English
The Panther 2021
What will happen to the Panther in the Inselbad?
The occasion is not the upcoming reconstruction of the Inselbad, but a demand that has been calling for historical-critical and cultural accompaniment for the Panther for five years.
In 2016, Colonel Daniel Draken (Commodore of Air Transport Squadron 61), Norbert Köhler (Board of Directors of Stadtwerke Landsberg am Lech), Manfred Deiler (President of the European Holocaust Memorial Foundation), Dr. Joachim Zeller (historian and author of “Wilde Moderne”), Wolfgang Hauck (artist and project developer), Karla Schönebeck (journalist, moderator), discussed what obligations are associated with the Panther sculpture as a contemporary historical legacy.
Background
The call of the panel discussion in April 2016 was clear:
There is no way we can continue as we are now. What is missing is the proper handling of the artwork and the appropriate and adequate information about the work, artist, and context.
Wolfgang Hauck’s art project began in 2014 with information and research by the journalist Karla Schönebeck about the panther sculpture in the municipal Inselbad in Landsberg am Lech. In 2016, a socio-cultural art project was realized as a prelude, the first of its kind in cooperation with an air squadron and the Bundeswehr.
In the meantime, another five years have passed without any reaction. The city and the public utility company have failed to take care of the Panther and to take up the offer as requested.
In the years 2021-2023, the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the island band is due. Nevertheless, there was no plan for dealing with the panther until April 2021.
Now, on 23 April 2021, Wolfgang Hauck presented a concept to the board of directors of the municipal utility, Christof Lange, to enable the Landsberg association dieKunstBauStelle to realize appropriate care and public discussion.
This brought the movement to the issue and it was passed on to the city how to deal with this heritage. Thus, the proposal moved from the desk of the board of directors of the municipal utility to the board of directors and is now to be dealt with by the city council.
Hauck’s proposal is about contextualization, the question of location, and the framework of meaning. The former locations of the Panther should also be included in this, in addition to the Inselbad in Landsberger, also the former locations at the Mutterturm and the Fliegerhorst Penzing.
The association dieKunstBauStelle offers to realize a socio-cultural process for this, which is to be carried out from the midst of the Landsberger population and with experts.
There are also ideas for financing the restoration, conservation, and contextualization with publication, web, and multimedia offers with costs of around 45,000 €.
With its expertise and the historians involved, theKunstBauStelle is in a position to realize this project responsibly and professionally. However, this requires cooperation with the municipal utilities as owners.
With the failures of the past and the lack of expertise, neither the board of directors of the Stadtwerke nor the city council has earned any laurels. One could see this initiative and offer it as a special chance to make amends.
However the further handling of the Panther will be envisaged, everyone’s participation, co-creation, and co-determination are needed in this matter.
No more and no less, that is what the Panther deserves, what our Landsberg Panther deserves!