BEELITZ – HISTORY FORGOTTEN: PERMANENT INSTALLATION

Not often is an artist so profoundly impacted by an assignment that the experience changes his life forever. This critically acclaimed series was such an occasion. It portrays the best of humanity and offers a captivating exploration of history, courage and human values.

The artist’s on-site experience was emotional, personal and profoundly humbling, sending him on an introspective path of self-discovery. He saw beauty in the unlikeliest of places. He found grandeur, felt the extraordinary passion and dedication applied by the architects, and gained a new perspective on life in the process.

Built in 1898 as a treatment center for tuberculosis, the hospital complex was the largest of its kind and a world leader in research and treatment. It included 60 buildings over 200 hectares of park-like grounds amidst a scenic forest located 1hr south of Berlin. The site was a self-contained village that included a train station, butcher shop, bakery, living quarters and even an innovative cogeneration energy plant. Some sections of the hospital still remain in operation as a neurological rehabilitation center and as a center for research and care for victims of Parkinson's disease. The majority of the complex was abandoned in 1994 and has undergone extensive renovations and repurposing in recent years.

Notably, the hospital was specifically built with humanitarian values in mind to provide comfort, hope, dignity and to encourage patients to seek treatment.

The image series captures the site’s final state before the remodeling and offers powerful evidence of compassion, human evolution and the passage of time.

Visit our Viewing Room to enjoy an in-depth virtual exhibition.