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H A N S H A A C K E

MEN OF MUSCLEMEN OF THE MIND

Die Eahiic hoch! (Rai.se the Flag) , taken frotn the first line of a Nazi sotig,was ihc installation prepared by Hans Haacke lor "ArgusAuge". anoutdoor exhibition held on the K nigspiatz in Munich ( 13 September - 10October 1991), curaled by Wemer Fenz under the auspices of theStdtische Galerie itn Lenbachhaus.This installation comprised a flag with the inscription Zutn AppellDeutsehe Industrie im Irak (Roll-callGerman Industry in Iraq) andphoto silkscreen of the SS-badge, 550 x 350 cm; two nags with names ofGerman corporations , eacb 1100 x 250 cm; and Propylaea. the triumphalgate tTanked by two neo-classical museum buildings around Munich'sninotoenth-century city sq uare.

Just before the end of the exhibition, a Munieh jtidge issutemporary injunction against mentioning Ruhrgas on the flags lisGerman corporations irt Iraq. Two months later, the city ofMunich Ruhrgas AG reached a settlement according to which a note was loincluded iti the catalogue of the exhibition, explaining thai it was Ruhrgas AG but LOI Saar Industrieofenanlagen GmbH which conducbusiness with Iraq. LOI Saar Industeofen anlagen GmbH is a fully owsubsidiary of Ruhrgas AG.

The following text was written in AugusI 1991 for the "ArgttsAu(Argus-eye) catalogue.

In the Munich subw ay, sitting on the Knigsplatz (King 'sSquare) station platfomi is a stone Otto. To his right, in ahairsbirt stands a hippie, with long hair and a long beard. Heappears to be past hismidlife crisis. Sotiic people think heresembles our dear Lord Jesus. However, ignoring him totally.Otto Jr. stares at four Drer evangelists and does not think fora moment of offering bis seat to the gentleman who clearlywould have seniority, were it really HIM. Moreover, the almostnaked, though helmeted, bodybuilder, striking a contrapostoon his left, docs not deign to look at hairy face either. Instead,be takes an interest incurley, who, clad in a skimpy tunic, iscasually leaning on a ship's rudder. A sign informs us that thislight-footed fellow is a representative of the "merchant class.

whose rudder andother attributes remind us of bow trsupports the state". Frotn the same sign we gather that the naked man to the far right and the He nn a he is busying himwith, embody science and art.Passengers waiting for the No. 2 train who know the pcan tell you that this group and the extras who, more orscantily dressed, stand, kneel, and loll about in glass casesthe station platform, did not quite make it unharmed throth e Blut und Boden (blood and soil) war and the air polluthat followed. Originally they were ensconced in the pedimof the Propyiaea on Knigsplatz. They now continue texhibitionism inan air raid shelter. Celebrating victory inpediment of the martial gate are mere simulacra.

H A N S H A A C K E ts a .\eic Y ork-based artist icbo bas e.xbibited e.xle>isirely througho ut Europe and tbe USA,5 0 ARTSTEKT 42 1992

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HsNS H A A C K EDie Fat\ne H och!1991Knigsplatz , Munich

In 1832. Otto On e. the model of the Bavarian court sculptorSchwanthaler. was l i fted onto the Greek throne France,England and Russia had built especially for him. Once upthere, half a century after the French Revolution, the Bavariantried "by divine right" to introduce Bavarian ways and togovern in a strictly unconstitutional manner. After a euphoricperiod at the beginning, the ungrateful Greeks were not at allpleased. Eventually, after thirty years in the sun and withoutfurther ado. they sent him back to Munich. Meanwhile, "inorder to give the marble workers of the Unterberg somethingto eat", Ludwig I had a triumphal gate erected for his eldest.He paid for it with the tax money of his former subjects ( in fast-paced Bavaria he had lost his throne already in 1848, due to hispersistent hostility to a constitution). The Propyiaea wasunveiled on the day before sun-tanned Otto returned to thebanks of the Isar. On the facades of its fortified towers, theK i n g o f B a v a r i a - R u h m e s h a l l e - W a l h a l l a p r o v i d e d f orsculptural celebrations of the heroic struggle of the ChristianGreeks against the Turkish infidels. He did not skimp onBavarian lions and crosses. In spirit, he had also fought inGreece (by now Bavarians have more or less reconciledthemselves with the Ottoman NATO allies, still infidels, andhave called them to punch in at their time-clocks).

This forum of absolute monarchy, in philheilenic dress,proved i ts worth as a set for various demonstrat ions of

powerand of art, even after the demise of its creatorcreative crowd from Schwabing appreciated that Knigis in easy walking distance. In the thirties of our centurexample, the postcard painter Adolf Hitler and his first mbuilder Troost, who had made himself a name with the indecoration of ocean liners, gave the .square a new orientatitoward the East, This was Otto's line of vision frompedim ent of his gate. In the East, there still was space. Bethe Bar low Pa la i s - turned-Braunes Haus (Brown Howhich Troost had already brought up to ocean liner standand Ludwig's temple-studded landscape, there was roomFidirerbau (with a balcony for the proclamation of the MAgreement), and even for the National Socialist corpheadquariers. including monumental logos.Provisions could be made for worship. It occurred tcreators that s ince the takeover, the Blutzeitgen (BWitnesses) had been left at the Odeon splaiz, N ow there wopportunity to accommodate them properly in two brandEhrentempel (Temples of Honour), constructions offerinlatest amenities. They were fully equipped with fire bwhich arc so popular in the art world of Munich, andincluded a double set of SS-guards. Troost's columns inew houses of w orship, those unique forms of dignity, fitechoed his columns of the Haus der Deutschen Kunst,was under construction at the same time (generously spon

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Tvmpanijm ol PropylaeaKor igsp la tz , Mun ich

by Germ an b usiness). They also parodied the order of colum nsof the Wittelsbach temples. Only the civilian lawn was out ofplace. Daisies are sound-absorbent. And even Lwenzahn(lion's tooth = dandelion) cannot straighten out a bunch ofthugs disguised in uniform. There had to be slabs of granite!Only then could the roar of '^HIER!" during the Blutzeugenroll-call make peo ple's flesh crawl. Death's-head insignia werefinally given a fitting environment. And a resounding echo forpledges of allegiance was now assured. With hardly any loss,these audio ceremonies could be carried by radio to the farthestregions ofthe expanding Reichand scare the wits out oftheunworthy. For those (Jews, gypsies, Marxist trouble-makers,culture Bolsheviks, clerics lacking humility, queers, and otherriffraff) a place to stay had been made available in Dachau, onthe outskirts of Munich. Every now and then, when the weatherwas nice, from the fortified towers ofthe Propylaea one couldsee smoke signals rising from there.

For the men of business the postcard pain ter's temple of arton Prinzrcgcntenstrasse was not the first and would not be thelast occasion to dip into their pockets to fulfil one of the artist'sfavourite wishes. For he had convinced them that his type ofsocialism was in fact "love ofth e country and its people", thathe was committed to an independent national economy", andthat he would fight tor a powerful state and strong amied forces(secret code: a boost to the arms industry!. They were also

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reassured by his promise that the "expropriation of lawithout compensation", referred to in the charier of his ric lub, was a imed 'pr imari ly a t the Jewish rea l e s taspeculators". Moreover, Mr Hitler had proven in Munich thhe cared about obedience and could restore order. He wasman to cope with those irresponsible crazies of the Marxinfiltrated unions.

Fri tz Thyssen was the first who recognized that tcomedian from Munich was called to higher tbings. He wsoon followed by a member of his class, Friedrich Flick. Athe gentlemen from AEG, tbe Mining Association, and IEarben did not want to wait too long wilh their contributioEmil Georg von Strauss, the chairman of tbe Daimler-Besupervisor}' board and a leading director of Deutsche Banhad a revelation: this was the man for the future of GermanIn 1933, fol lowing the latest fashion, his com rad e, tpresident ofthe star-struck Stuttgart car maker, donned a nblack SS-uni form and began sponsor ing the "Heri tagprogram of his new club. To the staff he extolled the "radicchange of the German people from a mass of resisting forcin the political, social, and economic fields to an internally aexternally cohesive, purposeful nat ional unity". Lookiahead he proclaimed: "The German automobile industry seits mission in fulfilling this great responsibility. Howevinspired by the Fhrer's idea of team effort, this job must

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Helief on tower of Propylaea dep iclirg battis between Greeks and rurks

accomplished by the collaboration of all forces."Soon it was teeming with Wehrwirtschaftsfiihrer (arms-economy leaders). Industry was running full speed. Jews wereout in the cold, and there was no more mention of classstruggle. In collaboration with the experienced Reichsfhrer-SS, an ambitious program was staried to create jobs forprisoners of war, foreign workers and persons in protectivecustody. Manufacturers of stretchers and crutches, particularly,experienced a boom. As part of a general expansion of thehealth service, new and trail-blazing techniques weredeveloped. The postcard pa inter's concept of Blut und Boden.which until then had meant little to most Germans, gained newsignificance and appreciation, now based on personalexperience. Finally, history was in the making again!After the fight to the last drop of blood, the cream of topexecutives went on to the creation of the economic miracle.Old burdens, especially those of the right convictions, werefinished with in a remarkably short time. In Otto's field ofvisionhe had suffered a face wound there were somestructural changes. The Ehreiiteinpelwere no longer up to date.They were blown up, together with the Blutzeugen. Wildlifepreserves took their place. Troost's corporate headquarters wasturned temporarily into a lost-and-found office for abandonedworks of art. Eventually it was handed over to ari aficionados.In the Fhrerbau, the companion structure on the other side of

the street, the halls were now echoing musical rehearsalthan rhetorical exercises. With great sensitivity, the lothe previous owner were put into storage. The granitused to the marching stride of tough pedestrians, had toto the new wave of automobile rubber tires lining up. Hoeven that still evoked memories of the square's big timesome years, the granite slabs disappeared in a warehousgrass is growing there.Bearing in mind the close relationship betwemuscleman and the swift merchant, which was expressgreat empathy and foresight by Ludwig I, in the pedimthe Propylaea, a new generation of Wehrwirtschaftsfiihto work. Their pioneering spirit, sense for qualitpersistence has since won international recognition. Ecrisis areas, where competitors hesitate with commitment, they can be counted on.True to Shakespeare's line "The readiness is all" it sembraced in public annou ncements, Daimler-Benz exceas well. Together with the South African govemment, tready strongmen from Stuttgart are building heavy andheavy diesel engines in the country where heritamatters. They also made a highly valued contributionfleet of the local forces of law and order. Nobody eprepared to get involved so deeply. And that wasn't 1985, under the leadership of Jrgen Schrempp, presi

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Temple ol Honorerected by Nais tor their "martyrs"

Knigsplat;, Munich

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H A N S H A A C K EDie Fahne Hochi idel1991KDrigsplat2, Mun ch

Mercedes Benz of South Africa Ltd, the company made anadditional investment of DM 150 million. Thereupon, EdzardReuter, the man beyond reproach, handed the joystick of hisnew Deutsche Aerospace (MBB, MTU. Domier, Telefunken)to the proven strategist from South Africa. Schrempp's cockpitis in Schwabing, the Munich artist hangout. One, two, three,four ..., in no time the corporate identity people came up witha four-pointed star for Dasa.

As at Daimler's, the will to fight came alive with other bignames of German industry. From AEG to Thyssen, they allremembered their glorious past and took up the challenge ofthe future. Even .small and middle-sized companies mobilized.A decisive factor for their remarkable success was the lack ofconcern the new generation of executives showed toward theimage and the logos of their clients. For them it was irrelevanthow many points the star had, what types of crosses weresported, and on what colour and shape grounds crescents andscimitars appeared. On the balance sheet they were all equal.Free enterprise was arming for the future in the Orient. It wasthere that extraordinary and fascinating challenges presentedthemselves. Initial successes were scored in the field of exoticchemical products (know-how from the past could be calledupon). Halabdsha gained worldwide recognition. AlsoSamarra, Faliudsha, and Salman Pak became internationally

known nam es. The Father of the People of Iraq was interin a broad range of products, and so he summoned tcountry experts for all sorts of highly specialized equipand developments. Among the chosen were also nuengineers from Siemens, a company with a venerable trad

When they were called upon to mobilize for the "MothAll Battles", of course the men of D aimler rallied. Theylarge batches of various types of rockets, helicopters, mivehicles, and flatbed trucks into the sand. Kurds and Shwere particulariy impressed by the MBB helicopters. Ouhis realm, the enemies of the Great Saladin were frighmore by his Mercedes flatbed trucks (extra long, special paint, matte). To be sure, nothing was delivered for free.the Emirate of Kuwait, a major Daimler shareholder, proWhen the desert storm had passed. WehiM'irtschaftsfiihrer from Stuttgart placed a confesthe Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung:We are fascinated by technological progress, and wcom mit ted to con t inua l ly improve and peperformance. But we forget sometimes that there are things as well which are important: atl, for example. integrate art into our everyday life, it prompts us and again to see the world in a new way.

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