In Search of Asylum 

Since September 2023, visitors to the Hessenpark Open Air Museum have been able to view parts of the former container accommodation for refugees from Oberursel. The accommodation was built in 1990 and, after years of public criticism, vacated in 2016.

The Open Air Museum took over four of the containers and parts of the original furnishings. They were rebuilt in Hessenpark 2023. Between two and five people shared a container room, which measured two metres wide and six metres in length.

The “In Search of Asylum” exhibition tells the story of the container accommodation. The right to asylum, causes of flight and the accommodation of asylum seekers in the 1990s are also discussed. The asylum procedure is a major obstacle for many refugees.

Those affected themselves repeatedly have their say and share their stories. Only a few refugees want their personal stories to be made public. Their memory often weighs too heavily and the resulting fear that their persecutors are still pursuing them in Germany today is too great. A few refugees were willing to talk to us for the exhibition as exceptions.