Photo: © Robin Lambrecht
Photo: © Robin Lambrecht
YOUR WITCHES DON´T EXIST
2025 3-Channel-Video 74min
LENA HELD / MARCUS NEBE
From the 15th to the 18th century, more than 60,000 people were convicted of witchcraft and burned. The majority of those accused were women, in some cases accounting for over ninety percent of the victims.
Almost half of all burnings in Europe took place within the territory of the German Empire. In the Franconian prince-bishoprics, the hunt for alleged witches developed into horrific mass persecutions.
In the Bishopric of Bamberg alone, the names of over 880 victims have been recorded, including women, men, and children. However, we must assume that the number of victims was higher, as some documents were deliberately destroyed or lost forever through negligence.
Nevertheless, Bamberg's libraries and archives contain historical documents that bear witness to the unspeakable suffering of hundreds of innocent people, recording their names and circumstances, and sometimes their own words.
We dedicate this video installation to them and to the nameless.
By lending them faces, voices, and thoughts, we want to let them speak to us and warn us. Together, we call out to the persecutors from back then and from today: Your witches don't exist!
Photos: © Robin Lambrecht
Im Rahmen des Kunstfilmprojektes "Belächelter Mythos, gefährlicher Wahn" entstand die Mehr-Kanal-Video-Installation
EURE HEXEN GIBT ES NICHT
mit Anja Heidenreich, Bohdan Slipchenko, Claudia Raab, Dina Eschenberg, Doris Petersen, Julia Henfling, Julina Pletziger, Karina Liutaia, Kerstin Elsner, Lena Maria Held, Liia Sharipova, Marcus Nebe, Marlene Kil, Sigrid Lohneis, Sophia Graf und Susanne Schreyer - die ihre Stimmen, Gesichter und Gedanken Opfern der sogenannten Hexenverfolgung im Hochstift Bamberg leihen, um an die Menschen zu erinnern, die aufgrund des Feindbildes der Hexe unschuldig verfolgt, gefoltert und ermordet wurden und Parallelen zur Gegenwart aufzuzeigen.
Kostüm/Ausstattung: Dina Eschenberg, Karina Liutaia
Musik: Curtis Bloxsidge
Regie/Kamera/Schnitt: Lena Maria Held, Marcus Nebe
Drohnenaufnahmen: Alexander Andreyev
Setassistenz: Yaroslava Yakovleva
Projektleitung: Dina Eschenberg, Karina Liutaia, Lena Maria Held & Marcus Nebe
Trägerverein: kollektiv gut e.V.
Inhaltlich unterstützt durch Christine Schroll und Alois Umlauf
Technische Unterstützung: Jakob Nebe, Franz Held