75 years of democracy are a reason to celebrate. The Hessian State Parliament did this with a spectacular lightshow.

The show we created was shown on the façade of the Hessian State Parliament itself, which measures an incredible total of 130 meters. In our 20-minute production, we recounted 75 years of historical and political life. We presented them in five acts: “Intro: The House remembers”, “The Hessian State Parliament as a building”, ” The Hessian State Parliament as an institution”, “Democracy” and “All of this is Hessen”.

We opened the parliament to the audience – literally – by showing a flight through its premises. To outline what characterizes the state government substantively, we talked about its values, its approach and what unites all citizens of Hessen. According to the motto “Democracy is all of us”, we subsequently let the citizens of Hessen express their wishes, visions and what democracy means to them. Last but not least, we looked at Hessen as a state itself. We wanted to portray what the people of Hessen are proud of. For this, we did in-depth research and went into conversation with the locals. We got to know a colorful, open-minded state with a fascinating history.

From the third of October to the 12th, 2021, we showed a total of 48 shows. The opening was officiated by the president of the state parliament Boris Rhein himself and was was broadcast live in a special feature by Hessischer Rundfunk.

We would like to thank the Hessian State Parliament for their trust and to all those involved for the wonderful cooperation.

Furthermore we send a big thank you to NavVis for providing us with their mapping system for scanning the building. The following archives and institutions deserve our sincere gratitude for their great support with their images and videomaterial: Archiv des Landtag Hessen, Hessisches Landesarchiv, Archiv des Hessischen Rundfunks, Medienarchiv der documenta, Uni Frankfurt, Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel, Kloster Eberbach, Archiv der deutschen Frauenbewegung.

Commissioned by: Hessischer Landtag
Premiere: Third to 12th of October 2021

Credits

Overall Staff
Production Director: Majo Ussat
Creative Direction: Till Botterweck
Dramaturgy: Lydia Liedtke
Production Assistance: Anett Ganswindt
Technical Director: Markus Haupt, LYNX Media Systems
Technical Implementation: LYNX Media Systems
Window shadings: Armin Jakob

Act 1: Intro – The house remembers:
Art Direction: Lennart Liedtke
Media Design: Mali Gabrielli, Daniel Engels
Music, Sound Design: iona W.

Act 2: The Hessian State Parliament as a building:
Art Direction: Daniel Rossa
3D Animation: Moritz Horn
Music, Sound Design: iona W.

Act 3: The Hessian State Parliament as an institution:
Art Direction: Ana Romão
Music, Sound Design: Janis E. Müller

Act 4: Democracy
Art Direction: Julian Hölscher
Music, Sound Design: Janis E. Müller

Act 5: All this is Hessen:
Art Direction: Till Botterweck
Media Design: Lennart Liedtke
3D Animation: Moritz Horn
Music, Sound design: iona W.

Documentation
Camera: Lennart Liedtke, Moritz Horn, Mali Gabrielli
Editing: iona W.
Outer Eye: Lydia Liedtke

Copyright: Volker Watschounek