Special exhibition
America’s Hidden Places
The exhibition featured photographs by Steffen Diemer.
6 September 2013 marks a turning point in Heidelberg’s history. With the withdrawal of the last American military personnel on that day, a 68-year chapter of German-American coexistence came to an end. At the same time, the discovery of places in the city that had previously been largely hidden began. The Campbell and Patton Barracks, as well as Patrick Henry Village, the Airfield and Mark Twain Village, had been virtually inaccessible to the public for decades.Since then, the site – parts of which are still characterised by Nazi architecture – has been opening up very slowly, offering new perspectives and insights.
Steffen Diemer was able to photograph parts of the site whilst it was still in use by the US military. Immediately after their withdrawal, he spent over three months exploring and documenting every corner of the military legacy.
The exhibition ‘America’s Hidden Places’ presents a selection of these explorations. The photographer’s unadorned gaze reveals hidden places in their raw state. The focus is often on details that sharpen our vision and spark new ways of seeing. In this way, the photographic works often tell stories – both small and large – of a formative period for many Germans and Americans.With the exhibition ‘America’s Hidden Places’, the Mark Twain Centre Heidelberg for Transatlantic Relations (MTC) is presenting its own programme to the public for the first time. The MTC is currently being established in the Kommandantur building (Keyes Building) on the site of the former Campbell Barracks. The MTC will bring together perspectives on the past from the worlds of culture and academia and promote German-American dialogue on shared challenges for the future.Steffen Diemer, born in Grünstadt in 1966, has worked as a photographer for internationally renowned magazines such as *Der Spiegel*, *FAZ*, *The Guardian* and *National Geographic*. As a photojournalist, he has travelled to war zones and crisis areas around the world, and today he experiments in a variety of ways with artistic techniques and subjects.
