Category : Documentation

Grannies against the right Protest against Karl Schrem building Landsberg am Lech

Discussion on the culture of remembrance in Landsberg am Lech

Taking stock of Landsberg’s culture of remembrance

Discussion and protest action by Omas gegen Rechts on August 14, 2021 in Landsberg am Lech

Short link to this article: https://bit.ly/Diskussion2021

Dossier for discussion: Dossier for the discussion of 2021 [PDF]

Addendum: July 1, 2025, and April 2026

Two of the four participants in this discussion have since passed away: Manfred Deiler on November 12, 2023, and Dr. Edith Raim on July 1, 2025. Their contributions thus bear witness to a generation that has come to terms with and passed on the legacy of Landsberg’s Nazi history. The video document and the authorized transcription remain accessible as a primary source. Due to current events, we have revised the sound quality of the 2026 video recording and re-recorded the contribution.

Update: August 28, 2026
Five years after the debate over Karl Schrem, the issue has resurfaced in Landsberg am Lech. In 2021, a visit by the “Grandmothers Against the Right” group from Munich helped ensure that the new building in the “Urbanes Leben” neighborhood on Papierbach was not named after Schrem, a member of the NSDAP. An article has now appeared in the *Landsberger Geschichtsblätter* (Landsberg Historical Journal) for 2026 that concludes its discussion of Schrem’s role with the statement that it was “addressed and atoned for” in 1947. It remains unclear whether the article reflects the city’s position or that of a private individual: a press inquiry went unanswered, and a request for information under press law went unfulfilled. Wolfgang Hauck has written a statement on the matter; an abridged version will appear in the *Geschichtsblätter* in 2027.

To mark this occasion, on August 28, 2026, a delegation from the Munich chapter of “Grandmas Against the Right” visited the former Kaufering III and VII concentration camp subcamps and subsequently held discussions with experts at the Kaufering train station.

 

The occasion

On Saturday, August 14, 2021, members of the Munich regional group of the “Omas gegen Rechts” initiative came to Landsberg am Lech for a stocktaking and protest action.
The reason for the protest was the planned naming of a new building in the “Urbanes Leben am Papierbach” residential area as the “Karl Schrem Building”. Karl Schrem (1895-1981) was the director of the former Bayerische Pflugfabrik – an armaments factory with forced labor during the Second World War – and a member of the NSDAP since 1938.

The public justification strategies, trivialization and condoning by the town, the press, letters to the editor and social media have caused concern outside Landsberg. In addition to a tour of the former Kaufering VII subcamp, a discussion on the situation and status of Landsberg’s culture of remembrance took place at dieKunstBauStelle e.V. in the evening.

The discussion is reproduced here as video documentation. An edited transcription of the contributions to the discussion, authorized by all participants, is available.

Caption: Panel discussion on August 14, 2021 at dieKunstBauStelle e.V. in Landsberg am Lech. From the left: Dr. habil. Edith Raim (†), historian, University of Augsburg; Manfred Deiler (†), President of the European Holocaust Memorial Foundation; Gabriele Triebel, Member of Parliament, Alliance 90/The Greens; Wolfgang Hauck, artist and actor in the culture of remembrance. In the background: Participants of the Munich regional group of the “Grannies against the Right” initiative. Photo: Christian Rudnik

Participants in the discussion

  • Dr. habil. Edith Raim † , historian, lecturer at the University of Augsburg, numerous publications on Landsberg’s Nazi history and Nazi justice
  • Gabriele Triebel, Member of the Bavarian State Parliament, Alliance 90/The Greens
  • Manfred Deiler † , President of the European Holocaust Memorial Foundation e.V.
  • Wolfgang Hauck, artist, project developer of the culture of remembrance, board member of dieKunstBauStelle e.V., (moderator)

Notes on documentation

The first report on the event was published on August 18, 2021. The video recording and transcription followed in September 2021. In April 2026, the sound quality of the video recording was revised and the report was reclassified due to the current situation.

Movie

Link to the movie: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/588825293

 

Transcription of the speeches

Article

Dossier
2026 Dossier for the discussion of 2021

Comments by Wolfgang Hauck on the article by Elke Müller
2026 Wolfgang Hauck-Karl’s response to the article “Karl Schrem” by Elke Müller

Sources

Further press articles on the naming debate
Discussion of the naming of the Karl Schrem Bau 2021 and reports on the visit of the Omas gegen Rechts in Landsberg am Lech.

Online

The access status of the following links is August 2022. Individual sources have been changed or removed since then (see notes).

Landsberg am Lech district messenger
Landsberger Tagblatt

Additional sources.
Some of these are no longer available online.

Sources as PDF documents

 

City of Landsberg am Lech / Commemoration / Culture of remembrance / Discussion / Documentation / Video

Photo documentation “Cultural Relief Program”

Cultural Relief / Documentation / Uncategorized