Maurice Halbwachs Auditorium

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Who Was Maurice Halbwachs and Why Is the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar Honouring Him?

Maurice Halbwachs was an influential French sociologist and philosopher. His wide-ranging work includes fundamental contributions to the sociology of labour and economics, the sociology of social classes, urban sociology, the sociology of suicide, social morphology and statistics. His study on »The Social Frameworks of Memory«, published in 1925, and his subsequent theory of collective memory are regarded as influential far beyond his time. Halbwachs was also a pioneer of Franco-German academic exchange and inter-confessional dialogue. In the summer of 1944, Halbwachs was arrested and deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, where he died in March 1945 as a result of the harsh conditions of his imprisonment.

By renaming the auditorium after him, the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar is honouring an eminent scientist, academic, and European philanthropist at a central location, they are also memorialising the victims of German National Socialism. The university recognises its responsibility to recognize history and opposes all forms of totalitarian violence

Renaming Ceremony

»Maurice-Halbwachs-Auditorium«: Festakt zur Umbenennung

from Bauhaus-Universität Weimar

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On Wednesday, 4 December 2024, the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar ceremoniously renamed the »Auditorium Maximum« to the »Maurice Halbwachs Auditorium«. »To the key speeches

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Photos: Bauhaus-Universität Weimar/ Thomas Müller
Video: Bauhaus-Universität Weimar/ Berke Inöntepe (Camera) / Steven Mehlhorn (Camera & Editing)

Biographical Information About Maurice Halbwachs

Born in 1877 in Reims, Halbwachs studied philosophy (with, among others, Henri Bergson and Émile Durkheim), law, and sociology. His academic career took him from the Université de Strasbourg to the University of Chicago to the Collège de France. In 1945, Halbwachs died at Buchenwald concentration camp as a result of the harsh conditions of his imprisonment.

» An intellectual who thought beyond borders«

In this interview, Professor Henning Schmidgen and Professor Frank Eckardt speak about the sociologist and philosopher Maurice Halbwachs, as well as their relationship to his work and his legacy.

»Das kollektive Gedächtnis« Medienkultur Seminar

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar students will also be focussing on the work of Maurice Halbwachs, particularly during the winter semester of 2024/25. The »Das kollektive Gedächtnis« (collective memory) Medienkultur seminar, taught by Professor Henning Schmidgen, is a reading course that explores the foundational principles of Halbwachs' theory of memory and places it within current debates in cultural and social sciences.

Speeches at the Ceremony on 4 December 2024

You can read the Key Speeches Prof Dr Aleida Assmann and Prof Dr Bertrand Müller at the »Maurice Halbwachs Auditorium« renaming ceremony in German, English and French.

»AUSBLICKSPUNKTE«

Bücher von und über Maurice Halbwachs« (books on and about Maurice Halbwachs): An exhibition in the University Library to commemorate Maurice Halbwachs as an intellectual pioneer and political activist. The exhibition includes books written by Maurice Halbwachs as well as works about him, all of which are part of the University Library's collection.

Duration:
26 November 2024 to 15 February 2025

Recommended Literature

The exhibition curators have recommended a selection of books by and about Maurice Halbwachs.

Documents of Remembrance: Testimonials From Buchenwald Concentration Camp

Maurice Halbwachs died in March 1945 as a result of the harsh conditions of his imprisonment at Buchenwald. His identification and medical records, letters from camp doctors regarding his medical conditions, and his death certificate bear witness to his imprisonment and suffering. Drawings by French painter Boris Taslitzky, who was also interned at Buchenwald, of Halbwachs shortly before his death have also survived. Reports by Buchenwald survivors from the Université de Strasbourg outline the inhumane conditions under which Halbwachs perished. This page contains testimonials from survivors of Buchenwald concentration camp as documents of remembrance.

Places of Remembrance

Confronting history belongs to the culture of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Buildings currently used by the university were instrumental in implementing ideologies and crimes during the Nazi era. Marienstraße 13 and 15 were the headquarters of the »Landesamts für Rassewesen« (State Office for Racial Affairs), the central point for crimes in Thuringia. Bauhausstraße 1 served as an »Ärztehaus« (medical centre) for Nazi medical administration. Belvederer Allee 6 became a Jewish forced housing facility in 1940, where up to ten individuals lived under the arbitrary rule of the Gestapo and other authorities. None of these individuals survived the Holocaust.

Today, these buildings are used as seminar rooms, offices, and event spaces. The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar is committed to fulfilling its historical responsibility by addressing the past and creating places of remembrance.