35 years ago, a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded and left a trail of devastation: a radioactive cloud moved over Europe, people had to leave their homes and Pripyat, located near the nuclear power plant, became a ghost town. Since then, a 30-kilometer-wide exclusion zone surrounds the scene of the accident.

But the region around the power plant is not as deserted as it seems: the neighboring reactor blocks were still producing electricity until 2000, former residents are returning to their abandoned villages and tourists are visiting the ruins.

The photo exhibition Chernobyl Memory Tour shows how diverse life continues in the exclusion zone. In 2019 and 2020, two scientists from the University of Bremen traveled to Ukraine and explored the area around the damaged reactor. The pictures of the historian Prof. Dr. Susanne Schattenberg and the economist Prof. Dr. Michael Rochlitz give an insight into the past, present and future of Chernobyl. It is a place of remembrance and a holiday destination at the same time, and maybe might become, at some point, an unintended museum of life in the Soviet Union.

The photo exhibition can be seen in the Haus der Wissenschaft (Sandstrasse 4/5) until October 14th. A 3G certificate (recovered, vaccinated or tested) plus ID card is required for the visit. Registrations at: info@hausderwissenschaft.de. Alternatively, registration on site is also possible.