Dr. Joachim Tautz will present a biography of Edith Ruß, after whom the building was originally named. The focus will be on Edith Ruß’s work as a journalist during the Nazi regime. The speaker will address denazification and the question of the relationship to the NSDAP after 1945. In this context, he will discuss membership in the National Socialist Party and issues related to the press between 1933 and 1945. Finally, the lecture will examine arguments that arose in the public debate surrounding the naming of the House of Media Art.
Dr. Joachim Tautz was born in Wilhelmshaven in 1953. After completing his schooling and earning his Abitur in Oldenburg, he studied history in Göttingen, Hanover, and Oldenburg. He earned his doctorate with the dissertation Militaristic Youth Policy in the Weimar Republic: Jungstahlhelm and Scharnhorst, Bund deutscher Jungmannen. From 1998 to 2025, Tautz served as a lecturer at the universities of Oldenburg and Vechta. He has collaborated on numerous museum projects. The focus of his academic work is regional history, particularly in the 20th century. Together with Dr. Mareike Witkowski, the speaker researched the origins of street names in Wardenburg, Vechta, Cloppenburg, and Meppen. With his colleague, he authored the expert report on Edith Ruß.
Admission is free.