Zug/Ende

In 1872 a railway line was built between St. Valentin and Gaisbach that was used for decades by long-distance trains between Prague and Triest, as well as by regional trains traveling over Zirking. During the time of National Socialism in Austria, this route was also used for prisoner transports on their way to the concentration camp in Mauthausen. After the end of WWII, this stretch of railway marked the border between the occupying powers, but this aspect lost much of its importance after the erection of the iron curtain, and was dismantled in 1956. Today, only the remains of the railway embankments can be seen, there are very few photographs and even the memory of the railway line in the region is slowly but surely fading.

For the piece Zug/Ende a stage-like reconstruction of an old passenger train was created, cut off after three meters and placed at the train station in Gaisbach-Wartberg. By sitting down in the last remaining seat, the view of the audience is directed out at the missing railway line. It forms an invitation to go on an imaginary journey into a forgotten past – or a possible future. The installation Zug/Ende was taken over with the kind permission of the municipality of Wartberg ob der Aist and now sits on the meadow by the train station Gaisbach-Wartberg, even after the end of the Festival of the Regions.

Concept, design and project management: Martin Lasinger
Collaboration: Thomas Aschenbrenner, Ernst Berger, Herbert Winklehner
Thanks to: ÖBB OBW Wegscheid, Lokmuseum Ampflwang, Markus Müller, Manfred Riepl, OteloWeitersfelden, Josef Lasinger, Alexander Wilhelm, Janina Wegscheider

With special thanks for the support of the market town Wartberg ob der Aist

CV
Martin Lasinger bmoves between media art, artistic craft, and cultural work in the Mühlviertel. He is working on various different projects, some of which may never see the light of day, and asks himself how quickly things can be normalised.