Medieval Ruins Research Articles

“He Who Owns the Trifels, Owns the Reich”: Nazi Medievalism and the Creation of the Volksgemeinschaft in the Palatinate

AbstractThis article analyzes the interplay between Nazi cultural politics and regional identity in the Palatinate region of Germany through the lens of the Ludwig Siebert program. Created by Bavarian Minister-President Ludwig Siebert in the early 1930s to stimulate the regional construction industry, this program involved the conservation of medieval castles and ruins in Bavaria and the Palatinate. The renovation of these monuments, which had been central to the cultural memory and identity of Pfälzers since at least the nineteenth century, proved to be effective in mobilizing the local populace for Siebert's aims and, consequently, for the goals of the Nazi regime. Because its melding of cultural politics and regional identity helped to stabilize the regime in the Palatinate during its early years, the Siebert program provides a particularly illustrative microhistorical case study of the Nazi regime's mechanisms for creating the Volksgemeinschaft in the provinces. By focusing on the Palatinate town of Annweiler, which sits at the foot of the storied Trifels castle, a favored renovation project of Siebert's, this article offers a closely observed demonstration of these mechanisms at work.

Tiempo y construcción. La intervención de Sverre Fehn en la granja de Hamar.

<p>La intervención que el arquitecto noruego Sverre Fehn lleva a cabo en los restos de la antigua granja de Hamar, supone un encuentro intenso de tiempos y materias que sintetiza las experiencias vividas en sus viajes a Marruecos y París, sus obras de Bruselas y Venecia y el profundo arraigo en la cultura escandinava. En ella, es la construcción, por encima del diseño de la forma, la que permite establecer un diálogo con el pasado. A través del hormigón bruto, Fehn reconoce el tiempo presente a la vez que construye una pieza eficaz como soporte expositivo que discurre libremente entre las ruinas medievales.</p>

Medieval heritage from Târgșoru Vechi. An archaeological overview of 50 years of research

One of the important Wallachian medieval towns, Târgşoru was, at a certain moment, the most involved in the commercial relations with Braşov. Due to this Târgşoru was fi rst mentioned in medieval documents 600 years ago. Its medieval ruins, and the vestiges of three churches in particular, were those to fi rst draw the attention of historians and architects. Th e archaeologists started their work here more than half a century ago. Th ose investigations succeeded to give us a better understanding over many aspects of the old town of Târgşor. In the present paper we try to briefl y present the development of the archaeological research at the site, to identify the investigated medieval monuments and to draw a possible scenario for the chronological evolution of the medieval town.

Saintly visions: Other histories and history’s others in the medieval ruins of Delhi

This article is centrally concerned with understanding the perceived presence of Muslim saintly figures at various medieval ruins in contemporary Delhi. I explore how popular relationships with these ruins, centred on the presence of the saint-figures, are not ‘historical’, but still indicate meaningful connections to the medieval past. To understand these connections, this article explores the epistemological and ontological privileging of the imaginal (manifesting as dreams and visions) in Islamicate thought and everyday life, arising from the influence of Ibn ‘Arabi, by looking at both contemporary popular practices and beliefs around these ruins, as well as the significance of these ruins in Urdu antiquarian and literary texts from the early twentieth century. I argue that the ontological primacy of the imaginal is also inextricably connected to an ethics of diversity and non-sectarian ideals of justice. The imaginal becomes increasingly important for connecting to the past in the aftermath of colonial and post-colonial state violence, not only because of the destruction of the usual (discursive) modes of historical memory, but also because it poses a moral vision of the pre-modern past against the violence of the modern (state). This article ends by suggesting that the rituals around these ruins create a sensory and affective ‘archive’ of the city’s history that needs to be explored further.

The 1959 Deep Sounding at Harran in Turkey

In 1947 and succeeding years, the co-operation of l'urkish and English archaeologists resulted in the excavation or survey of a number of sites in south-east Turkey. D6nmez and Brice, in that year, journeyed from Cilicia to Lake Van, noting the occurrence of various types of early pottery in the intervening provinces.2 In July 1950, Lloyd and Brice surveyed the medieval ruins of Harran, and immediately published an excellent resume of the history and topography of the site.3 In May 1951, Bay Nuri G6k<;e and Lloyd made a test excavation at A§agi Yarimca,4 4 miles north-west of Harran, where a stele of the moon god Sin had been found in 1949.5 The inscription on this stele, though largely illegible, was of late Assyrian monumental type. In the sondage on the tell, six levels were distinguished, one probably of the Late Assyrian period, the others dating from the third to the ninth centuries A.D., and later; at 3'50 metres, the excavation reached virgin soil, without encountering earlier deposits. Surface finds of Hala£: Ubaid, Uruk or Jemdet Nasr, Reserved Slip, Khabur, a thin, very hard, black/red ware with slight corrugation, early and late Assyrian, Hellenistic and Islamic pottery indicated that the site had a much longer history,6 but due to the disappointing results of the sondage, the expedition had removed to Sultantepe by the middle of May 1951. Sultantepe,7 about 15 miles north-east of Harran and 10 miles from Urfa, was excavated for two short seasons in 1951 and 1952, work mainly being confined to the Assyrian and post-Assyrian levels, with the exception of two areas, Hand L, from which the earliest pottery was tentatively dated to the first half of the second millennium B.G.s Chalcolithic and early second millennium objects were among the surface finds. During the 195 I season at Sultantepe, Rice began exploratory soundings in the citadel of Harran, 9 and in 1952 began work in the Great Mosque and the medieval city itself.10.Excavation in the G~eat Mosque was continued in 1956, along with a survey of monuments at and around Urfa, and in the Tektek area,!1 followed by a final season in 1959.12 It is the final season at Harran which concerns us here, for, during it, the decision was taken to put a deep sounding in the ancient tell ofHarran. Some pottery fragments and a few records of the finds in this trench are now kept in the Ashmolean Museum, and are described in the following pages.