>POETRY IS AN AWARENESS OF THE WORLD, A PARTICULAR WAY OF RELATING

TO REALITY. SO POETRY BECOMES A PHILOSOPHY TO GUIDE A MAN

THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE.<  Andrey Tarkovsky

 

 

FLECKS TIME PRODUCTION

Under the name Flecks Time Production the sisters

Franziska Fleckenstein (scriptwriter, director, production manager) and

Catharina Fleckenstein (actress, director) work together on projects they develop

and are responsible for.

 

 

 

 

MENSCH SEIN  ·  PUBLICATION

"MENSCH SEIN.

The invisible wounds: Aftermath of war and captivity” 

Beyond the text of the reading, this is a literary documentation of the experiences of a young

man who experienced a relatively carefree childhood in Mainz in the 1920s, became an

army radio operator in Norway during the Second World War and was taken prisoner at the end of

the war. He was comparatively lucky. Nevertheless, this time left deep scars. Many years later he wrote

down his experiences.

"Everything that is not suffered and resolved to the end comes back", Hermann Hesse

With this in mind, we try to trace what our father experienced in the formative years of his youth and

growing up. We have compiled his texts in such a way that an overall picture emerges.

How his experiences and stories affected us daughters we tell from the perspective of the young and

old children.

The memoirs are presented from a scholarly perspective in essays by Dr. Carmen Scheide entitled

“German prisoners of war in the French occupation zone of southern Baden: 

The Dépôt secondaire 231 B in Singen from 1946 to 1948”

and Monika Scheide "Locked away - art from prisoner of war camps".

 

 On 09.11.2024, 15:00 the reading took place in the Theresienkapelle Singen.

The authors, Britta Panzer and Wolfgang Gellert read and discussed.

 

In cooperation with the Förderverein Theresienkapelle Singen e.V. and funded by the

Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth as part of the federal program “Demokratie leben”.  As well as by the Singen Crime Prevention Department.

Published by Dr. Carmen Scheide.

 

 

MENSCH SEIN  · READING

A field on Fittingstrasse in the industrial area of Singen am Hohentwiel.

Here, during World War 2, forced labourers who were deployed to work in Singen

businesses or in agriculture in the Hegau region were housed in barracks.

After the war, the camp was used for German prisoners of war.

Our father came there in the winter of 1946. He was 22 years old.

In spring 1946, Capitaine Jean Le Pan de Ligny took over responsibility for the

Dépôt 231 Bonaparte, camp de prisonniers de guerre. Under his leadership,

the camp changed from a starvation camp to a model camp. It is thanks to his work

that the prisoners developed the courage and will to live.

Even today, the Theresienkapelle, which Capitaine de Ligny had built by prisoners,

is a visible sign of reconciliation and international understanding.

Our father was entrusted by Capitaine de Ligny with the management of the Varieté group.

With the money the guest performances brought in, food, cigarettes and even alcohol

could be procured for the prisoners of war.

Günther Fleckenstein (1924-2020) recorded his experiences of this time in writing much later.

From these texts and the letters of other fellow prisoners the reading

>Mensch Sein< was created on the occasion of the 75th anniversary

of the Theresienkapelle on May 14, 2023.

Text selection by the Fleckenstein sisters.

With Wolfgang Gellert and Catharina Fleckenstein 

 

Supported by the Förderverein Theresienkapelle Singen e.V. and

the Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Baden-Würtemberg

 

 

THE GENIUS LOCI OF SINGEN AM HOHENTWIEL

We have a strong personal connection to this place near Lake Constance.

Our father took us to Hemmenhofen for two holidays when we were children.

We sisters knew nothing of his connection to the area at the time.

One afternoon, he drove us unerringly to the outskirts of Singen, parked the car on a deserted road

and led us to a chapel that stood alone in a wild meadow. The windows were broken

and the whole building looked pretty run-down.

‘We built it back then,’ our father explained. As, in our experience, he couldn't even hammer a nail into the wall, this statement left us confused.

One name that accompanied our lives was ‘de Ligny’. Our father spoke of him with gratitude.

Only later did we realise that he was Captain Jean le Pan de Ligny, the commander of the last camp

where he was a prisoner of war, who took care of the German prisoners of war in a remarkably humane manner and even promoted our father's artistic career. Captain de Ligny turned the

Dépôt secondaire 231 into a model camp. He, who as a Frenchman would have had every reason to

fulfil his office with resentments. The opposite was the case. He tried by all means to provide the prisoners

with the best possible physical and mental support. Men who, after a war started and lost by Germany,

were uncertain about their future fate, some of whom had no prospects and no will to live.

Finally, de Ligny had the Theresa Chapel built within the camp with the help of prisoners who had the necessary experience in the required trades. One of the many measures for prisoners to engage

constructively with something.  

Witness to the changes that took place under de Ligny between 1946 and 1948 was Wilhelm Waibel,

who was an altar boy in the camp at the time.

De Ligny's behaviour made such an impression on him that he dedicated his life to locating the Ukrainian forced labourers who had been deported from their homeland during the war and housed in the camp

on Fittingstrasse and ensuring they received financial compensation. Above all, however,

he organised an exchange to offer friendship and promote reconciliation between the former enemies.

Waibel also did everything in his power to ensure the renovation of the chapel.

He was never just concerned with preserving a small building, but always with what it symbolises:

giving meaning in a catastrophic time, peace and reconciliation.

Capitaine de Ligny and Wilhelm Waibel proved that the actions of one individual can make a big difference for the good of the people.

The Förderverein of the Theresienkapelle has been formed to ensure that this message is not forgotten. Chairwoman Dr. Carmen Scheide devotes every spare minute to the ‘cause’ of the chapel alongside her

university teaching activities. The same applies to her sister Monika Scheide, who, although she does

not live in Singen, is involved from afar.  

This is where people came together and continue to come together who are particularly committed to living remembrance and reconciliation.

https://www.theresienkapelle-singen.de/

 

 

FRANZISKA FLECKENSTEIN

After years of apprenticeship and travel as an assistant director at various theaters in Munich,

touring theaters and the Luisenburg Festspiele Wunsiedel, Franziska Fleckenstein was hired

on a permanent basis at the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern. There she realized her first productions

as house director. Guest productions followed in Hamburg at the Ernst Deutsch Theater and

at the Staatstheater Karlsruhe. Since 1997 she has been living in Hamburg as a freelance director.

In addition, she began to support other artists as a production manager, and to work on

theater and film projects as a dramaturge and author.

She has been under contract as author for microlearning courses since 2021 and

for e-learning courses since 2023.

 

 

With Wolfgang Gellert and Rudolf Thoma after the reading in November 2024.

Rudolf Thoma is the last former inmate of the Dépôt secondaire 231 B.

He will soon turn 100 years old.