gelände
Participation is free of charge
Registration not required, limited number of participants
An event organized by sam - Stadtmuseum am Markt and the Schuld Foundation

Born in London in 1882, he came to Wiesbaden with his parents in the same year, where he spent his childhood and youth in a prestigious villa at Schubertstraße 1. After graduating from the grammar school on Luisenplatz, he studied law and began his career as a judge in 1908. His last position was as a judge at the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main. In 1934, he was forcibly transferred to the Wiesbaden District Court because of his Jewish origins and was finally dismissed from the judiciary in 1935. His life is exemplary for the judiciary under three political systems: The German Empire, the Weimar Republic and the "Third Reich". It was his fate to fall victim to the racial mania of the Nazi state after he was arrested during the so-called Reichskristallnacht on November 10, 1938 and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp.

Lecture by Dr. Rolf Faber on the life and fate of Wiesbaden judge Dr. Wilhelm Dreyer
Mon February 2, 2026
6 p.m., Heimathafen Wiesbaden
An event organized by the Verein für Nassauische Altertumskunde und Geschichtsforschung e. V. in cooperation with Heimathafen Wiesbaden

The speakers Dr. Miriam Olivia Merz and Dr. Simone Husemann will present the painting "Der Gang nach Bethlehem" by Fritz von Uhde in the collection of the Museum Wiesbaden and its almost completely reconstructed provenance history before, during and after the National Socialist era.

Dialogue tour on Fritz von Uhde's painting "The Walk to Bethlehem" and its provenance history
Tue February 3, 2026
3 p.m., Museum Wiesbaden
With Miriam Olivia Merz and Dr. Simone Husemann
Registration not required
An event organized by the
Catholic Adult Education Wiesbaden-Untertaunus & Rheingau in cooperation with the Central Office for Provenance Research Hesse

The resistance of Jehovah's Witnesses had many facets. It also manifested itself in helping persecuted Jews. In particular, Jehovah's Witnesses strictly rejected anti-Semitism. Christoph Wilker has researched and published on this subject. In his book, he processes reports from Jehovah's Witnesses that shed light on a largely unknown aspect of helping and rescuing Jews.

Christoph Wilker will read from his book and explain individual aspects in conversation with Jana Daldrup. By way of introduction, Inge Naumann-Götting will give an overview of Wiesbaden under National Socialism. Christoph Wilker has been involved in Nazi research projects since the 1990s and prepared an exhibition on the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in cooperation with the Munich Nazi Documentation Center.

Book presentation on how Jehovah's Witnesses stood by Jews under National Socialism
Thu February 5, 2026
6 p.m., Wiesbaden City Archive
Registration requested at veranstaltung-stadtarchivwiesbadende
An event organized by the Geschichtswerkstatt Lila Winkel in cooperation with the Wiesbaden City Archive

Most Germans who were in favor of the Nazi regime at the time never spoke about this time again after 1945. In almost all German families, the subject was taboo: the unsaid. The documentary takes a psychological approach to find out exactly what these people thought and felt at the time - and how they judge their participation or involvement in the Nazi regime today. The testimonies are painfully honest, sometimes disturbing, but also touching, characterized in equal measure by moral ambivalence, repressed feelings of guilt, trauma and grief. In addition, Jewish survivors also tell their stories and shed light on the blind spots in the perspective of the majority society of the time that remain to this day. The combination of both perspectives opens up unexpected, shocking insights.

Movie
Sun February 8, 2026
4.45 pm, Murnau-Filmtheater
DE 2025, Director: Patricia Hector and Lothar Herzog
143 min., DF, FSK: from 12
An event of the Murnau-Filmtheater in cooperation with the Jewish Community Wiesbaden

The exhibition sheds light on the fate of around 700 men who were deported to the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps as homosexuals. They had to wear a pink triangle on their prisoner clothing to identify them. The exhibition not only shows the suffering in the concentration camp, but also depicts the time afterwards, as the persecution did not stop in 1945. Criminal law paragraph 175, which criminalized male homosexuality and had already led to arrests in the German Empire, was tightened by the National Socialists and remained in force beyond the Nazi era. Even suspicion could be enough to be arrested and interned.

Opening of the exhibition
Wed February 11, 2026
7 pm, Kunsthaus Wiesbaden
Duration: Thu February 13 to Sun April 19, 2026
The exhibition was developed by students of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena in cooperation with the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation.
An event of the Wiesbaden City Archive in cooperation with the Kunsthaus Wiesbaden, the Hessian State Center for Political Education, frauen museum wiesbaden and the LGBT*IQ Coordination Office

Mascha Kaléko (1907 - 1975), a German-speaking Jewish poet in Berlin, where she was very successful, had to flee persecution by the Nazi regime in 1938 together with her husband and son.
In many of the poems she wrote in exile in New York and Jerusalem, she reflects on the experience of losing her homeland and takes a firm stand against German politics from 1933 to 1945 and the "coming to terms with the past" and the political climate in West Germany. Examples include "Hoere, Teutschland!" (1943) and "Deutschland, ein Kindermärchen" (1956).

The event will be musically accompanied by works by renowned Jewish composers such as George
Gershwin and Sholom Secunda.

Lecture
Thu February 12, 2026
6 pm, Jewish Community Wiesbaden
Musical accompaniment: Duo Contraverso (Cornelia Thorspecken, flute, Hartmut Boger, double bass)
Registration required at infojg-wide or phone (0611) 93 33 030
An event organized by the Jewish Community of Wiesbaden and the Wiesbaden Adult Education Centre

Emma - the theater workshop
Blücherplatz 3, 65195 Wiesbaden

Haus an der Marktkirche Wiesbaden
Schlossplatz 4, 65183 Wiesbaden

Home port Wiesbaden
Gerichtstraße 2, 65185 Wiesbaden

Hessian State Theater Wiesbaden
Studio
Christian-Zais-Straße 3, 65189 Wiesbaden
Wartburg Castle
Schwalbacher Straße 51, 65183 Wiesbaden

Jewish Community Wiesbaden
Friedrichstraße 31-33, 65185 Wiesbaden

Kulturform Wiesbaden
Friedrichstraße 16, 65185 Wiesbaden

Kunsthaus Wiesbaden
Schulberg 10, 65183 Wiesbaden

Villa Clementine House of Literature
Frankfurter Straße 1, 65189 Wiesbaden

Museum Wiesbaden
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 2, 65185 Wiesbaden

Murnau-Filmtheater
Murnaustraße 6, 65189 Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden Town Hall
Schlossplatz 6, 65183 Wiesbaden

sam - Stadtmuseum am Markt
Market Square, 65183 Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden City Archive
Im Rad 42, 65197 Wiesbaden

vhs Wiesbaden
Villa Schnitzler, Biebricher Allee 42, 65187 Wiesbaden