The life of Reinhold Beckmann's mother Aenne was marked by losses. At the age of five, she was already an orphan. She had four brothers, all killed in the war. And yet it was a successful life. Unlike many of her generation, she never kept silent about her grief and fears. Aene's brothers and parents always remained present, in conversations, photos, memorials and memories.
Image gallery
REINHOLD BECKMANN
In this book Reinhold Beckmann tells the story of his mother and of Franz, Hans, Alfons and Willi, between hard everyday life in the village, Catholic tradition and the beginning dictatorship. During the war, all brothers are drafted. Beckmann received their letters from his mother. None of them will live to see the end of the war. Willi, only seventeen years old, is the last to be pulled out of the coal cellar in which he was hiding by the military police, put into uniform and sent to the front. He dies a few days before the end of the war.
Throughout her life, the fate of her brothers did not let go of Aenne - and it also shaped the life of Reinhold Beckmann: taking a stand against war and violence was natural to both of them.
A deeply moving book, especially at a time when war has returned to Europe - and a monument against forgetting.
(Program in German)
Additional information
We do apologize that the following information is currently only available in German.
Participating artists
Reinhold Beckmann
