Where to with History? (2020)

Dresden has in recent years grown both famous and infamous. Famous for its attempt to reconstruct its once bombed-out historical center. Infamous for the right-wing-surge that has since 2015 swept the city. One the one hand, the city exemplifies the 'blooming landscapes' that everyone hoped the German reunification in 1990 would bring about. On the other hand, it testifies to all the things that have gone wrong in Germany and Europe since that time. Every Monday evening, the two realities clash dramatically, as the Pegida movement takes to the streets to rally against foreigners, refugees, politicians, and the media. But do the two realities oppose each other? Or has the attempt to architecturally reproduce what was lost in 1945 been instrumental in bringing back the political ghosts of that very same era? Where·to with history? looks into the connections between architecture and politics in Dresden, and thereby depicts a city caught up in a destructive past that just won't go away.