Human Dignity in No Man’s Land. 2026
Dedicated to the site of the former synagogue in Güstrow.
How an overlooked place can become a place of dignity
During a walk through Güstrow, I came across the site of the city’s former synagogue.
Until its destruction during the Kristallnacht pogrom on 9 November 1938, this was the religious centre of the Jewish community. Today, a single information panel commemorates the site. The former synagogue grounds are now used as a parking area.
Today, this place has become no man’s land.
My immediate encounter with this situation became the starting point for this conceptual proposal.
Although inspired by a specific place in Güstrow, this site also represents many former locations of Jewish life throughout Germany, where today often nothing more than a memorial plaque or commemorative stone recalls what once existed there.
The simple statement „Once there stood…“ preserves historical information.
It does not, however, restore the spatial context in which people prayed, celebrated and lived over generations.
Remembrance is essential.
My proposal understands remembrance not merely as a reference to the past, but as the physical transformation of a place that can be entered and experienced — a place where the dignity of the people once connected to it becomes visible once again.
The historical footprint of the synagogue becomes readable within today’s urban landscape.
An overlooked place is transformed into a place of remembrance, of the present, and of human dignity.
July 2026/Hundrich
