The Hero Principle

By Helgard Haug / Daniel Wetzel

Alexander the Great, the Chinese physician Li Wenliang, Napoleon and Greta Thunberg never had anything to do with one another. And yet: They were or still are considered heroes or heroines in their time, in their countries, societies and even beyond. What makes them similar?

Heroes and heroines are not born, but made – by those who tell stories filled with admiration to heroise a person, a feat or an event. So the question of how a hero or a heroine is made, of who or what they are, is not up to the heroised themselves, but rather the societies doing the heroising. But what happens exactly when heroines and heroes are spoken of and heroised?

The Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB, or Collaborative Research Centre) 948 at the University of Freiburg has made heroisation the focus of a twelve-year research project, examining the process in the past and present from a social, cultural, political and international perspective. The Prinzip Held* (The Hero Principle) exhibition examines this phenomenon: Heroines and heroes do not necessarily stand out because of their particular biographies, but rather because they break boundaries, bend rules, fight battles, unite communities on the inside and define them against the outside – and are presented for a specific audience. Prinzip Held* thus highlights the impact that different combinations of these components have, from Alexander the Great to Greta Thunberg.

Exhibition concept:
Project management MHMBW: Dr. Doris Müller-Toovey (MHMBW)
Production management MHMBW: Stefan Kontra M.A. (MHMBW)
Project management sub-project T SFB 948: Prof. Dr. Ralf von den Hoff (SFB), Dr. Gorch Pieken (ZMSBW)
Head of scientific curation and conception: Dr. Gorch Pieken (ZMSBW)
Scientific curation, text editing and proofreading: Katja Widmann M.A. (SFB)
Scientific curation and curator on site: Andreas Geißler M.A. (MHMBW)
Museum consultant: Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Heiner Bröckermann
(ZMSBW)
Exhibition texts: Katja Widmann M.A. (SFB), Dr. Gorch Pieken
(ZMSBw), Andreas Geißler M.A. (MHMBW)

Exhibition design:

Artistic direction: Helgard Haug and Daniel Wetzel
Concept and design: Helgard Haug, Daniel Wetzel, Dominik Steinmann
Scenography: Dominik Steinmann
Collaboration scenography: Anna Knöller

Graphic concept & design: Ilona Marti
Design Inflatables in collaboration with: Urs Meier, Luft&Laune
Interaction & Interface Design, Programming & Electronics Inflatables: Georg Werner
Audios / Interviews: Helgard Haug, Daniel Wetzel
Light design, LED wall layout, technical direction: Robert Läßig

Collaboration light design, LED wall layout, technical direction: Friedrich Schmidt
Sound design: Rozenn Lièvre
Video design: Stefan Korsinsky
Collaboration Research & Coordination: Grit Lieder
Work planning technical realisation, construction supervision: Thomas Bache, kursiv | text - objekt - raum GmbH
Production Inflatables: Urs Meier, Luft & Laune
Production management: Juliane Männel
Production assistance: Ksenia Lukina
Exhibition production and construction: MHMBw Berlin-Gatow, Restoration Department
Advertising media: Ilona Marti mit Unterstützung von Theresa Koch, Niklas Sagebiel, Nils Reinke-Dieker, Alexander Nickel, Christian Nimpsch (MHMBw)
Exhibition graphics: Ilona Marti and Alexander Nickel, Christian Nimpsch (MHMBw Berlin-Gatow)
Image editing: Alexander Nickel (MHMBw Berlin-Gatow)
Intern: Lewin Ott
Furniture construction: Walter Engel, Mr Hopsch, Mr Frank (MHMBw Berlin-Gatow, Exhibition Workshops Department)

The exhibition is a cooperation between the Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB) 948 at Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Centre for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr (ZMSBw) and the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr Berlin-Gatow Airfield, produced by Rimini Protokoll. It is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).