German Colonial Architecture – From Contested History to Shared Built Heritage – Talk
German Colonial Architecture – From Contested History to Shared Built Heritage – Talk
• German Colonial Architecture – From Contested History to Shared Built Heritage – Talk •
Online Lecture on behalf of the ICOMOS Germany Working Group on Shared Built Heritage
Information by the organiser, Deutsches Nationalkomitee von ICOMOS e.V.:
German Colonial Architecture – From Contested History to Shared Built Heritage – Talk
Built structures dating from the violent times of German colonialism (1884-1918) have survived until today in Africa, Asia and Oceania.
In their different scales – from individual buildings and urban ensembles to cultural landscapes and infrastructural systems – they have gradually turned into highly ambivalent heritage sites within today’s independent nation states.
With examples from Namibia, the architects and heritage experts Jens Wiedow and Jaco Wasserfall show different ongoing challenges in sharing and conserving this difficult heritage. They shed light on scientific discussion, public engagement, building research, and architectural practice.
Thematic introduction by Michael Falser (Heidelberg), moderation by Tino Mager (President ICOMOS Germany).
The event follows up on an international conference held in 2023 at TU Munich and the open access publication “Monuments and Sites de-colonial” (2024). It also aims at reactivating the ICOMOS Germany Working Group of “Shared Built Heritage”.
Interested? Come and simply join the Zoom-meeting, no registration needed: https://lnkd.in/dvvTntUW
Meeting-ID: 857 9555 9911 code: 237600
Introduction:
Michael Falser, Postdoctoral Researcher, Architectural Historian bei Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe”, University of Heidelberg (LinkedIn Profile)
Michael Falser studied architecture and art history in Vienna, Paris and Berlin, and is currently project leader at Technical University of Munich with a research project “German Colonial Architecture as a Global Building project around 1900 and as Transcultural Heritage Today”.
In 2023 he curated the exhibition “German Colonial Building Cultures – A Global Architectural History in 100 Primary Sources” at the Central Institute of Art History in Munich and edited an exhibition catalogue with the same title.
He conducted a photographic field work in all previous German colonies, including the former Deutsch-Südwestafrika (today Namibia), and gave a lecture on this topic at the Namibia Scientific Society in Windhoek in 2024.
Lecture:
Jens Wiedow, Doctoral Candidate at Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg (LinkedIn Profile)
Jaco Wasserfall, Managing Director of Jaco Wasserfall Architects (LinkedIn Profile)
Moderation:
Tino Mager, President of ICOMOS Germany (LinkedIn Profile)
Wednesday, 24 June 2026
17:30 – 19:00 CEST = CAT
Venue: Online – Zoom
https://lnkd.in/dvvTntUW
Meeting-ID: 857 9555 9911 code: 237600
- See the PDF document “German Colonial Architecture – From Contested History to Shared Built Heritage” with information and Zoom link (last checked in June 2026).
- Note also the report “Historic Alte Feste building to undergo major facelift” from 28 November 2025 by the Namibian in the ‘Media Reports’ section of this website.
‘German Colonial Architecture – From Contested History to Shared Built Heritage’. Online Lecture with examples of the Alte Feste in Windhoek, Namibia. 24 June 2026, 17:30 CEST = CAT. Venue: Online – Zoom. Organiser: ICOMOS Germany Working Group on Shared Built Heritage. Poster: Facebook post of ICOMOS