The student dorm “Jakobsplan” is regarded as one of the most emblematic buildings of Weimarand belongs to UNESCO’s “Altstadt” Monument Ensemble of Weimar. Designed by Anita Bach, the first woman Architecture Professor in GDR and built between 1970 and 1972, the “long Jakob” is the Bauhaus’ take on the movement of social realism. In the last 46 years, thousands of students from all over the world have gone through their entire study life in this enormous building - many of them have developed a love-hate relationship with the Jakobsplan: This giant of a building could have a depressive effect on its tenants - on the other hand, it was the place where they lived during the best period of their life.
All this came to an end, when, at the end of 2017, all tenants were removed; the student dorm is now in the process of an extensive core refurbishment and is not available to the university community for the next couple of years.
The photo-series “The heroes of Jakobsplan” documents some of the last tenants of Jakobsplan, the last evening before their moving out. Some of them left town immediately afterwards, following their careers elsewhere or having to move in again with their parents. Others found a new shelter, either in a shared flat or in another student dorm in Weimar.
This series aims, on the one hand, to emphasize the complex relationship of the tenants with the place they used to call home and, on the other hand, to visualize the psychology of imminent transition.