Living Mitteleuropa in the 1980s: a network of Hungarian and West German Intellectuals

Abstract

This paper investigates the parallels between intellectual biographies and the conceptual re-emergence of Central Europe in the 1980s. It contextualises the origins of a distinct vision of the region within the life experiences of non-conformist intellectuals in East and West Europe. By the 1980s, these intellectuals had developed a transnational informal network which facilitated the flow of ideas across a porous Iron Curtain. A closer look at the biographies of György Konrád and György Dalos as well as Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Karl Schlögel makes this network, its specific understanding of Mitteleuropa in the 1980s, and the ideas subsumed under this umbrella term apparent. Subordinated to a later narrative of European Union integration, the concept has lost its original character as a possible alternative to the bipolar world – that is, Western capitalism and Eastern socialism. This paper re-constructs Mitteleuropa through the biographies of its creators, and recalls moments of mutual influence. Additionally, it looks at historical narratives competing with Central Europe in the 1980s and scrutinises its legacy today. It therefore contributes to the history of ideas, and is part of the emerging field of New Cold War Studies.