Greetings from the Parade Ground
Composite Landscapes of an area in change
This portfolio continues the work I started in »The Paprika Village«. Again, it is about the quarter »Sankt Stephan« in Griesheim, my hometown. This time, I concentrated on the military aspect, which shaped the place's appearance for 137 years.
Critchley writes that »the city is a spatial network of memory traces, but also a vast predictive machine« (Critchley 2015, 40). The abandoned military buildings are the traces of several armies that acted here. Their decay indicates a change of the place in the near future. I try to capture the visible traces as long as possible, learn about their history, and show the result in these composite landscapes. I could say that I am building my own memory theatre.
»With the association of memory with locus and location, the idea of a memory house, a memory place, or a memory theatre was born.« (Critchley 2015, 16 – 17)
It is the second portfolio in the »Archivum«-project.
This project was shortlisted in the Urbanautica Institute Awards 2020.
List of images used in the composite landscapes
Figure 1:
Unknown maker. Stamped 1912. Gruss vom Griesheimer Übungsplatz [postcard, own collection].
Figure 2 (1893 and today):
REICHSAMT FUR LANDESAUFNAHME. 1893. ‘(Composite of) Sheet 527. Darmstadt. Karte Des Deutschen Reiches.’ David Rumsey Map Collection [online]. Available at: https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~216551~5502753:Composite--527--Darmstadt- [accessed 7 Nov 2020].
Marcel RAUSCHKOLB. 2020. Handheld panorama of the entrance area of »August-Euler-Flugplatz«
Figure 3 (The Parade Ground):
Marcel RAUSCHKOLB. 2020. Photograph of plastic soldiers »Airfix WWI German Infantry«.
Unknown maker. Stamped 1916. GRUSS vom TRUPPENÜBUNGSPLATZ DARMSTADT. Wellblechhausen [postcard, own collection].
Unknown maker. Stamped 1910. Kurgäste zur Entfettungskur a. d. Griesheimer Sand. [postcard, own collection].
Unknown maker. ca. 1900. Gruss vom Truppenübungsplatz Darmstadt, Batterie auf dem Heimweg. Sammlung Peter Merschroth [online]. Available at: http://www.sammlung-merschroth.de/Griesheim_Sand/griesheim_sand.html [accessed 4 Dec 2020].
Marcel RAUSCHKOLB. 2020. On the area of the former Parade Ground.
REICHSAMT FUR LANDESAUFNAHME. 1893. ‘(Composite of) Sheet 527. Darmstadt. Karte Des Deutschen Reiches.’ David Rumsey Map Collection [online]. Available at: https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~216551~5502753:Composite--527--Darmstadt- [accessed 7 Nov 2020].
Figure 4 (»Offizier Frühstück-Casino«):
Unknown maker. Stamped 1910. Übungsplatz bei Darmstadt Offizier Frühstücks-Casinos Waldhausen. [postcard, own collection].
Photogr. Kunstanstalt J. WOLFF. Stamped 1911. Uebungsplatz Darmstadt Offizier-Frühstückslokal. [postcard, own collection].
Unknown maker. ca. 1900. Location map of the exercise ground. Stadtarchiv Griesheim.
Marcel RAUSCHKOLB. 2020. Inside the former Officer's mess.
Marcel RAUSCHKOLB. 2020. The facade of the former Officer's mess.
REICHSAMT FUR LANDESAUFNAHME. 1893. ‘(Composite of) Sheet 527. Darmstadt. Karte Des Deutschen Reiches.’ David Rumsey Map Collection [online]. Available at: https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~216551~5502753:Composite--527--Darmstadt- [accessed 7 Nov 2020].
-Militär Bauamt- KOLB. 1915. Truppenübungsplatz Darmstadt -LAGE-PLAN- des Barackenlagers. Stadtarchiv Griesheim.
Figure 5 (»Le Camp de Griesheim«):
Unknown maker. ca. 1920. Decorative elements from french postcards. Stadtarchiv Griesheim.
GREAT BRITAIN. WAR OFFICE. GENERAL STAFF. GEOGRAPHICAL SECTION. 1921. ‘Seine, Meuse and Rhine Basins. Shewing Areas of Occupation of the Allied Armies. July 1921. GSGS 3695b.’ Available at: http://explore.bl.uk/BLVU1:LSCOP-ALL:BLL01016553279.
Photogr. Kunstanstalt J. WOLFF. Dated 1922. Le Camp de Griesheim. Le Grand Rue du Camp. [postcard, own collection].
Marcel RAUSCHKOLB. 2020. 3 Views of the ruins of the former Officer's mess.
Unknown maker. 1929. Stube 144, Infanterie Regiment Nr. 151e, 3. Kompanie, 25. August 1929. Sammlung Peter Merschroth [online]. Available at: http://www.sammlung-merschroth.de/Griesheim_Sand/Franzosenzeit/franzosenzeit.html [accessed 4 Dec 2020]
Figure 6 (»Darmstadt Dust Off«):
DOD FLIGHT INFORMATION PUBLICATION. 1984. Darmstadt Flughafen Aerodrome Chart (Militärflugplatz). Sammlung Markus Lenz [online]. Available at: https://www.pennula.de/darmstadt-flugplatz-airbase-flughafen-airport.htm [accessed 18 Nov 2020]
Marcel RAUSCHKOLB. 2020. »Darmstadt Dust Off«-callsign on the airfield ground.
Unknown maker. ca. 1960s. Helicopter and tower building at Darmstadt Army Airfield. Archiv Griesheimer Anzeiger.
Marcel RAUSCHKOLB. 2020. The August-Euler-Airfield today.
Marcel RAUSCHKOLB. 2020. Unbuilt model kit of a Bell UH-1D helicopter.
Figure 7 (»Missiles and Mythology«):
WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY. ca. 1954. NIKE – The U.S. Army's Guided Missile System. [PDF, online] New York. Available at: http://nikemissile.org/ADA703-3/ada_subcourse_703.shtml [accessed 30 Nov 2020].
Drawings taken from the »ADA Subcourse 703-3«: U. S. Army. ca. 1960s. ‘Launcher Area Course’. 2020. [PDF, online]. Available at: http://nikemissile.org/ADA703-3/ada_subcourse_703.shtml [accessed 30 Nov 2020].
Figure 8 (»Hessenflieger« and »Darmstadt Flying Club«):
Peter GEBAUER. 1992. Letzter Flug mit Wolfgang Rausch. Archiv Griesheimer Anzeiger.
Marcel RAUSCHKOLB. 2020. Tower building of the August-Euler-Airfield.
DOD FLIGHT INFORMATION PUBLICATION. 1984. Sichtan- und abflugstrecken (1984). Sammlung Markus Lenz [online]. Available at: https://www.pennula.de/darmstadt-flugplatz-airbase-flughafen-airport.htm [accessed 18 Nov 2020]
Marcel RAUSCHKOLB. 2020. Unbuilt model kit of a Cessna 127 Skyhawk.
Unkown maker. ca. 1992. Open day at the airfield. Stadtarchiv Griesheim.
Figure 9 (»The Stars and Stripes-Compound«):
Marcel RAUSCHKOLB. 2020. Inside the former guardhouse.
Marcel RAUSCHKOLB. 2020. Newspapers in the guardhouse.
Marcel RAUSCHKOLB. 2020. Entrance to the former »Stars and Stripes«-Compound today.
Unkown maker. ca. 1980s. Entrance to the »Stars and Stripes«-Compound. Archiv Griesheimer Anzeiger.
Figure 10 (»Family housing«):
Unknown maker. ca. 1955. View from Nehringstrasse in southern direction. Stadtarchiv Griesheim.
Unknown maker. 1989. Nehringstrasse with American family housing. Archiv Griesheimer Anzeiger.
Marcel RAUSCHKOLB. 2020. Details of the abandoned Family Housing today.