The Documentation Center Thuringia (DZT) is dedicated to researching radical political movements in Thuringia that glorify oppression and violence. Founded by artist Erik Niedling and writer Ingo Niermann, the DZT examines both what was and what is, as well as what could be. Unlike documentation centers dedicated to Nazi history, the DZT does not confine itself to surveying particularly catastrophic past events, but understands the pursuit of oppression and violence, as manifested in National Socialism and its underlying racism, sexism, ableism, and totalitarianism, as something always undergoing transformation. In order to resist it successfully, the DZT strives to apprehend not only its existing forms but also its potential future mutations.
In the DZT’s exhibitions –Dokumentationszentrum Thüringen (2022) and Summer of Anarchy (2022) – Erik Niedling explores the question of how Thuringia became a rallying point for right-wing radicals and neo-Nazis after the fall of the Wall, and chronicles how, in order to violently oppose them and the annexation of the socialist Eastern Germany by the capitalist Western Germany, he and his friends founded the „Anarchist Faction“ as teenagers. Niedling gathers archival material and historical artifacts and presents his personal story as a fragment in world events. A present-day encounter between Niedling and an old comrade-in-arms, who today belongs to the QAnon movement, gives a glimpse into an ominous future.
The Thuringia Documentation Center sees itself as a complement to the Burial of the White Man, which Niedling and Niermann anticipate annually on May 8, the day of Germany’s defeat in World War II, on Thuringia’s Kleiner Gleichberg. Here, the largest pyramid in the world is one day to be cut out of the mountain and subsequently disappear under it again, symbolically burying the archetype of the White Man, which bears a particular responsibility for oppression and violence.
Eigner (with Ingo Niermann), 2024. Video, 7:31 minWalder (with Ingo Niermann), 2023. Video, 7:26 minIn the Heart of Germany, 2022. Video, 22:57 min Helmut Kohl in Erfurt, 2022. Video, 11:48 minInformation Board, 2021. Wood, paint, wax, soot, steel, thumbtack, 117 x 65 x 6 cmACAB, 2022 Plastic, steel, wood, cord, spray paint, dirt 111 x 82 x 36 cmSummer of Anarchy, 2022 Wood, camouflage net, concrete, aluminum foil, steel Dimensions variableSummer of Anarchy, 2022 (Detail) Wood, camouflage net, concrete, aluminum foil, steel Dimensions variableTarget, 2021. Steel, Gun oil, 53 x 19.5 x 7 cmThuringian Photograph (Equestrian statue), 2022. Archival inkjet print, 58 x 46 cm (framed)Thuringian Photograph (Waterfall), 2022. Archival inkjet print, 58 x 46 cm (framed)Thuringian Photograph (Car), 2022. Archival inkjet print, 46 x 58 cm (framed)Thuringian Photograph (Statue), 2022. Archival inkjet print, 46 x 58 cm (framed)Display case I, 2022. 80 x 140 x 15 cm – Logo design for the Anarchistische Fraktion (Anarchist Faction, AF), 1990 – Manifest of the AF, 1990 – Founding charter of the AF, 1990 – Admission regulations of the AF, 1990 – Claim of responsibility of the AF for an attack on the Kyffhäuser Monument, 1990 – Poster design for the AF, 1990 – Press photographs of the AF’s actions: slogan graffiti on house wall (photo: Axel Usko, 1991), plates of party offices corroded with iron (III) chloride (photo: Andrea Schicker, 1990), facade hit with paint bombs (photo: Andrea Schicker, 1990) – Article “Neofaschismus in der DDR” (Neofascism in the GDR) in Neue Erfurter Zeitung, issue 4, Erfurt, 1990 – Photo of the members of the AF in Berlin, 1990 – Audio cassette with Erik Niedling’s interviews with young neo-Nazis, 1990Display case II, 2022. 80 x 140 x 15 cm – DIY throwing star, 1990 – DIY nunchaku, 1990 – Folded flag of the GDR, 1989 – Sleeve of a bomber jacket, 1990 – DIY slingshot, 1990 – Schwarze Texte: Politische Zensur in der BRD ‒ 1968 bis heute (Black Texts: Political Censorship in the Federal Republic of Germany ‒ 1968 til today), ID-Archiv im Internationalen Institut für Sozialgeschichte, Amsterdam, 1989 – Insert in the second edition of Schwarze Texte: Politische Zensur in der BRD ‒ 1968 bis heute, 1989 – Sticker with anarchist slogans, 1990 – Sticker with the anarchist star, 1990 – GDR passport of Erik Niedling, 1990 – Wegerein-K in petri dish, 1990Flag Painting (Thuringia III), 2022. Oil on canvas, 90 x 75 cmFlag Painting (Deutsch Süd-Ost), 2022. Oil on canvas, 90 x 75 cmClaim of responsibility, 1990 Typewriter on paper, 29,7 x 21 cm
In Lychen, sitting in the middle of the overgrown garden, I sipped sparkling apple juice while pondering the idea of creating Pyramid Mountain with a gigantic explosion. Two butterflies landed on my knee. I tried to sit still so as not to disturb them. After a while they beat their wings and flew to a red tulip.(Excerpt from Burial of the White Man, Sternberg Press, Berlin, 2019)
Untitled (Pentaerythrityltetranitrat), 2019 Pentaerythrityltetranitrat in petri dish Dimensions variable Untitled (Fragment of the lost installation: New Balance, 2016/17), 2019 Rope, Nail Dimensions variable White Cat, 2020 Archival inkjet print 66 × 99 cm Ramp, 2021 136 Books 38,5 × 203,2 × 19,5 cmRider, 2021 Lacquer and shellac on polyurethane Three plates on blue wall, each 38,5 × 79 × 6 cm Driver, 2021 Lacquer and shellac on polyurethane Three plates on blue wall, each 37 x 75,5 x 5,5 cmUntitled II (Burial of the White Man) 2020 Oil on canvas 60 × 50 cmWhite Donkey, 2021 Archival inkjet print 75,8 × 50,5 cm Monument, 2021 Archival inkjet print 75,8 × 50,5 cm2048, 2020 Basalt, rope 10,5 × 9,5 × 19 cmSeizure V, 2021 Basalt 230 x 270 cm White Man, 1994/2021 Archival inkjet print 75,8 × 50,5 cm
A public diary not only captures experiences, it often encourages you to make your life more successful. Just as millions of people today document their lives more or less realistically in social networks to create an optimized version of themselves, Niedling shows his attempts to advance Pyramid Mountain’s realization in a regular video diary as a way of spurring himself on and exploring the framework conditions through conversations and actions with sympathizers, critics, and experts.
Molybdomancy is still practiced today in German-speaking countries and commonly known as Bleigießen (lead-pouring) respectively Zinngießen (tin-leading). It is a popular pastime, especially during New Year’s Eve celebrations to predict one’s upcoming year. Small lead or tin figurines are melted over a candle and, once liquified, poured into cold water. The transformed and resolidified shape is then interpreted for clues to an uncertain future.For his sculpture series, Niedling replicates the process of Molybdomancy, but enlarges its scale over a hundredfold. Instead of a single figurine, Niedling liquifies whole armies of tin soldiers, pours them into water and receives a quite dramatic object.
Future 12/27/16, 2016 Tin, Lead 24.5 x 17.5 x 18 cmFuture 01/20/17, 2017 Tin, Lead 22.5 x 23 x 8.5 cmFuture 12/30/16, 2016 Tin, Lead 36.5 x 41 x 8.5 cmFuture 11/17/16, 2016 Tin, Lead 26 x 18 x 14.5 cmFuture 02/29/16, 2016 Tin, Lead 8 x 40.5 x 41 cmFuture 01/13/17, 2017 Tin, Lead 22 x 22 x 14.5 cmFuture 01/19/17, 2017 Tin, Lead 8 x 53 x 18.5 cm Future 07/10/16, 2016 Tin, Lead 24.5 x 21.5 x 8.5 cmFuture 06/17/16, 2016 Tin, Lead 25 x 32.5 x 26 cmFuture 11/18/15, 2015 Tin, Lead 22 x 23 x 11 cmFuture 01/21/17, 2017 Tin, Lead 16 x 29.5 x 11 cmFuture 08/13/16, 2016 Tin, Lead 4 x 20.5 x 19.5 cm Future 08/19/16, 2016 Tin, Lead 5.5 x 23 x 20.5 cm Future 08/21/16, 2016 Tin, Lead 28 x 37 x 7.5 cm
The launch of the Pyramid Dollar (P$) marks the first time that shares in a single artwork, Pyramid Mountain, are being issued. This work, which was conceived by Ingo Niermann in 2010 and subsequently transferred to Erik Niedling, is a concept for the largest burial site and pyramid of all time: a pyramid, chiseled from a mountain and at least 200 meters high, within which Niedling will be interred, after which the pyramid is itself buried under the excavated material and the mountain restored to its original shape. The issue price of the Pyramid Dollar doubles each successive year. In the first year (2015 AD) it is 1 P$ for 1 g gold, in the second (2016 AD) 1 P$ for 2 g gold, in the third (2017 AD) 1 P$ for 4 g gold, etc.
Erik Niedling and Ingo Niermann One Pyramid Dollar (P$), 2015 Digital print 14,5 x 25,9 cm Erik Niedling and Ingo Niermann One Thousand Pyramid Dollars (P$), 2015 Digital print 14,5 x 25,9 cm Erik Niedling and Ingo Niermann One Million Pyramid Dollars (P$), 2015 Digital print 14,5 x 25,9 cm
The series Pyramid Mountains Photographs, is the result of a worldwide search for a suitable mountain to realize Pyramid Mountain.
Pyramid Mountain Photograph I, 2014 Inkjet print on fibre-based paper 35 x 27,5 cmPyramid Mountain Photograph II, 2014 Inkjet print on fibre-based paper 35 x 27,5 cmPyramid Mountain Photograph III, 2014 Inkjet print on fibre-based paper 35 x 27,5 cmPyramid Mountain Photograph IV, 2014 Inkjet print on fibre-based paper 35 x 27,5 cmPyramid Mountain Photograph V, 2014 Inkjet print on fibre-based paper 35 x 27,5 cmPyramid Mountain Photograph VI, 2014 Inkjet print on fibre-based paper 35 x 27,5 cmPyramid Mountain Photograph VII, 2014 Inkjet print on fibre-based paper 27,5 x 35 cmPyramid Mountain Photograph VIII, 2014 Inkjet print on fibre-based paper 27,5 x 35 cmPyramid Mountain Photograph IX, 2014 Inkjet print on fibre-based paper 27,5 x 35 cmPyramid Mountain Photograph X, 2014 Inkjet print on fibre-based paper 27,5 x 35 cmPyramid Mountain Photograph XI, 2014 Inkjet print on fibre-based paper 27,5 x 35 cmPyramid Mountain Photograph XII, 2014 Inkjet print on fibre-based paper 27,5 x 35 cmPyramid Mountain Photograph XIII, 2014 Inkjet print on fibre-based paper 27,5 x 35 cmPyramid Mountain Photograph XIV, 2014 Inkjet print on fibre-based paper 27,5 x 35 cm
In his series of the Pyramid Paintings, Niedling uses the soot of discarded and destroyed paintings as colorants for abstract gestural notations. Only when he has perfected his work on the Pyramid Paintings to the point that they unvaryingly satisfy him over a long sequence will the series find completion. After Niedling captured the soot of his scrapped works on glass plates in his Teilchen (2012) series, he now rubs it onto canvases in his Pyramid Paintings, creating a link to an imaging technology that harks all the way back to cave paintings. Niedling’s painting is a pause in the face of the oversized challenge of making the Pyramid Mountain a reality. The alternation of creation and destruction recalls the cycles of life, and the completion of the series resembles death in perfection.
Untitled #01 (Pyramid Paintings), 2014 Soot on canvas 164 x 124 cmUntitled #02 (Pyramid Paintings), 2014 Soot on canvas 240 × 195 cmUntitled #04 (Pyramid Paintings), 2014 Soot on canvas 240 × 195 cmUntitled #6 (Pyramid Paintings), 2014 Soot on canvas 195 x 140 cmUntitled #8 (Pyramid Paintings), 2015 Soot on canvas 195 x 140 cmUntitled #10 (Pyramid Paintings), 2015 Soot on canvas 230 x 170 cmUntitled #12 (Pyramid Paintings), 2015 Soot on canvas 195 x 140 cm
List of works to be transferred to my burial chamber after my death. This is to be realized within Pyramid Mountain, conceived by Ingo Niermann—a pyramid at least 200 meters high carved from a natural mountain that will be reburied under the excavated material after my internment, restoring it to its original mountain shape. Pyramid Mountain not just buries a single human being and their treasures, it rather buries an entire epoch — of the white men – shaped by the cruel pursuit of symbolic immortality.
Room 1: Childhood
High display case
Top:
– Four vases from my family’s supply.
– Creamer that belonged to my grandparents.
Bottom:
– Two GDR toy army tanks.
– Seven GDR toy soldiers.
– Two Matchbox cars from the Intershop in Oberhof.
– GDR bottle openers showing marks I made in 1983.
– Wooden cat that stood in my childhood bedroom for as long as I can remember.
– Photograph (b/w), 1979: my parents with me at the parish fair in Bindersleben.
– Wooden pistol, 1979: carved by my father, with my fingerprint where I picked it up before the paint dried.
– White die that has always accompanied me.
– Shell, acquired through a trade in elementary school.
Room 2: Adolescence
Table display case
– Three certificates: DTSB school judo tournament, first place, 1984; school judo tournament, first place, 1985; Steelworkers’ Trophy, first place, 1986.
– GDR scorebook for judo.
– Photograph (b/w), 1986: judo training camp in Ł d z, Poland.
– Three judo medals: Spartakiad Children’s and Youth Games, bronze, 1987; Erfurt District Championship, silver, 1988; gold, 1988.
– Photograph (b/w), 1981: winning my first judo medal (bronze) in the Erfurt District Championship.
Table display case
– “Honor Dagger” from the German Wehrmacht.
– Bayonet, German Wehrmacht.
– Bayonet, German Wehrmacht.
– Casting mold for tin soldiers.
– Crocodile leather case, lined with ostrich leather.
– Stopwatch.
– Slice of ivory.
– Watchmaker’s hammer with ebony handle.
– Decorative spoon.
– Watchmaker’s shaping pliers.
– Paintbrush crafted from a bullet casing.
– Butcher knife that belonged to my grandfather.
– Piece of pottery from the Temple of Karnak (Egypt).
– Two Indian arrowheads made of flint.
– Flint arrowhead from the Stone Age.
– Amber pendant that belonged to my grandmother, which I wore for years after her death in 1988.
– Heart-shaped aluminum locket that belonged to my grandmother, contains a photograph (b/w) of my grandfather.
– Travel thermometer made of ivory.
Table display case
– School essay “Pauseneindrücke,” ca. 1986: describes a hike in the Krkonoše Mountains.
– Two photographs (b/w), 1989: Wehrausbildungslager (weaponstraining camp) in Beichlingen.
– Summons to the Wehrausbildungslager, 1989.
– GDR children’s I.D. card.
– GDR I.D. card.
– GDR passport.
– School notebook started by my parents, contains evaluations of my school conduct, 1985.
Table display case
– Reproduction (b/w) of a Depeche Mode poster.
– Bravo articles about Depeche Mode.
– Photograph (b/w), 1988: group portrait with Markus Bruszis, Andreas Horvath, and me, taken in a photography studio.
– Reichsbahn card forged by my girlfriend at the time, where I gave my name as Vincent Strauß.
– Gutting knife in a leather sheath.
– Photograph (color), 1989: Christmas in my parents’ modern living room.
– Certificate for my participation in a children’s painting contest held in India, undated (ca. 1987).
– Contract with my father regarding conditions of use of his leather jacket, with an additional clause concerning the length of my hair, 1989.
Table display case
– Poster design for the Anarchist’s Faction (AF), founded by me in 1990.
– AF foundation charter, 1990.
– Poster for a demonstration against Chancellor Helmut Kohl, 1990.
– AF logo design, 1990.
– Burgonet in packaging.
– Mouth guard shaped to fit my mouth.
– Sticker for an antifascist strike.
– Broken-off Mercedes star.
Table display case
– Letter from the Yeti mountain bike manufacturers, 1994.
– Yeti team jersey.
– Yeti catalog, 1991.
– Photograph (color, with red filter): me and Christian Zahn after a ride in the countryside.
– Swatch watch with a skewed face.
– Photograph (b/w), 1994: me and my skater friends.
– Key chain.
– Yeti shot glass.
– Two Yeti and Syncros buttons.
Room 3: Mark
Table display case
– Two slide reproductions (color), 1993: my upper arm following a laser tattoo removal.
Room 4: Travel Years
Table display case
– X-ray photograph, 1992: the broken bone that left me bedridden for several weeks, when I began taking photographs.
– Large-format negative, Type 55, 1994: Marc Holtmann, my photography mentor.
– Sketchbook, 1997–99, with a photograph of my slashed and blooddrenched undershirt from a knife attack in 1997.
– Article in the Thüringer Allgemeine on the founding of my project
space foto.raum in Erfurt and my search for like-minded people in the area, 1999.
– foto.raum stamp, 1999.
– Key chain in the form of a violet billiard ball.
– Polaroid, 1996: my friends Daniel Homes and Markus Bruszis.
– Old broken Pepsi bottle.
– Asphalt from the old Route 66.
– Barbour wax.
– Flier for Puck, a techno club in Erfurt.
– Admission ticket for a Bodycount concert at the Weimarhalle, 1993.
Table display case
– Erfurt city magazine t.akt 11 (1995) with a cover photograph (b/w) taken by me.
– Erfurt city magazine Boulevard 8 (1998) with an ad I designed for the Erfurt skate shop Orange Jungle: four photographs (b/w) and an excerpt from the novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.
– Promotional postcard for E & N Photography, Erfurt.
– Promotional postcard for Optiker Bettzüge, Erfurt.
– Two promotional postcards for the Orange Jungle skate shop, Erfurt.
– Invitation card for my exhibition “Mein Kampf. Dein Kampf” (My Struggle. Your Struggle) at foto.raum, a Leipzig project space opened for this project, 1999.
Table display case
– Polaroid camera.
– Passport, Federal Republic of Germany.
– Erik Niedling, Monochrome, portfolio (Bleicherode, 1999).
– “Kawumm” cannabis pipe, 1993: built by me in southern France.
– Zippo lighter that I shot several times with an air pistol.
– Passport photo, 1999: me with my mouth and shirt smeared with fake blood.
– Photograph of an installation in the “Mein Kampf. Dein Kampf” exhibition, foto.raum, Leipzig, 1999.
– Rock that Susann Lochthofen (n e Luthardt) used as an ashtray.
Room 5: Day
High display case
Top:
– Teapot my friends and I used to pass around LSD and Hawaiian Baby Woodrose on Christmas Eve 1998, at my shared flat at Theaterstra e 6, Erfurt.
– Headless, matte-black plaster sculpture I bought when I was in elementary school and later partially gilded and plated with silver.
– Poinsettia made of white paper.
– Cinzano bottle, like the one Christoph L schau had smashed over his head.
– Blank pistol, like the one fired to end the first part of the nocturnal disputes.
Bottom:
– Firewood from my father’s log pile, like the ones we used to heat the Theaterstraße 6 flat.
Room 6: Art
Table display case
– Six vinyl records with covers I designed for 1st Decade Records: Northern Lite, Treat Me Better, 2001; Northern Lite, My Pain, 2003; Monosurround versus Raccoon Brothers, Greepy Guys / Fingerlicking Good, 2003; Junghan , Zu lieb, 2005; Warren Suicide, Listen to National Radio Stations, 2003; Northern Lite, Treat Me Better, picture disc, 2003.
– Booklet 3Y1ST for the third anniversary of 1st Decade Records, 2003.
– Photograph (color), 2004: Helmut Geier (DJ Hell) in Tokyo.
– Stamp, 1st Decade Records.
– Pick from Northern Lite.
– Flier I designed for a party for the Neo.Pop compilation series, 2001.
– Notice of receipt for my “1st Decade Records” wordmark registration at the German Patent and Trademark Office, 2002.
Table display case
– Albert Renger-Patzsch and Ernst Jünger, Bäume, catalog (Ingelheim am Rhein, 1962).
– Albert Renger-Patzsch and Ernst Jünger, Gestein, catalog (Ingelheim am Rhein, 1966).
– Erik Niedling, Formation, catalog (Ostfildern, 2008).
– Erik Niedling, Fotografien/Photographs, catalog (Cologne, 2006).
– Erik Niedling, Status: EIKON Sonderdruck #11, catalog (Vienna, 2007).
– Erik Niedling, Blick, catalog (Erfurt, 2003).
– Erik Niedling, Produkt verschiedener Faktoren (Product of Various Factors), catalog (Erfurt, 2001).
– Ingo Niermann, Minusvisionen: Unternehmer ohne Geld, protocols (Frankfurt am Main, 2003), in which Jens Thiel says, “Meanwhile [Erik] has been hanging at all the German art fairs, but I think
it’s going to go international this year and with a little luck, our thing will be pulled along with the undertow.”
– Ingo Niermann, Umbauland: Zehn deutsche Visionen, essay (Frankfurt am Main, 2006), with one of the first descriptions of the idea of the Great Pyramid, a collective tomb for potentially every human being in the world.
– Ingo Niermann and Jens Thiel, eds., Solution 9: The Great Pyramid, essays (Berlin, 2008): Ingo Niermann describes how I (through Jens Thiel) started him on the idea of the Great Pyramid.
Room 7: The Future of Art
Table display case
– Ingo Niermann with Erik Niedling, The Future of Art: A Manual (Berlin, 2011).
– Horn purchased from Genesis and Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge.
– A4 sketch of Pyramid Mountain by Ingo Niermann, 2010.
– Pen from Tobias Rehberger.
– Broken ax from Thomas Bayrle.
– Target I shot at Coney Island, 2010.
Room 8: My Last Year
Table display case
– Luna magazine (Cologne, 2005): Ingo Niermann first describes his idea for the Last Year.
Average life expectancy can fool you into thinking you still have many years ahead. But what would it be like if you had only one left? What would you want to—what could you—experience in this limited period of time? Erik Niedling lived one year—from March 1, 2011 to February 29, 2012—as though it were his last.
My Last Year, 2011 Typewriter on paper 21,1 x 29,3 cmList of People, 2011 Typewriter on paper 21,1 x 29,3 cmTraining Plan, 2011 Typewriter on paper 21,1 x 29,3 cmForest Passage, 2011 Typewriter on paper 21,1 x 29,3 cmList of Works I/II, 2011 Typewriter on paper 21,1 x 29,3 cmList of Works I/II, 2011 Typewriter on paper 21,1 x 29,3 cmWishes, 2011 Typewriter on paper 21,1 x 29,3 cmContract I/III, 2011 Typewriter on paper 21,1 x 29,3 cmContract II/III, 2011 Typewriter on paper 21,1 x 29,3 cmContract III/III, 2011 Typewriter on paper 21,1 x 29,3 cm
In 1831 Honoré de Balzac wrote a short story, The Unknown Masterpiece, in which he invented the abstract painting. Almost 200 years later, writer Ingo Niermann tries to follow in his footsteps to imagine a new epoch-making artwork. Together with the artist Erik Niedling he starts searching for the future of art and, seeking advice, meets key figures of the art world. With guidance by Thomas Bayrle, Olaf Breuning, Genesis and Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge, Olafur Eliasson, Harald Falckenberg, Boris Groys, Damien Hirst, Gregor Jansen, Terence Koh, Gabriel von Loebell, Marcos Lutyens, Philomene Magers, Antje Majewski, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Thomas Olbricht, Friedrich Petzel, and Tobias Rehberger.
