Home in Goethestraße (2021)
Home in Goethestraße
What is life like in Goethestraße in Bremerhaven-Lehe? How does it compare to Goethestraße in the Magdeburg district of Stadtfeld-Ost and Goethestraße in Munich-Ludwigsvorstadt? Oh, and what about Goethestraße in Chicago? Do locals and newcomers feel at home there equally? Questions like these are addressed by the German Emigration Center in the current exhibition collage “Home in Goethestraße. Life Perspectives from Bremerhaven, Magdeburg, Munich, and Chicago 2021.” Since August 7, 2021, people here have been sharing their lives in four different Goethestraßen, finding diverse answers to whether they have found a home there.
The first exhibition collage in the garage museum explores coexistence in the migratory society of Germany through the example of a microcosm like a street. A variety of people and institutions share what home means to them. Residents from Bremerhaven, Munich, Magdeburg, and Chicago recount their experiences of settling into neighborhoods, personal memories, friendships, and feelings of unfamiliarity. The question “What truly makes a ‘home’?” is always present.
The curator of the special exhibition and museum educator at the German Emigration Center, Astrid Bormann, has sought and found individual stories about life in Goethestraßen from various cities in Germany and from Chicago, an important historical point of arrival for German-speaking emigrants to the USA – stories from (church) communities, businesses, clubs, pubs, cafés, restaurants, and shops, as well as biographies of residents, and objects symbolizing home in the Goethestraße – all connected with corresponding anecdotes.
“We spoke with different people from Goethestraßen in all sorts of cities. The goal was to gather a spectrum of moments and people shaped by living and working in urban neighborhoods,” explains Astrid Bormann about the idea. “Also, precisely because ‘Goethestraße’ is one of the most common street names in Germany and exists worldwide, it seems general, but it still holds a very personal, concrete meaning for many.” The same applies to the word “home,” which is examined from various perspectives in the exhibition. Personal objects from residents of the four Goethestraßen illustrate their individual understanding of “home” – from coffee table books to gardening tools to artistic works and play figures from past decades. The Bremen graphic designer, illustrator, and street artist Christoph Babbel has staged the cities and people for the exhibition.
The exhibition collage has been on display since August 7, 2021, at the newly opened garage museum of the German Emigration Center. Visitors can access it for free every day from 10 AM to 6 PM.