Der Weg I (2008/09) Video, 31'18" 4:3

The video shows the path Walter Benjamin and a lot of other german refugees had to go between 1940 and 1942 to escape from Nazi Germany. The refugees were brought by Lisa Fittko via the „la route Lister“, an old smuggler´s path between Banyls on the french side to Port Bou on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, all the way through Spain to finally reach Lissabon. In Lissabon they embarked to safe places like Casablanca, Shanghai, Havanna or New York. Walter Benjamin however commited suicide when he reached Port Bou and had to find out that his transit visa was not accepted. The video shows the very exhausting ascent between Banyuls and Port Bou from the perspetive of a refugee looking permanently to the cragged ground. Citations from Benjamin and Lisa Fittko about the road and about strolling were add to the images.

The Path: La route Lister (Walter Benjamin) Between 1940 and 1942 around 300 persons fleed from the Nazis via the smuggler´s path between France and Spain. the area: Est Pyrenees the location: Banyuls sur Mer, France the water: Port Bou, Spain the citations: Lisa Fittko (1), Walter Benjamin (16)

collection of Hamburger Kunsthalle