European meeting place on the German-Polish border
75 years after the Second World War a new European memorial site has been established on the German-Polish border.
Where once stood the German POW camp Stalag VIII A, the European Centre for Education and Culture MEETINGPOINT MUSIC MESSIAEN in Zgorzelec-Görlitz is to become a new cultural attraction for people from all over the world. It will serve not only as a memorial site, but also offer children, young people, musicians and other artists plenty of room for creativity and encounter. The centre will be built in the Polish city of Zgorzelec, the immediate neighbour of the Saxon city of Görlitz. It will enrich the entire Neiße Euroregion with cultural activities.
Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time
The famous French composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was imprisoned in the former POW camp for nine months during the Second World War. Serving as a medic, he had fallen into German captivity, and while in the camp he composed one of his most important works, the Quartet for the End of Time. Fellow inmates gave the work its first performance on 15 January 1941 in Stalag VIII A. Today the composition is one of the most important classics of twentieth century music. The composer’s widow, Yvonne Loriod (1924-2010), assumed the sponsorship of the founding initiative for the centre.
Beginning at the end of 2014, a permanent exhibition and changing exhibitions, a mobile stage for concerts and seminar rooms for meetings will await the visitor. Educational trails will lead him through the former grounds of Stalag VIII A, but also to metal sculptures by the artist Matthias Beier. Inspired by Messianen’s quartet, Beier created eight sculptures matching the eight movements of the composition and will create further works each year in collaboration with young people from Europe in international workshops. For some years now, the site has been the host of organized encounters for young people, concerts and a history workshop.
75th anniversary of the start of World War II, provoked by Germany’s invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939
