With the exhibition “War. An archaeological search for traces” shows what remains of fighting people. It is an exhibition that is so perfectly suited to our times that it seems almost uncanny. Although it is clear that Halle’s “War” exhibition has been a long time in the making and is an “archaeological search for traces”, as the subtitle […]

With the exhibition “War. An archaeological search for traces” shows what remains of fighting people.

It is an exhibition that is so perfectly suited to our times that it seems almost uncanny. Although it is clear that the “War” exhibition in Halle has been in preparation for a long time and is an “archaeological search for traces”, as the subtitle says, its theme is depressingly relevant to current events. “It is sad for me as a museum man to be up to date. I wish all wars were in the museum. But since that’s not the case, we want to explain it as well as possible,” says museum director Harald Meller.

And he does. “War” is not treated here as a distant threat, but is exhibited on the basis of its results. The most impressive “result” is at the center of the exhibition: it is the grave of 47 dead fighters found on the battlefield of Lützen near Leipzig in 2011, recovered in a block, restored, scientifically examined and displayed in an upright position. Although as many as 6,500 fighters lost their lives on the battlefield near Lützen on November 6, 1632, this mass grave is the only grave found there.

Restored and researched over the course of three years, it now stands towering and dramatically illuminated at the beginning and center of the exhibition in the atrium of the Hallens State Museum of Prehistory. Four windows have been opened at the (present-day) rear to provide a view from below. In the catalog, Christine Leßmann and Denis Dittrich from the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeology describe the restoration that took place in the museum’s restoration workshop after the block was salvaged. Not only were numerous samples taken and the entire block consolidated so that it can be displayed upright in a metal frame, but also “90 percent of the skeletons were not moved”, says head restorer Christian-Heinrich Wunderlich. “This is also a question of dignity and reverence.”

Bullets from the Lützen battlefield lie in a large display case in front of the grave – neatly arranged like Damien Hirst’s tablet shelves. Even if it is only a small part of the 2,700 bullets found, there are an ominous number of them arranged in rows. As everywhere in the exhibition, the staging is an aesthetic and artistic arrangement, accompanied by detailed explanations. This conglomeration of found objects, texts, pictures, films and graphics is a concept.

Battle maps and statistics with the age distribution of killed combatants – otherwise rather boring statistical ingredients – are given an illuminating value through the clever presentation and the proximity to the real victims. Under large magnifying glasses set into a display case in the atrium around the mass grave are tiny finds that are otherwise easily overlooked. Here they have the status of sensations. Buttons, for example, that were found with the skeletons or a few clothing fibers. Although the exhibition organizers have not been able to give the warrior, who was apparently laid over all the other dead with his arms outstretched like the crucified Christ, his name, they have been able to give him back his face using modern reconstruction techniques.

After focusing on Lützen, the theme first expands to the 30-year war – in which 449 of the 30,000 inhabitants of neighboring Magdeburg, for example, remained – to wars in the Paleolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Ages. With spectacular exhibits such as the first gold dagger or the skull of the earliest known murder victim (more than 400,000 years old) from the Spanish “bone pit”, visitors delve deeper and deeper into human history – which, however, was peaceful for the longest time, as museum director Meller emphasizes.

There may be beautiful weapons, ingenious warlords, magnificent armor – in the end, what remains of the war is the skull with the fatal bullet hole, the mountain of nameless skeletons full of injuries. After the show in Halle and other exhibition stations, the grave will probably return to Lützen to be permanently displayed near the place where it was once found. Harald Meller calls it a sustainable exhibition – it is the opposite of war.

The exhibition at the State Museum of Prehistory can be seen in Halle until May 22, 2016.
The accompanying book has been published by Theiss Verlag and costs 39.95.

End-to-end digital solutions are becoming increasingly important in the trades. But individual apps can also make life on the construction site easier. The motto: try out new things and start with sub-processes. The goal: more time for customers and projects. Writing hours, documenting defects and changes, coordinating deadlines, writing orders and invoices: In many companies, all of this is still largely […]

End-to-end digital solutions are becoming increasingly important in the trades. But individual apps can also make life on the construction site easier. The motto: try out new things and start with sub-processes. The goal: more time for customers and projects.

Writing hours, documenting defects and changes, coordinating appointments, writing orders and invoices: In many companies, all of this is still largely done manually (by transferring data from one program to another or from a piece of paper to a program) and costs owners and specialists a lot of time. Procuring materials is also a time waster. Apps promise a remedy. There is now a whole range of digital tools and services that simplify operational processes, help to outsource peripheral processes and thus free up time for the core business.

How do you get your materials? Do you call the dealer? Do you order online? Do you collect everything yourself? Is everything always in the right place at the right time? It often costs a lot of travel and waiting time if adhesive, primer, silicone, spare parts or tools are missing, broken or run out. Würth has therefore been delivering its C-parts to construction sites for years and takes care of picking the on-site storage areas.

Following this example, the start-up Bex has been delivering any material to construction sites within two hours using an app since 2019. Even the smallest quantities are delivered. Purchases are made from the supplier of choice, and payment is based on weight and urgency. Founder and Managing Director Lennart Paul describes Bex as a fulfillment service provider that closes the gap “from order to wall”. System logistics for everyone.

Tiler Peter Hegenberger from Leonberg has been working with this delivery service for the trade since summer 2020. Initially intended as a back-up for forgotten items, the specialist in large ceramic formats now uses the delivery platform strategically and has transformed his workflow. “These days, I save myself the preliminary visit when taking over bathroom construction sites,” he reports.

Instead of inspecting the construction site the day before, picking up the material from the dealer and bringing it back a day later, Peter Hegenberger now does this on the day of installation, orders his material by 8.30 a.m. and has it delivered. “In the meantime, I do the preparatory work and bring the standard equipment myself.”

He also orders materials for supplements via the app and can carry out the additional work on the same day. He now makes 20 to 30 deliveries per month. He even has the construction site waste collected and professionally disposed of by the Bex drivers. “That saves an incredible amount of time and effort,” he says happily.

What can you outsource?

The service is ideal for small businesses. Instead of employing specialists for collection and delivery services, Peter Hegenberger outsources the purchase and transportation of materials. Even if he has to pay a transport fee of 19 euros for an (individually ordered) tube of silicone this way. “That sounds like a lot,” says Swabian Hegenberger, who has of course done the math. His conclusion: the business pays off.

Hegenberger, who works digitally with an ERP system, CAD, digital measurements and mobile time recording, also has a vision for digital material procurement: “I would prefer to do without my own vehicles and have all my materials delivered to and collected from the construction sites.” He himself could then travel by electric car instead of by van.

Bex CEO Lennart Paul has had this vision for some time. “We can imagine the complete assembly of construction sites in the future,” the founder explains to STEIN. Especially as such a division of labor has long been a matter of course in other industries and fields of activity. “After all, even doctors only come to the operating theater to operate, and the material is completely prepared for them in advance,” says Paul. Concentrating on the core business is the name given to this effect, which enhances professions, makes work more effective and is made possible for smaller companies by digitalization.

Read more in STEIN 2/2021.