Contemporary witnesses are people who can testify to certain historical events because they have personally experienced the time in question. Nowadays, it is impossible to imagine history lessons, extracurricular political education, museum work, television and the Internet without these people. Contemporary witnesses make history tangible and experienceable.

The Saarland has a very special and eventful history in its importance as a business location, as a border region and as the youngest federal state in Germany. The project “Zeitzeug:innen im Saarland | Erinnerung. Multimedial.” has taken on the task of recording conversations with contemporary witnesses from various social sectors in Saarland in order to preserve their memories and experiences for posterity. In this way, a unique virtual place of remembrance of Saarland history is to be created, which is intended to have an identity- and community-building effect.

Dealing with one’s own history is one of the most important issues of today’s societies. The culture of remembrance manifests what is determined to be worth remembering and by which memories, events and rites the culture of a region or nation is shaped. Through it, we create community and identity.

The project wants to create a virtual place of remembrance especially for the Saarland in order to maintain memories of the eventful and eventful history of this region.

The virtual, multimedia presentation form on an online platform has the advantage that the content is available to all interested parties at any time. Thanks to the multimedia nature of our PIIPE platform, media and content of various kinds – films, images, newspaper clippings, etc. – can be juxtaposed and meaningfully complement the testimonies of contemporary witnesses and embed them in a historical context.