Abstract
Abstract The widely observed memory-boom in western industrial nations since the 1970s has often been explained as a way of compensating the experiences of acceleration and loss in modern society. The economic and social transformations brought about by deindustrialization are seen as a threat to a future that is no longer certain, which is why societies would rather turn to their past for self-assurance. In order to critically question and historicize these narratives the following paper suggests analyzing the emergence of the memory landscape in the German Ruhr Area. The aim is to show that the regional memory boom is not merely a means of cultural compensation but a way of using history as a resource for image politics, economy and the creation of a regional identity, when the future of the former industrial area was deeply troubled.
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