Fabian Köster in Gelsenkirchen: Book Presentation on Municipal Cultural Policy

An evening about cultural policy, memory, and the power of urban decisions

This book presentation focuses on a topic that extends far beyond the professional debate: How do cities shape their cultural identity after 1945, and what role do democratic negotiation processes, contemporary art, and urban memory culture play in this? Fabian Köster presents his study “Municipal Cultural Policy from the 'Power of the Present'” at the Documentation Center “Gelsenkirchen in National Socialism”, a place that is closely linked to the city's history and political education. The event will take place on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at 6:00 PM and is free of charge. ([gelsenkirchen.de](https://www.gelsenkirchen.de/de/kultur/museen_und_dauerausstellungen/dokumentationsstaette_gelsenkirchen_im_nationalsozialismus/index.aspx?utm_source=openai))

A book about upheaval and ambivalence

Köster's investigation reads as a precisely measured cultural history of the post-war period. The focus is on Gelsenkirchen and Wolfsburg, two industrial cities that sought cultural independence in the early Federal Republic while simultaneously trying to emancipate themselves from their NS past, neighboring cities, and industrial power relations. The publisher describes the work as a study of the simultaneity of the non-simultaneous, about municipal cultural policy between programmability, experimental enthusiasm, and clear ambivalences. ([wallstein-verlag.de](https://www.wallstein-verlag.de/9783835359321-kommunale-kulturpolitik-aus-der-kraft-der-gegenwart.html))

Scientific depth with local resonance

Fabian Köster, born in 1990, studied German studies, history, and cultural poetics of literature and media in Münster, and completed his PhD with this study. He thus brings an academically grounded perspective on cultural policy, urban development, and the conflict-laden democratic search phase of the 1950s and 1960s. Particularly at a place like the Documentation Center, this research is not only referred to but atmospherically charged: as an author encounter with high historical sensitivity. ([wallstein-verlag.de](https://www.wallstein-verlag.de/9783835359321-kommunale-kulturpolitik-aus-der-kraft-der-gegenwart.html))

The venue as part of the narrative

The Documentation Center “Gelsenkirchen in National Socialism” is located at Cranger Straße 323 in 45891 Gelsenkirchen. The building was originally a police station from 1907 and was opened in 1994 as a memorial and educational site; the visit and events are free. The environment combines historical density with political education and provides a quiet, focused reading atmosphere for the presentation. ([gelsenkirchen.de](https://www.gelsenkirchen.de/de/kultur/museen_und_dauerausstellungen/dokumentationsstaette_gelsenkirchen_im_nationalsozialismus/index.aspx))

An evening for readers with an interest in cultural history

Anyone interested in literature, urban history, cultural studies, and the political conditions of cultural development will find an evening of special depth here. The book presentation offers a view of municipal cultural policy as a motor for urban self-awareness and as a mirror of the transformation of the Federal Republic. An intelligent, fact-based conversation about research, memory, and cultural creativity is expected. Anyone wanting to experience cultural history live should firmly schedule this date. ([wallstein-verlag.de](https://www.wallstein-verlag.de/9783835359321-kommunale-kulturpolitik-aus-der-kraft-der-gegenwart.html))

Official channels of Fabian Köster:

• Instagram: no official profile found
• Facebook: no official profile found
• Website: no official profile found
• Publisher: no official profile found

Sources:

• City of Gelsenkirchen – Documentation Center Gelsenkirchen in National Socialism
• Wallstein Verlag – Municipal Cultural Policy from the Power of the Present
• City of Gelsenkirchen – City Profile and Event Notice
• Institute for City History – Program Notice and Location Information