Patrons: Ralph Anders, Petra Bozzo, Janina Briesemeister, Doreen Hahn, Carolin Hartinger, Manuela Hartinger, Cindy Kowalzik, Marina Krüger, Tom Sterly, Ulrike Wagner, Anke Wulff

Commission: Our village community is fragile — shaped by old wounds and a daily life that brings us together less and less. We are looking for an art project that brings together people in our village who would otherwise avoid each other: not celebrating together, but doing together — something we create collectively, something that sustains us and reaches into the future.

Mediator: Sophia Trollmann

Period: From 2025

Partner: Bundesministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Heimat (BMLEH)

Lead organization: Urban Planning Department of BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg as part of Innovation im Dorf durch Kunst und Dialog (Innovation in the Village through Art and Dialogue)

Golzow in the Oderbruch region is known far beyond its borders — through Die Kinder von Golzow (“The Children of Golzow”), the long-term documentary filmed by Winfried and Barbara Junge between 1961 and 2007. Those who mention on vacation that they come from Golzow often encounter the same reaction: “Oh, THAT Golzow?” Many in the village are proud of this — including those who never appeared on camera themselves. The films show people who continue to shape the village to this day. And they recall something that many feel is missing now: a strong sense of community.

People pass each other by, barely knowing one another anymore. The reasons are many: old wounds that never fully healed, but also a changed reality of work. Those who are out all day and come home exhausted in the evening have little energy left to get involved. Many are increasingly withdrawing, hardly knowing their own neighbors — and the barrier to attending a community event keeps growing. It is a vicious cycle: many people long for more togetherness, yet say in the same breath: "Don't hold me to anything — I don't have the capacity for new commitments." The village community has lost its routine; it has fallen out of practice.

“Old disappointments make it hard to reach out to one another.”

From the Commission

And yet the people of Golzow know very well the value of community: for them, it is a source of happiness. People feel good when they are seen and accepted — and that starts small, with something as simple as a greeting. If someone is not greeted once, they stop greeting others themselves.

And some challenges a village can only solve together. The energy transition, climate change, and new technologies are bringing changes that affect everyone. But how can new ideas take hold when people neither value nor trust one another?

It is out of exactly this desire that a group of patrons came together — people who would otherwise have little to do with each other and who, over the course of the process, have truly gotten to know one another for the first time. Their collaboration is itself already a small preview of what they wish for the whole village.

Golzow should grow back together. Rather than shared celebrations, the patrons are looking for something that is created and carried collectively — their own experience shows: it is precisely the act of doing things together that forges stronger bonds than any festival.

“Golzow should become a village that grows back together — loud and in motion.”

From the Commission