“What the von der Leyen family were for Krefeld, the Schumacher family were for Forstwald,” said councillor Joachim C. Heitmann, putting the similarities of the two Mennonite families into a nutshell. Whilst the von der Leyens were involved with silk and velvet, the Schumacher family boosted the economy by refining sugar in Forstwald.
The current temporary exhibition at Haus der Seidenkultur (HdS) is devoted to this particularl Forstwald tale. Heitmann as Chairman of the FDP party members group on the town council attended the vernissage as the representative of the town of Krefeld which is “once again very pleased about this attractive addition to the events calendar.”
“The Forstwald cultural landscape” is a living memorial to civil commitment“. And what’s more: “This natural park expresses the emancipation of the middle classes.”
Professor Dr. Claudius A. Schmitz, Vice-Chairman of the Citizens’ Action Committee Forstwald, was very impressed by the approach and composition of the exhibition. The protagonists have demonstrated “enthusiastic interest in the local history and traditions of the past as well identifying themselves with the Forstwald area of the town”. In the meantime, those actively involved with the exhibition – who came from completely different backgrounds – have merged into a sort of “Forstwald Team”.
Dr. Hans-Josef Ruhland placed the focus of his speech on the wide-ranging similarities between the historical Forstwald cultural landscape and the town centre of Krefeld. The four so-called “Wälle” (street surrounding the town centre) and the Forstwald have a common cultural-geometrical basis. This is characterized by the subsequent cooperation with Adolf Vagedes (architect of the Krefeld Wälle), who engaged landscape gardeners from the nearby Forstwald to plant his boulevards. This is also part of the to-date little known Forstwald history which is being presented at Haus der Seidenkultur until 20th September.
Prof. Hans-Werner Huppertz was responsible for the music at the vernissage. He generated “superb musical experience” with his guitar said HdS-Chairman Hansgeorg Hauser. A local Krefeld patriot pointed out that Hauser mentioned an exceptionally large number of guests at the vernissage who seem to have come from towns starting with the letter B, for example Berlin, Bochum, Bonn; and Bockum.
Read more about the current temporary exhibition here in our internet portal under the heading “Exhibitions”.
The vernissage protagonists: HdS Curator Klaus Drenk (left), HdS-Chairman Hansgeorg Hauser, Vice-Chairman of the Citizens’ Action Committee Forstwald, Prof. Dr. Claudius A. Schmitz; and right Dr. Hans-Josef Ruhland.
HdS-Photo: Brenner