Way of Hope - The Way of the Cross at Point Alpha

Point Alpha is a former US observation post on the Hesse-Thuringia border. If this place was once one of the focal points of the Cold War, today a museum reminds of this dark chapter. In addition, the Point Alpha Foundation commissioned the artist Ulrich Barnickel to commemorate the non-violent resistance to communist dictatorships with an art project. Barnickel distributed fourteen sculptures over a length of about 1.5 km and thus created the impressive "Weg der Hoffnung". Arbitrariness, oppression, coercion, horror, solidarity, compassion, violence, comfort, humiliation, degradation, murder, despair, sacrifice and hope are the themes expressed by the artist in the sculptures.

Photographer Konrad Merz has documented the conception, creation, construction, and effect of the sculptures in "Weg der Hoffnung". Texts are used rather sparingly. Although there are some accompanying texts, the photos are allowed to speak foremost in this illustrated book. The interplay between the sculptures and their surroundings, which changes noticeably with the seasons, doesn't need a lot of words. The artist's intentions become tangible through the photos alone. Certainly, the full power of this work of art can only unfold when you stand directly in front of it and let the symbiosis of the meaning of this place, nature and the sculptures take effect on you.

But the photos of Konrad Merz also succeed very well in capturing the special atmosphere on the "Weg der Hoffnung". But also his pictures from the studio of Ulrich Marnickel, from the sketches of the sculptures and finally also from visitors looking at the sculptures make the book a very special work. The reader can thus visit a place where the past must not be forgotten in order to maintain hope for a peaceful future. The fact that the artist with his sculptures and the photographer with his pictures can bridge the gap between a dark past and a hopeful future makes reading "Weg der Hoffnung" an intense and also moving experience

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp