Dr Asmus and Dr Jacobs, the German Museum of Books and Writing and the German Exile Archive play a central role in the educational work of the German National Library. What does educational work mean and what is it all about?

Sylvia Asmus: Our task is to invite people to engage with issues and learn from the past for the present. Here at the German Exile Archive, we deal with topics that go beyond exile and National Socialism, such as anti-Semitism, racism, and exclusion — and we also reflect on how they become acceptable to the majority. And of course, we also think about the opposite: What does an open society mean? What is freedom of expression? What strengthens or endangers democracies? It's about fundamental values. We see ourselves as a place for discussion, negotiation, and critical questioning. In our educational formats, we have recently given much more space to exchange and participation.

Stephanie Jacobs: I can relate to that very well. For you, it's the important topic of exile experience. For us, it's the history of the media, from the beginnings of writing around 5,000 years ago to current questions about the future of media. It's a highly relevant topic – just think of the impact of fake news in the digital age. Here, educational work is a question of social legitimacy: it's about the role of memory institutions in current social issues. After all, 5,000 years of media history is essentially a long history of freedom of expression and censorship.

As a museum, we must — no: we are allowed to be a neutral place for negotiating positions in this context. Even positions that are explicitly hurtful. In this way, we help people find their bearings, share their perspectives, and learn from one another. This is challenging because such confrontations require skills that cannot always be taken for granted.

Dr Asmus, you are the director of the German Exile Archive 1933-1945 at the DNB in Frankfurt. In 2024, the Exile Archive celebrated its 75th anniversary. Can you briefly tell us what the Exile Archive is?

Sylvia Asmus: The German Exile Archive is one of the oldest institutions dealing with this subject. The impetus for its founding came from exiles themselves, together with the director today’s the DNB. In those early post-war years, it was extraordinary to establish such an institution in Germany.

From the outset, there were two goals. On the one hand, the aim was to build up a comprehensive collection on German-speaking exile after 1933. On the other hand, the collection and the knowledge associated with it were to be used to influence and educate society. “Never again” has been the mission from the very beginning. Today, 75 years later, we also deal with current developments. We see ourselves as a place for engaging with the issues of exile, migration, anti-Semitism, and racism.

In December 2024, the permanent exhibition “Exile. Experience and Testimony” was reopened. What can visitors see there, what is new?

Foto: Alexander Paul Englert

Sylvia Asmus: In the exhibition, visitors learn what it means to go into exile — to leave your country and have to start over somewhere new. With the 2024 revision, we have added new exhibits, new themes, and installations to the exhibition and given space to external perspectives. One example is the staging of the novel “Der Reisende” (The Passenger) by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz. Visitors are immersed in the story of Jewish merchant Otto Silbermann through a video and sound installation by the theater collective “Auricle” and experience his escape. The exhibition now also addresses exile in Germany today, which we depict with the touch-sensitive installation “Was bleibt” (What Remains) by Yael Reuveny and Clemens Walter.

In addition, representatives of the second and third generations report on the significance of their ancestors' exile for them today. In this way, the exhibition builds bridges to the present in various ways. Visitors can interact with the content, for example through live polls on current issues related to exile.

Since September 2023, the Exile Archive has also been home to a very special exhibition: visitors can interview contemporary witnesses in a digital and interactive format! Was the exhibition well attended in 2024?

Sylvia Asmus: The exhibition „Frag nach, Just ask!“ focuses on two Holocaust survivors: Inge Auerbacher and Kurt Salomon Maier. We conducted very detailed interviews with both of them, which have now been turned into digital interactive testimonies. These are embedded in a contextualising exhibition. “Frag nach, Just ask!” is very well attended. Schools from the Frankfurt area come to us and ask their questions directly to the digital eyewitnesses and work on the contents of the exhibition in workshops. We also offer a mobile version and we were on the road with this at 30 locations in Germany. And it's not stopping there! Due to the great interest, we will extend the exhibition here at the DNB until 2027.

The German Exile Archive also hosts regular events, such as the “Friedman asks” lecture series with journalist Michel Friedman. What questions did Mr. Friedman discuss with his guests in 2024?

Sylvia Asmus: The series with Michel Friedman is subtitled “The Presence of Exile” – and that is precisely our common theme. At each event, I present an artefact from our collection as a starting point and derive a question for the present day from it. Michel Friedman then discusses this question with the guest of the evening – and these are always interesting people and exciting conversations.

Photo: Alexander Paul Englert

Michael Wolffsohn was our guest at the second event in September. He is a historian, journalist, and professor of modern history. The central question of the evening was: Do we have to emigrate again? This is a quote from the writer Heinz Liepman, whose estate is held in the Exile Archive. He emigrated to the US and returned to Germany after 1945. He posed this question in the 1960s because he found anti-Semitism in Germany intolerable. Liepman himself answered “yes” and moved to Switzerland. We used this as a starting point to discuss what life is like for Jews in Germany today. It was a very thought-provoking evening.

The event took place in our large hall with 370 seats. And yet it became very quiet. Often, the visitors stay behind after the discussions to continue talking.

There was also a crowdsourcing initiative in 2024! What was the #everynamecounts challenge all about?

Sylvia Asmus: The project „everynamecounts – Reichsausbürgerungskartei“ was a collaboration with the Arolsen Archives and a citizen science project. Starting in July 1933, the Nazis stripped tens of thousands of people of their German citizenship on the basis of the so-called Ausbürgerungsgesetz (Expatriation Law) – Jews and political opponents were particularly affected. The names of those expatriated were published in the “Deutscher Reichsanzeiger” (German Reich Gazette). From 1938 onwards, the authorities compiled the data in a central expatriation card file (Ausbürgerungskartei), which served as a reference work for authorities and institutions. The Deutsche Bücherei (now the German National Library) also received a copy too, which is now part of our collection. In total, it contins over 36,000 cards with information on the names, dates of birth, occupations, and last places of residence of those affected.

As part of the “everynamecounts” challenge, more than 12,000 volunteers entered this information into a database within a very short time. This tremendous commitment shows how important it is to many people to engage with history and how willing they are to work for remembrance and research!

Once the data has been transferred to our systems, it can be evaluated and worked with. And then new insights can be gained from it.

Dr Jacobs, you are the director of the German Museum of Books and Writing in Leipzig. What can visitors see there?

Stephanie Jacobs: Our museum – incidentally, the oldest book museum in the world – traces the history of media in a broad historical arc, from the beginnings of written culture – here we display early communication media such as tally sticks and shell necklaces – to the question of the future of media. The history of media is told as a history of emancipation and freedom of opinion. But we are much more than a book museum.

We tell a story of media revolutions, in which Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press in the 15th century plays just as important a role as media competition in the 20th and 21st century – radio, film, television, digital networking, DNA storage. Digital media and platforms raise many questions that can be answered by looking at the long history of media: What is fake news? How can digital media be misused? What role do they play in mobilising the population, for example in the Arab Spring? Everyday digital life is a major challenge for media literacy, a topic that is also very close to my heart. How do we enable children and young people, but also voters, for example, to recognize disinformation and manipulation? There are fears and reservations about digital media in society as a whole. We can and must provide information. But we also show the power and effectiveness of analogue media when we present protest posters by courageous Iranian women, for example.

You are not only involved with writing, but also with music. Last year, you organised a special event, a jazz festival to mark the 35th anniversary of the peaceful revolution. So music as a medium of protest?

Stephanie Jacobs: Exactly. At first, you think of the written or spoken word – or even images. Music is less likely to come to mind when we think of protest, even though it's so obvious! Under the title “Störenfriede. Jazz, Protest und Revolution” (Disruptive Elements. Jazz, protest and revolution), we offered what I think is a very inspiring approach to remembering the end of the GDR. The specific starting point was the acquisition of the archive of a free jazz festival that took place in the GDR for over ten years, despite all attempts to ban it – in a village in the east of Lusatia, really in the furthest corner of the republic: the Jazzwerkstatt Peitz. Rebellious young people brought international jazz there, which meant international musicians as well. Some of them arrived with different identities. There are wild stories. Up to 4,000 jazz enthusiasts, but also people who were fed up with state-imposed culture, gathered in Peitz. Of course, the Stasi kept an eye on things, but for a long time they couldn't do anything. There aren't even any texts that could have been branded as subversive. In 1982, the festival was finally banned.

So in September 2024, we commemorated the courage of the resistance with a three-day festival called “Störenfriede: Kunst, Protest und Revolution” (Disruptive Elements: Art, protest and revolution). The festival was set up as an educational event. We had important partners who also financed the event: the Federal Agency for Civic Education and the Foundation for the Sites of German Democracy History. There were several discussion events on the relevance of protest movements today. The Federal President gave a welcoming speech in which he introduced himself as a troublemaker – and a jazz enthusiast! The result was a successful and very enjoyable event – and we had a lot of fun. At the same time, the jazz festival marked the start of our two-year series “Media History of Protest.”

Since 2024, the German Museum of Books and Writing has also had its own podcast! What is “Augenrausch” about and how were the first episodes received?

Stephanie Jacobs: Augenrausch is actually the DNB's first podcast. It focuses on the medium of images as a source of knowledge. We have world-famous comic artists and illustrators in our collection, but also newcomers. For the first season, released in 2024, we worked with children's book authors Axel Scheffler and Rotraut Susanne Berner, for example. The image as a knowledge resource, its scientific potential, and our role in this—that has a lot of potential. We hope that funds will eventually be available to produce the second and third seasons of Augenrausch.

A Spotify playlist is also new to the portfolio of the German Museum Books and Writing since 2024. What kind of playlist is it and how did it come about?

Stephanie Jacobs: The playlist was created almost by accident. A colleague had the idea. She said she knew so many songs that fit with media history. Many colleagues joined in. In no time at all, we had more than 200 titles: songs, chansons, rock, everything was there. And people talked about it. You can listen to the playlist on Spotify. Or at a listening station in the German Music Archive, which we also collaborated with for this project.

We've had good experiences filling established forms of communication with our content. Geocaching, for example: Spurensuche. Every child likes that, and apparently many adults do too. We use geocaching to draw attention to one of our most important estates. It's a hit. So are scavenger hunts and escape rooms. We also offer museum bingo. This allows us to reach completely new groups. Bingo clubs come to the museum regularly for a bingo night, where they playfully negotiate our topics and have fun doing so. Incidentally, that was also the idea of a colleague – we need to give the many talented people we have in-house much more space for their ideas. This allows us to reach even more people.

You can also visit the DNB on your own. With the Actionbound app, you can take digital tours. What can the app do and how is it used at the DNB?

Photo: Carl Götz

Stephanie Jacobs: Actionbound is a digital educational scavenger hunt. It's a really low-threshold offering. With Actionbound, you can discover the DNB on your own and without a traditional guided tour. You have to answer questions in the app – that triggers your curiosity. The scavenger hunt is now available for a wide variety of areas of the DNB and on different topics: architecture, hidden places, and even the permanent exhibition in our building.

Last year, you were both on board at the MS Wissenschaft ship for the DNB. What was that all about?

Sylvia Asmus: The MS Wissenschaft is an exhibition ship that tours Germany every year on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. In 2024, its theme was “The Value of Freedom.” This fits in well with the work of the DNB, of course. With its interactive installation on the MS Wissenschaft, the Exile Archive showed the dangers that can threaten democratic rights and freedoms. It thus reminded visitors of the value of fundamental democratic rights, which we all too often take for granted. In workshops, we invited visitors to ask themselves: Which freedoms are particularly important to me? What can I do to protect freedom? And what does freedom actually mean?

Stephanie Jacobs: We were there with topics and exhibition elements that we have also used elsewhere this year: the Disruptive Elements, for example, and the invention of the printing press. Printing was also basically a machine for freedom and democratisation: knowledge was liberated from the monastery scriptoria. From then on, leaflets became possible, a true medium of freedom! And we contributed an exhibition on the Basic Law and its reception history. It was great to see children and young people engaging with the Basic Law on the ship.

The ship tour had 54,000 visitors. We can't achieve that so quickly through our conventional channels.

Sylvia Asmus: Each station, including the topics contributed by the DNB, is part of a large exhibition. This provides a variety of perspectives on the common theme. The MS Wissenschaft is really a great thing.

You have now mentioned several offers that have been developed in cooperation with another organisation. How important are collaborations for your work?

Stephanie Jacobs: We couldn't do it without them! Collaborations simply bring us a different audience, new target groups, but also new ideas. And new energy.

Sylvia Asmus: Without cooperation, our work would be unimaginable. We need cooperation with research and other institutions. We need to exchange perspectives and expertise.

Photo: DNB, Christine Hartmann

Photo: DNB, Josephine Kreutzer

Visible together: In 2024, both locations of the German National Library took part in the “Night of the Museums” and, like many other institutions, invited Leipzig and Frankfurt residents to explore them at night.

And one last question for both of you: The DNB's educational work is constantly evolving and becoming increasingly innovative. How are the requirements for successful educational work currently changing?

Sylvia Asmus: In our new Strategic Priorities, we at the DNB are giving much more space to outreach, strengthening democratic values, and combating anti-Semitism. The work of the Exile Archive fits in perfectly here. In addition to the content, we are increasingly focusing on new participatory and interactive formats that give space to different perspectives. It is important to us to engage in open discussion with as many people as possible, while at the same time creating safe spaces where sensitive issues can be addressed. Reliability is key for the Exile Archive: towards the families who entrust us with their documents and as a player in political and cultural education. This is made possible by a dedicated, creative team – I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to my colleagues! However, long-term staffing and financial resources are also important so that we can fulfill our tasks.

Stephanie Jacobs: Yes, I can emphasise that. We are in the same situation as other cultural institutions. We have to adapt to working with tight budgets in times of financial constraints, which is also part of our social responsibility, and we are capable of doing so. A lot can be achieved without large sums of money. We have to find ways to reach more people with less money — more outreach. That can also be fun because it strengthens teamwork. Beyond the budget issue, however, the challenge is to strengthen democracy and the rule of law: Knowledge creates democracy is our motto.

As the country's largest repository of knowledge, with over 50 million media items, this is our responsibility in a society that is becoming increasingly divided. And we must not forget or overlook anyone in the process. The future lies in participation and inclusion – there is still room for improvement here, so let's tackle it together!