i left my lungs in sonneberg
«I left my lungs in Sonneberg» is a collaborative series with Johannes Heppner starting in 2023 and to be continued.
To leave home leaves one with stories. Stories of being raised in a place that no more remains the center of life but yet open to re-visitation. To leave means to form an image of what ones ‹home› was. To return means to re-evaluate, to compare what the story tells and what has remained of the place and what stories it tells of itself. «I left my lungs in Sonneberg» is a series in which such stories of home-returners and a town intertwine, overlap and differ.
In 2023, Robert Sesselmann became the district administrator of Sonneberg, a town of roughly 25 thousand in Southern Thuringia, ten minutes north of the border to Bavaria. He is the first district administrator of the AfG (Alternative for Germany, a conseravtive party whose regional associations in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia have been classified as far-right groups by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution) nationwide.
A collection of 18 postcards is displayed at KUNST GEGEN RECHTS at MIEZE Südlich (Burgstraße 12, Gera) curated by Dirk Teschner & MIEZE Südlich May 5th to June 23rd 2024.
01/18 // PLÜTI // 50° 21›41.9»N - 11°10›31.2»E // Juttastraße, Sonneberg
Shop of former family enterprise Plüti nova GmbH, founded in 1900 during Sonneberg’s time as «world toy city» when home-based work there produced around 20% of all toys worldwide. 1959 production changeover from doll parts to stuffed animals; nationalised in 1972 and re-privatised in 1990. 2005 insolvency declaration. The shop at Juttastraße sells left-over stocks and offers tours with insight into the production of stuffed animals.
02/18 // STADTPARKHÜTTLA // 50°21›39.9»N - 11°10›26.7»E // Banhofstraße, Sonneberg
Vacant snack stand south of the Stadtpark (city park), start for routes of demonstrations held by the association «Sonneberg zeigt Gesicht» (Sonneberg shows Face).
03/18 // OFFICES OF ASSOCIATION «SONNEBERG ZEIGT GESICHT» // 50°21›39.9»N - 11°10›27.2»E // Bahnhofstraße, Sonneberg
Founded in 2020 in reaction to safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, SzG (Sonneberg shows Face) conveyes itself als a non-partisan group of citizens who hold demonstrations to articulate their political discontent. This included a speech by right-wing extremist Axel Schlimper (2020).
04/18 // CAFE N°133 // 50°21›47.6»N - 11°10›41.9»E // Kirchstraße, Sonneberg
Bar-restaurant whose owner, as a protest action of the association «Sonneberg zeigt Gesicht»(Sonneberg shows Face) installed a hanged dummy above its entrance in 2021. On a panel, he accused politicians, scientists and the press of assisting this symbolic suicide/murder. This action was communicated as a means to show a feeling of neglect for the catering industry in connection to the COID-19 pandemic.
05/18 // GREEN HOUSE // 50°21›12.8»N - 11°10›34.5»E // Oberlinder Straße, Sonneberg
Private garden next to the HERMANN PISTOR grammar school (building in Dammstraße, southern city centre). The photograph also shows Oberlinder Straße (left side) which leads to the joined district of Oberlind.
06/18 // FALLOW // 50°21›29.2»N - 11°10›08.3»E // Bismarckstraße, Sonneberg
Former location of a Stasi building, last used by Regiomed and as a rehearsal space for the smut band New Fckn’ Society. Acommodation für refugees from 2015 to 2016 and later planned to be used again as such, therafter bought by the city with funds for urban development and demolished.
07/18 // ALTE NEUFANGER/DREHWEG // 50°22›02.5»N - 11°10›59.4»E // Neufanger Straße/Drehweg, Sonneberg
Fork in northern Sonneberg; Neufanger Straße (left) leads to Neufang and Drehweg (right) to Sonneberg’s old town.
08/18 // BRATWURST FRANK // 50°21›30.4»N - 11°10›18.9»E // Bahnhofstraße, Sonneberg
Snack stand close to the shopping street in the city centre which is often frequented for the «Broudwörschddouch» on Friday. The tradition of Friday as «bratwurst day» has been established for decades and includes the consumption of Thuringian bratwursts. Furthermore, snack cars and snack stands are popular venues for certain age groups all week.
09/18 // SLATE FACADE // 50°22›19.0»N - 11°10›56.7»E // Am Stadtberg, Neufang
Because of the location of Sonneberg’s and its joined villages in the area of the Thuringian-Franconian Highlands and traditional use of this material, many family homes have slate facades.
