In light of recent developments, the historical record of the German Democratic Republic will be closely reexamined as the two Germanies merge into one country. Christoph Hein's novel Horns Ende undoubtedly will play a role in the debate about the GDR past, because it is a clear repudiation of official historical mythmaking. The novel examines in detail the political and social fiber of a small town in the GDR during the fifties. Horn returns to the town some thirty years after his death, and entices the townspeople to recount their lives during the early years of the socialist republic. These recollections initiate a dialogue between author, reader and the townspeople. The outcome of these exchanges is a skillful dissection of the effects of Stalinism on ordinary citizens, and it revises perceptions of a period in GDR history that officially had been touted as politically and socially harmonious. Hein challenges the reader to reconstruct a historical record that more closely reflects the experiences of ordinary people, and in doing so he exposes past official historical mythmaking. He is convinced that a society's survival is dependent upon the accuracy of its history; historical revision therefore must not be left to those in power. This article is available in Studies in 20th Century Literature: http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol15/iss2/4 Christoph HeM's Horns Ende: Historical Revisionism-A Process of Renewal Heinz Bulmahn The University of Toledo Historians as well as writers in the German Democratic Republic have long recognized that the history of the GDR has yet to be written, because much of the official history remains a composite of ideological mythmaking. Recent developments in the German Democratic Republic will accelerate the process of historical revisionism, and the term Vergangenheitsbewaltigung (coming to grips with the past) will take on a more complex meaning now that the Berlin Wall has come down. The historical record, which had already been scrutinized in recent years by both historians and writers in the GDR will now be examined and re-examined as people who were previously excluded from participation join the discussion. Literary works in the German Democratic Republic will undoubtedly play a significant role in setting both the tone of the debate about the past and in providing a broad spectrum of viewpoints about past political, social and economic developments in the GDR. Helga Konigsdorf commented recently about the role of literature in defining the past: Wenn man spater wissen will, wie es gewesen ist, in dieser DDR, wird man es vor allem aus der Literatur erfahren. Oder besser, man wird erfahren wie es auch gewesen ist(14). 1 She acknowledges the primary role that GDR poets and writers have played in providing a significant, even if not entirely adequate, repository of information about life in the German Democratic Republic. Despite its shortcomings, the literary record will be more reliable in assessing the past than either media or official historical accounts. In varying degrees writers and historians in the GDR have challenged the official concept of history of the German Democratic Republic. In much of his fiction, Christoph Hein, one of the prominent GDR writers, has engaged his readers in a dialogue about the necessity for an accurate historical account. In his latest novel, Horns