Deutsch
English
Background information
"During and shortly after the end of the Second World War, hundreds of thousands of makeshift homes were built in destroyed Germany, also in the midst of allotment garden associations, as these were largely spared from the bombing of the Allies. Constructed from rubble or the simplest of building materials, most of these houses have had a steady one since their creation experience structural changes in order to upgrade them structurally or spatially. The time of the makeshift homes is now slowly coming to an end, as this type of living is no longer tolerated: living space in the city is scarce and allotment gardens offer the city as areas for redensification. Although the first residents and their descendants were given a lifelong right to stay, after their move out or death, the houses are usually torn down or rebuilt to the size of an allotment arbor.
Content
The out-of-print photo volume 'Behelfsheim' by German photographers Enver HIRSCH and Philip MEUSER deals with the inside and outside of these last existing makeshift homes. It combines artistic-documentary photographs with historical graphics, the protocol of a surreal panel discussion and classifies the phenomenon in terms of architectural history. Enver HIRSCH and Philipp MEUSER document a type of house and its materiality, in which post-war history becomes visible and create the last possible documentation of a temporary arrangement that has survived until today. "(© HIRSCH & MEUSER, 2020)