Co-operation between IZWT (WTG), University Archive and CRE Alzheimer Salamanca
A project sponsored by the Jackstädt Foundation
Historical photographs not only help people to remember, but can also improve the enjoyment of life, socialisation and communication of older people through shared remembrance and sharing. The aim of this project is to promote an intergenerational dialogue between senior citizens and students with the help of historical photographs of Wuppertal. The students of the ongoing course Memory training with the Kurt Keil photo collection - II (winter semester 2025) use historical photographs from the Kurt Keil collection with the aim of offering group workshops in various retirement homes and day care facilities in Wuppertal from April 2026.
Kurt Keil (1940-2020) accompanied and documented life in Wuppertal for more than 50 years as chief photographer of the Westdeutsche Zeitung newspaper. His archive comprises more than 500,000 negatives as well as countless prints and newspaper cuttings. Over the course of more than 50 years, Kurt Keil has captured a large part of Wuppertal's city history in pictures. The collection was stored and secured in the University Archive's storeroom in 2021 following flood damage to the Keil family home. Students at the University of Wuppertal have been exploring this collection since October 2023 under the guidance of photo historian Dr Carmen Pérez González.
The photo historian has been working with historical photographs and their potential uses in reminiscence therapy for senior citizens with Alzheimer's for over five years. The course uses the manual Reminiscence Therapy Workshops with Historical Photographs (July 2025), written by Dr Carmen Pérez González in collaboration with neuropsychologist Dr Enrique Pérez Sáez and psychologist Tania Lalgi (published by CRE
Alzheimer Salamanca, pioneering research centre for non-pharmacological therapies for Alzheimer's disease). The aim of this manual is to provide guidance on how to conduct photographic reminiscence therapy workshops to implement this type of non-pharmacological therapy in care facilities for people with Alzheimer's disease (or with simple memory disorders). The aim is to offer the basic knowledge of classic reminiscence therapy with photos as well as new forms of photo dialogue, both in analogue and digital form. In the handbook, the three scientists have developed a simple method for applying this valuable intervention, which promotes memory training, communication and social interaction.
The free handbook (in Spanish) is published with a freely available photo collection of 510 historical photographs (1950 - 1975) from all over Spain. As part of our project Memory Training with the Kurt Keil Photo Collection , a German translation of the handbook is planned, accompanied by the provision of a photo collection of around 300 historical photographs stored in the Kurt Keil Archive. The selection of photos suitable for memory training workshops will be made by the students during the course in winter semester 2025/26. The selection and processing of the photos chosen for the memory training project will be carried out with the help of several contemporary witnesses (colleagues and friends of Kurt Keil) who have supported us since the beginning of the project:
- Mr Stephen A. Heuschen, journalist.
- Mr Michael Zech, photographer.
- Mr Otto Krsac, sports photographer.
- Prof Klaus Goebel, professor emeritus of history.
From April 2026, several workshops and activities (e.g. visits to our exhibitions) with suitable photographs by Kurt Keil will be held in retirement homes and day care centres. The workshops will be inclusive and aimed at all senior citizens in Wuppertal. We will also print around 3000 postcards with these historical photographs from the Kurt Keil archive and distribute them in retirement homes and day care centres in Wuppertal. The non-commercial tablet app Golden Memories (idea provided by Carmen Pérez González, design and development by Milkmonkey GbmH) will be integrated into the workshops. The handbook (in German) and the photographic collection of historical Wuppertal images (Kurt Keil Archive) will also ensure that the project is sustainable and can be used even after the workshops have finished.
Jako Plaß will write his master's thesis on this project and work on the project as a student assistant for a year.
Contact: perez[at]uni-wuppertal.de
