Messiaen days 2025: Art connects German-Polish history in Görlitz!

The International Messiaen Days return in 2025. The event will take place in the cities of Görlitz and Zgorzelec in April 2025 and organized by the "Meetingpoint Memory Messiaen" association. This is the eighth edition of the festival, which has the goal of promoting new forms of commemoration and memorial work in the area of ​​the STALAG VIII A memorial.

The association enters art for the German-Polish reconciliation process and would like to draw attention to the history of the former German prisoner of war. It is particularly worth mentioning that Olivier Messiaen composed the important work "Quatuor Pour La Fin du Temps" during his detention in Staag VIII A. The premiere of this work took place on January 15, 1941 in Staag VIII A. In honor of this performance, the play will be played again on January 15, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. at the same place, as concerti.de reported.

history of StaLag VIII A

StaLag VIII A, a German prisoner of war, was set up on August 26, 1939 under the command of the Wehrmacht headquarters. The camp stretched over around 30 hectares and had been built by Polish prisoners of war by the end of 1939. It included more than 60 barracks and had been expanded by autumn 1940. From 1939 to 1945, over 120,000 prisoners of war went through the camp, and their number varied every month, increasing during the Second World War.

daily life in StaLag VIII A was characterized by hard work, inadequate rations as well as poor hygienic and sanitary conditions. Over 80 % of the registered prisoners of war were deployed in sub -camps and working commands in Görlitz and the surrounding area, where they worked in agriculture, industry, trade and transport. In 2015, the European Center for Memory, Education and Culture was built on the site of the former Staag VIII A, which serves as a place for memory, education and exchange for young Europeans and people worldwide, as messiaen-tage.eu