Dimitrovgrad

Abstract

This chapter examines how a planned socialist town became the focus of mainstream debates about a contested urban past and a national culture of remembrance. It compares polar opposites in social attitudes to the ‘ideal’ socialist town – sympathy and hate, shame and pride, respect and irony. Those dilemmas are illustrated by the example of post-socialist transformation of Dimitrovgrad, the first and only planned town in socialist Bulgaria. Particular attention is paid to the outstanding people who were deeply involved in shaping the identity of the socialist town and its perception nationwide: Penyo Penev, a young socialist realism poet who arrived at Dimitrovgrad as one of the volunteers building the new town; and Georgi Dimitrov, the leader of post-war Bulgaria, after whom the town was named. Apart from the outlined trials of towns’ socio-economic transformation, the significant changes in the spheres of ideology and symbolism after the fall of communism are another aspect of this study. The chapter also discusses how the former ‘city of youth’ won the title of ‘Bulgarian construction of the 20th century’ in a competition run by Bulgarian National Television. This caused heated public discussions nationwide. After being in oblivion for two decades, Dimitrovgrad became again in the centre of public attention with its disputable legacy.