Erasmus Plus-Projekt 2017 in Kroatien

Postkarte KriegsheimkehrerSchülerinnen und Schüler der Jgst. 9 bis 11 können sich in diesem Schuljahr erneut am Erasmusprojekt “Transforming Europe” beteiligen. Das seit 2015 aus Mitteln der europäischen Union geförderte Projekt geht im April 2017 in die vierte Runde und führt die Schülerinnen und Schüler nach Kroatien. Eine Woche lang, vom 17. bis zum 23. September 2017, tragen Jugendliche aus fünf Ländern in unserer IB-Partnerschule in Varaždin kreative Ideen zusammen und erstellen gemeinsam ein E-Book, das einen neuen Blick auf die Zeit von 1917 bis 2017 eröffnen soll:

  • Wie sah es in Europa vor 100 Jahren aus? Wie war das Leben damals für Kinder und Jugendliche an der sogenannten Heimatfront, für junge Soldaten in den Schützengräben oder Schwesternhelferinnen in den Lazaretten?
  • Wo finden wir in unserer Stadt Zeugnisse dieser Geschichte(n)?
  • Was können wir aus heutiger Sicht aus den Erfahrungen von damals lernen?
  • Wie hat der Krieg die politischen und moralischen Überzeugungen in Europa verändert?

Vorbereitung April – Juni 2017

Wer mitmachen möchte, sollte Spaß daran haben Geschichte aus Sicht der kleinen Leute zu entdecken. Unsere Schule und die Stadt Essen öffnen ihre Archive für Euch. Es gilt Bilder (Fotos, Poster, Postkarten) und Texte (Auszüge aus Briefen, Tagebüchern, Zeitungen usw.) zusammenzutragen, kritisch auszuwerten und Eure Fundstücke online über eTwinning anderen Schülerinnen und Schülern in englischer Sprache vorzustellen. Wie das geht, erklären Euch Herr Boergen und Frau Heup in der Erasmus AG. Das erste Info-Treffen findet statt am Donnerstag, dem 6. April 2017, 14.20 – 15.00 Uhr, in Raum 25. Bei Bedarf ist eine Unterrichtsbefreiung möglich. Weitere Termine folgen nach Absprache.

Projektwoche im September 2017

Erasmus-LogoWährend der Projektwoche in Kroatien könnt Ihr Euch je nach Interesse und Talent in unterschiedlichen Rollen an der Produktion eines englischen E-Books beteiligen, z. B. in den Bereichen Design und Illustrationen, Cartoons, Sachtexte oder kreative Texte. Die Gruppen werden dabei bunt gemischt mit Schülerinnen und Schülern aus Kroatien, Dänemark, Polen, den Niederlanden und natürlich aus Deutschland.

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Foto: Beschriftete Postkarte, von Frl. Nördingen an ihren Verlobten Johann Ostermeier und Retour. Dieser diente im 1. Armeekorps, 1. Division, II. Inf. Regiment,  – 1918. Aus der Privatsammlung von Michael Postenrieder. Fotografiert von Michael Kassube. Diese Datei ist unter der Creative-Commons-Lizenz „Namensnennung – Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 3.0 nicht portiert“ lizenziert.

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Erasmus Students at the Erasmus Bridge

During the project week in Rotterdam our Erasmus students focused very much on the production of their WWI documentary, but in the afternoon of Thursday, 9th March 2017, film cameras, computers and microphones were left behind, when the group was taken on a tour through the city by Carolyn McNanie. One of the first stops was Rotterdam Harbour…

… and the famous Erasmus Bridge, named after the philosopher Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (1466-1536), who is also the name giver to the European Commission’s educational programme ERASMUS PLUS, which offers European students – like the ones at Goetheschule Essen –  the opportunity to study abroad.

[Portrait of Erasmus by Hans Holbein the Younger]

The guided tour ended at Rotterdam Central Station, where visitors are reminded of Erasmus’ conviction “Space separates bodies, not minds”.

Making an Erasmus Documentary on the First World War

Group Work

Filmmaking is teamwork. It involves many different steps, including scriptwriting, sound recording and editing the final product. What is takes to make a good documentary is hard work, perseverance and passion. The Dutch Erasmus Coordinator was amazed to see so much devotion among the students who had come together in Rotterdam: ″The students had been at school since nine in the morning, but when I told them to pack up because the school was to close at five, there was that German kid who came to me and asked ′Do we really have to go…?′″

Group Work2

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Fotos: Eva Heidemann, 2017

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Filming in Flanders

Erasmus-lilaAfter having spent a night in the Peace Village in Flanders, the Erasmus group set out to explore the region with its many memorial places. Here are some sites which the young filmmakers chose to visit in order to make a documentary on scientific and technological advances and ethical issues during WWI.

The Death Cells in Poperinge

Todeszelle GrafittiMany traumatised soldiers, who suffered from shell shock, were considered cowards during WWI. In the prison cells of Poperinge town hall some spent the last night before their execution and carved graffiti into the walls while waiting for certain death. Outside, a poem by the Flemish poet Erwin Mortier reminds us of the soldiers’ fate.

Todeszelle Denkmal

The final stanza refers directly to the soldiers’ graffiti: “Licht, graues Licht / ätzt Worte, spröde / Worte in die Wände.”

Sanctuary Wood Museum

Schützengräben

In the Sanctuary Wood Museum the students filmed in WWI trenches.

Filmen im Schutzengraben Im Schützengraben

During lunch break some also visited the Sanctuary Wood Cemetry together with Ms Heidemann and Mr Preyer.

Soldatenfriedhof Sanctuary Wood

Passendale Research Centre

In Passendale the students spoke with experts about aviation, chemical warfare, coding and decoding, communication technologies and trauma treatment.

St. Julien War Memorial

The bus stopped next at St. Julien War Memorial, which was erected by the Canadians in the very spot where German troops had started the first poison gas attack on 22nd April 1915.

Canada Soldatendenkmal Canada Soldatendenkmal1 Canda Soldatendenkmal Detail

Hooge Crater Museum and Langemark German Military Cemetry

The tour finished with a visit to Hooge Crater Museum and the Langemark German Militry Cemetry. The cemetry became the final resting place for 44.061 German soldiers who had been killed in Flanders during WWI.

Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof

Filming in Ypres

Erasmus-lila

Thirty students from Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands met on Monday, 6th March 2017, at Rotterdam International School to get to know each other and discuss a most ambitious project: making a WWI documentary with a special focus on technology and science. On the same day they left the Netherlands again and set off by coach to Belgium.

Ypres-Soldatendenkmal

Four hours later the Erasmus group arrived in Ypres. Like most visitors they passed through the main town gate, which serves as a war memorial for soldiers who fought at Ypres between 1914 and 1918 and whose graves are unknown to this day.

Ypres-Soldatendenkmal2

Ypres-Soldatendenkmal1

After the end of WWI Ypres lay in ruins. The medieval cloth hall was rebuilt and is today home of the In Flanders Fields Museum.

YpresBelgliumWWIpd

Flanders Fields Museum mini

The museum is usually closed on Mondays, but thanks to the initiative of Carolyn McNanie Moschopoulos and the dedication of the museum’s educational team the Erasmus students were given exclusive access to the exhibition and had the opportunity to interview experts. The German group filmed their interview about the use of chemical weapons and the development of  gas masks in the museum’s cafeteria.

Interview Flanders Fields Museum

The interview was conducted by Kim Obermayer, Year 11.

Film Crew Flanders Fields Museum

In the background the film crew, that is Hendrik, Patrick, Benjamin, Philipp and Dennis, kept checking camera angles, lighting and sound.

Interview Flanders Fields Museum 1

The group’s interview later became part of the Erasmus documentary that was produced from 6th to 10th March 2017…

GasMask Flanders Fields Museum

… and shows original war relics and war theatres.

Flanders Fields Museum1

After the interview the students explored the exhibition, which reconstructs war scenes from the battlefields in Flanders…

GasMask Flanders Fields Museum1

… and uses green and red light to symbolise the approaching gas clouds and the bloodshed.

At the end of the first day everybody felt like having just travelled through time. The next day, however, was to bring even more new impressions at places that made history come to life.
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Fotos:

Destruction at Ypres, France, during World War I. [Original reads: ‘OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE – The Cloth Hall at Ypres again the centre of interest.’] This may be used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Heup, Erasmus Module 3, 2017

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