Ein Land – verschiedene Geschichte(n)

Abstract

Summary One Country – Different Histories. About the “German Welcoming Culture” in Summer 2015 and its Psychodynamics When Germany didn’t close the open Schengen borders in August 2015, the reactions that followed were a big surprise inside as well as outside the country. The so called “Welcoming Culture” was initially based as much on official policy as on the generosity of large parts of the population. The following text traces the psychodynamics of this mass movement. The argument that this welcoming culture is a result of German guilt feelings resulting from WW II and the Holocaust is discussed in some depth. It will be connected to the identifications that results from the otherwise not much discussed German history of flight and displacement following WW II. Additionally, the impact of the later – from the 50s onwards – intake of some million workers and asylum seekers into (mainly) West Germany is traced. These influxes are considered as important background factors to understand public reaction to the situation of 2015 and later. These complexes are understood as hidden narratives that need an unfolding in the German public discourse.