Thomas Lutz
Encyclopedia
Thomas Lutz is the head of the Memorial Museums Department of the Topography of Terror Foundation
in Berlin, and active in Holocaust education and commemoration at the national (German) and international level.
in 1975 at the Paul-Gerhard School in Laubach (Oberhessen) History, Political Science and Sport in Marburg until 1981. In 1983 he took the second state examination in Benshaim in order to become a teacher at secondary schools.
As alternative service for Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP)
Thomas Lutz supervised visiting groups at the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau
.
Since 1984 he was working in the Berlin office of ARSP
on the newly founded Memorial Museums Department which coordinates the work of memorial sites, especially those with a focus on recognition and documentation of Holocaust victims
.
His assignment also includes the counselling of governments, parliaments and non-governmental-organisations as well as a diverse educational work and public relations.
Since 1993 he has been working in the same capacity for the Topography of Terror Foundation
in Berlin.
Thomas Lutz is chairman of the international board of the Brandenburg Memorial Foundation and of the academic advisory council of the Memorial Sites Saxony-Anhalt Foundation.
He is also the manager of the Working Group Concentration Camp Memorials in Germany.
The federal commissioner for culture and media appointed him in the expert body for advising on the financial allocation in the context of the federal memorial site stock.
On an international level he co-founded the International Committee of Memorial Museums in Remembrance of the Victims of Public Crimes (ICMEMO) as International Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM)
in 2001 in Barcelona. He was vice-president of the ICMEMO for 6 years.
Since 2000 he is one of the German delegates of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF)
to which currently 24 countries are contributing.
He was chairman of the foundation of Memorials and Museums Working Group of the ITF
.
As participant of the International Forum Mauthausen he is advising the Austrian Federal Ministry for the Interior
on the remodelling of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp memorial
.
He is also in the board of trustees of the ARSP
.
Lutz wrote his dissertation about the development of the permanent exhibitions that are funded by the federal memorial site stock since 2000. Thereby he examined the museological development and the construcitve educational work (Technische Universität Berlin, Fakultät I, Prof. Hanns-Fred Rathenow und Prof. Dr. Volkhard Knigge, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena).
The focus of his historical research is the history of the 20th century in Germany concentrating on the incurrence conditions and history of the National Socialism (NS)
and the political offenders committed during this period in German-occupied Europe.
Topography of Terror
The Topography of Terror is an outdoor museum in Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is located in Niederkirchnerstrasse, formerly Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse, on the site of buildings which during the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945 were the headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS, the principal...
in Berlin, and active in Holocaust education and commemoration at the national (German) and international level.
Life
Thomas Lutz studied after the AbiturAbitur
Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...
in 1975 at the Paul-Gerhard School in Laubach (Oberhessen) History, Political Science and Sport in Marburg until 1981. In 1983 he took the second state examination in Benshaim in order to become a teacher at secondary schools.
As alternative service for Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP)
Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP)
The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace is a German peace organization founded to confront the legacy of Nazism.The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace was founded in 1958 by the synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany, driven by the efforts of Lothar Kreyssig...
Thomas Lutz supervised visiting groups at the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
.
Since 1984 he was working in the Berlin office of ARSP
Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP)
The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace is a German peace organization founded to confront the legacy of Nazism.The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace was founded in 1958 by the synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany, driven by the efforts of Lothar Kreyssig...
on the newly founded Memorial Museums Department which coordinates the work of memorial sites, especially those with a focus on recognition and documentation of Holocaust victims
Holocaust victims
While the term Holocaust victims generally refers to Jews, the Nazis also persecuted and often killed millions of members of other groups they considered inferior , undesirable or dangerous....
.
His assignment also includes the counselling of governments, parliaments and non-governmental-organisations as well as a diverse educational work and public relations.
Since 1993 he has been working in the same capacity for the Topography of Terror Foundation
Topography of Terror
The Topography of Terror is an outdoor museum in Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is located in Niederkirchnerstrasse, formerly Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse, on the site of buildings which during the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945 were the headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS, the principal...
in Berlin.
Thomas Lutz is chairman of the international board of the Brandenburg Memorial Foundation and of the academic advisory council of the Memorial Sites Saxony-Anhalt Foundation.
He is also the manager of the Working Group Concentration Camp Memorials in Germany.
The federal commissioner for culture and media appointed him in the expert body for advising on the financial allocation in the context of the federal memorial site stock.
On an international level he co-founded the International Committee of Memorial Museums in Remembrance of the Victims of Public Crimes (ICMEMO) as International Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM)
International Council of Museums
The International Council of Museums is an international organization of museums and museum professionals that is committed to the conservation, continuation and communication to society of the world's natural and cultural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible.- Overview :Created...
in 2001 in Barcelona. He was vice-president of the ICMEMO for 6 years.
Since 2000 he is one of the German delegates of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF)
Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research
The Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research is an inter-governmental organization established in 1998. The organisation's mandate is founded upon the principles laid out by the Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust...
to which currently 24 countries are contributing.
He was chairman of the foundation of Memorials and Museums Working Group of the ITF
Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research
The Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research is an inter-governmental organization established in 1998. The organisation's mandate is founded upon the principles laid out by the Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust...
.
As participant of the International Forum Mauthausen he is advising the Austrian Federal Ministry for the Interior
Federal Ministry for the Interior (Austria)
The Federal Ministry for the Interior is a ministry of the Austrian federal government.It has offices in the Palais Modena. The current head of the ministry is minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner....
on the remodelling of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp memorial
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
.
He is also in the board of trustees of the ARSP
Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP)
The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace is a German peace organization founded to confront the legacy of Nazism.The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace was founded in 1958 by the synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany, driven by the efforts of Lothar Kreyssig...
.
Lutz wrote his dissertation about the development of the permanent exhibitions that are funded by the federal memorial site stock since 2000. Thereby he examined the museological development and the construcitve educational work (Technische Universität Berlin, Fakultät I, Prof. Hanns-Fred Rathenow und Prof. Dr. Volkhard Knigge, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena).
The focus of his historical research is the history of the 20th century in Germany concentrating on the incurrence conditions and history of the National Socialism (NS)
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and the political offenders committed during this period in German-occupied Europe.
Publications
In addition to the publication of the Memorial Sites Journal, which is printed six times a year and the editorial supervision of the Online Memorial Sites Forum including a daily press overview in the area of memorial sites, Thomas Lutz published numerous books and essays.Literature
- Thomas Lutz: Zwischen Vermittlungsanspruch und emotionaler Wahrnehmung. Die Gestaltung neuer Dauerausstellungen in Gedenkstätten für NS-Opfer in Deutschland und deren Bildungsanspruch Technische Universität Berlin: Berlin, 2009.
- Dietmar Sedlaczek, Thomas Lutz, Ulrike Puvogel, Ingrid Tomkowiak (Ed.): „minderwertig“ und „asozial“. Stationen der Verfolgung gesellschaftlicher Außenseiter Chronos Verlag: Zürich 2005, ISBN 978-30-3400-716-0.
- Verena Radkau, Eduard Fuchs, Thomas Lutz (Hg.): Genozide und staatliche Gewaltverbrechen im 20. Jahrhundert Studien Verlag: Innsbruck, Wien, München, Bozen 2004, ISBN 978-37-0654-060-5.