"Germania" - the piece, that put an end to the disturbing reminder of Nazi history

Germania is Hans Haacke’s piece that was located in the German Pavilion during Venice Biennale in 1993. At the entrance to the pavilion, there was a photo of Hitler, to remind people – he stood at the same place they are standing now. Above this huge photo, there was a large copy of a German coin, made out of plastic. It was placed in the same place, where the swastika and eagle were hanging before. Inside the pavilion, there was a large sign “Germania” and a destroyed floor filled with pieces of tile.

The look of the pavilion itself has been influenced by Hitler and reminded of tragically time period of Germany and the whole world. That is why it was so important to the artist, to literally destroy this building. But demolition would not be that symbolic and sensual.

Hans Gave the ability to destroy part of the building to every visitor, which was a unique and important experience. People went through the place, stepping on tiles and breaking them into smaller pieces, eventually turning into dust. Entrance reminded them of Nazi ideology, and then they were given chance to destroy its physical piece themselves, just by walking around and living their lives in peace and love. People themselves represented deconstructed Nazism because of their thoughts, their relations, their peaceful being, and destroying the part of the building made under Hitler’s direction on the exhibition that connects people all over the world was a final touch.

The whole place was really symbolic and it was possible to get many associations with it. Especially inside the pavilion, where the floor was dismantled and reminded of destructed towns and cities, but at the same time, it was debris of World War II.

Besides people, Hans himself deconstructed Nazi ideology by making the “Germania” piece. This place was used by Hitler to world spread and popularize his ideas through art and culture. But in 1993 German Pavilion was used to say “we remember what happened (photo of Hitler), but now we have different values (coin instead of the swastika), and we want not to forget (as if the building was demolished) but to make amends, take a lesson out of it, and create new history altogether (giving people opportunity to crush tiles actively or passively just by walking around)”. “Germania” is not only a name Hitler gave to his county, but today it is a name of the art piece. Hans changed the meaning of words and places with his piece.

Reference list:

Durant, S. (2016) Flash Art. Available at:https://flash---art.com/article/hans-haacke/ (Accessed: 20 March 2019)

Haladyn, J. and Jordan, M. (2022) Academia. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/2322715/Disrupting_Utopia_Hans_Haacke_s_Germania_or_Digging_Up_the_History_of_the_Venice_Biennale (Accessed: 20 July 2022)

Muir, G. (2019) Frieze. Available at: https://www.frieze.com/article/gregor-muir-hans-haackes-germania-pavilion-45th-venice-biennale (Accessed: 20 July 2022)