"An explosive cinematic parable on the loss of home and the destruction of nature in the name of industrial progress. Between 1979 and 1982, the village of Magdeborn, which is considered an obstacle to lignite mining in the south of Leipzig, is demolished. The locals were relocated to Grünau, Schönefeld and Borna, mostly against their will. The people portrayed in this cinematic requiem are outspoken when they describe themselves as victims and bargaining chips for the economic needs of the state. Officially, Tetzlaff and his team were accused of an unacceptable emotional closeness to the people."   —Ralph Eue, DOK Leipzig, 2020

"[The film] depicts in a contrasting way how normality and a new beginning can somehow be found in the inevitable decline. At the beginning of the 1980s, the director succeeded in creating an exciting portrayal that still impresses today. At the time, however, there were only two broadcasts before the documentary disappeared into the film archives under pressure from the state."   —Leipziger Zeitung

“The film reveals the alienation that displaced individuals feel in their replacement Heimat, the large conurbation of prefabricated tower blocks that are here unmistakably linked with the state’s urban planning policies. […] The film reminds the modern-day viewer that the regime’s efforts to foster an attachment to a GDR-Heimat were as un-successful as were its attempts to deny the population their inveterate Germanness.”   —Nick Hodgin, Screening the East: Memory and Nostalgia in German Film since 1989

“Several villages near Leipzig have to make way for brown coal, an energy source of existential importance for the GDR. The film documents a period of almost four years in which old living environments, houses, farms, churches and cemeteries disappear and people find a new home: a compendium of light and dark motifs. Suggestive long shots and close-ups of an area transformed beyond recognition. 'The chronicle of events takes on a parable-like character: Right at the beginning, images of Manuela's birth and the demolition of the village church are mounted in parallel, and at the end there are scenes of the child's third birthday and of a young tree' (Elke Schieber). At the studio approval screening, officials confronted the DEFA film crew with the apprehension that Memories of a Landscape might perhaps be too depressing, because it paints an unvarnished picture of displacement and the loss of homeland. Director Kurt Tetzlaff argued in response that to him, in this case, demolition always also means a new start.” —rs, Zeughauskino, Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin

“By 1989, the GDR had reached a production rate of 300 million tons of coal per year, a worldwide that has not been beaten to this day. This made an enormous impact on the cultural landscape south of Leipzig as well. Until the mid-1970s, “only” smaller towns were affected; but from 1977 to 1981 and 1984 to 1986, respectively, it was the end for Magdeborn (Espenhain coal mine) and Eythra/Bösdorf (Zwenkau coal mine), both towns of around 3,000 inhabitants. In the midst of these developments, a remarkable documentary, especially for the time, was created. Over years, director Kurt Tetzlaff accompanied these two towns through their downfall. He shows the painful separation of people from their familiar places, which will vanish. The film is a document of social changes that is dedicated to Manuela, the last child born in Magdeborn, in memory of her ancestors’ landscape.”   —globaLE-Leipzig.de