A lost place in Schwerin
KIW stands for Kraftfahrzeug-Instandsetzungs-Werk.
Between 1958 and 1963, a modern large-scale repair plant was built in Schwerin's Weststadt district between Mittelweg and Hopfenbruchweg. In the huge hall complex, 800 employees repaired cars and trucks on an assembly line. It was the largest vehicle repair plant in the GDR.
Soon after reunification, operations were discontinued and over the years the site mutated into a typical lost place.
MV-Foto came up with the idea of photographically exploring this interesting site of industrial architecture, presenting the results in the photo gallery and thus bringing it to mind. Eleven members of the association photographed there over three weekends: Anne Jüngling, Klaus-Peter Schmidt, Maria Schöne, Maria Schütt, Markus Wedde, Manfred Klement, Martin Ahlert, Olaf Bellmann, Rainer Dahlmeier, Raoul Hinze and Thomas Dürr.
The photographers' search for motifs brought the site, which had been disused for 30 years, to life for a short time - one brought friends along for scenic arrangements, another came with a band and one photographer lured his nude model to Schwerin. This resulted in very different perspectives on a former place of work: huge empty halls, traces, details, graffiti and abandoned rooms - today a monument to the history of Schwerin.
