As the people who lived through the war, hunger and rebuilding become older and less able to travel to tell their stories to students, we slowly lose access to valuable lived experiences that make the grim reality of life during and after the war tangible. In four chapters, they share their experiences of constant hunger, freezing winters and living between the debris. The memories are then fact-checked and contextualised by an info assistant.
Zeitzeugen 1945 – Trümmerjahre in AR is the subsequent project of WDR AR 1933 – 1945, previously developed in close cooperation between WDR and MIREVI. Starting in 2023, the app was co-developed with students from Cologne to integrate opinions and needs of the target audience throughout the process. MIREVI has been involved from the very start, offering iterative prototypes during the design phase and developing the final product. Much thought has been paid to the challenge of making the app run smoothly on multiple devices and preparing it for an accessible voice-over. Finally, the MIREVI team ensured the distribution on the Apple AppStore.
The app is currently available for iOS, with a release for Android planned. It has been featured by Lokalzeit in Düsseldorf, Kölnische Rundschau and WDR radio. In addition, a dossier by Deutsch Digitale Bibliothek offers additional insights, image galleries and articles as additional learning material.
Watch the making off-video here.