Germany's Past Research Articles

Truth Telling, Historiographical Agonism, and the Colonial Past in Germany and Australia

Via an examination of the current state of German attempts to come to terms with the country’s genocidal Nazi past, this article underscores the utility of an approach to historical scholarship and ‘truth telling’ that might be called historiographical agonism. It articulates how historiographical agonism deals with the difficulties of assimilating and reconciling problematic national pasts such as the Holocaust and the radical violence and dispossession that characterises Australia’s settler colonial history. It also demonstrates historiographical agonism’s capacity to adapt to changing social and political contexts.

From Elif to Esty? Unorthodox and Turkish German Cinema's Captivity Narrative

Abstract The 2020 Netflix drama series Unorthodox draws on tropes from a vexed archive of transcultural cinema, in particular Turkish German cinema. Through the frame of the captivity narrative, this essay examines how the series about a young Hasidic Jewish woman who escapes her family and community in Williamsburg, New York, and flees to Berlin presents culturally determined themes of victimhood, oppression, and gendered subjugation. A comparison with Turkish German films, such as 40 Square Meters of Germany (40 Quadratmeter Deutschland, dir. Tevfik Başer, West Germany, 1986) and When We Leave (Die Fremde, dir. Feo Aladağ, Germany, 2010), calls attention to the continuity of the captivity narrative, with its troubling themes, and asks the question of intent. As scholars have indicated in the case of Turkish German cinema, filmmakers have frequently been faced with the task of appealing to German mainstream audiences eager to see their own cultural stereotypes reaffirmed on screen. Rooted in colonialist and Orientalist fantasies, the captivity narrative provided an effective conduit. But what is it still doing in Unorthodox? Close readings of several scenes from the series and engagement with Hortense Spillers's concept of “pornotroping” as well as Hamid Naficy's “housebondage” and Meyda Yeğenoğlu's “unveiling” reveal at once the problems and the possibilities of Unorthodox as it employs and subverts the captivity narrative. The essay concludes with an analysis of place, namely, the Berlin setting of the series, as a historically fraught context that likewise raises questions about intentionality and the role of Germany's past and present.

Improving the Explanation of Electoral Behavior Through a Combination of Historical and Local Context – The Case of the AfD’s Results at the Federal Election in Germany in 2017

Abstract The purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which an approach that takes into account the historical and spatial context of an election can contribute to a better understanding of electoral dynamics in general. It applies this approach to the analysis of the results of the populist radical right party “Alternative for Germany” (AfD) at the 2017 federal election in Germany. Making use of a newly compiled dataset at the municipality level in Germany, local context will first be included in a direct way, measured by distances from the municipalities to relevant geographical markers that can be associated with a long-term or a short-term historical legacy. These spatial points include former Nazi concentration camps (main camps as well as relevant sub-camps) in order to test for the long-term legacy, first reception facilities for refugees during the so-called “refugee crisis” (2015–16) as markers of one of the most incisive developments of the recent past in Germany. Additionally, the distance to the Eastern border is tested, as this variable has proven to be relevant in the context of earlier studies on the AfD. Second, actively modeling spatial non-stationarity using Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) in an exploratory manner shows that most effects on the strength of the AfD at the municipality level (from modernization loser theory to the contact hypothesis) vary significantly and considerably in terms of strength throughout Germany.

Germany's relations with the United States and China from a strategic triangle perspective

Abstract As the Sino-American Great Power competition continues to intensify, newly-elected US President Joe Biden's administration now seeks to enlist the support of its allies and partners around the world. As Europe's largest economy and a, if not the, leading voice within the European Union, Germany represents an important puzzle-piece for Biden. But Germany, at least under outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel, has been reluctant to take sides. It is against this backdrop that this article looks into Germany's past and present trilateral relationships with the US and China through the theoretical lens of the so-called strategic triangle approach. Applying this approach, the article seeks to trace and explain German behaviour, as well as to elucidate the opportunities and pitfalls that have come with it. The article demonstrates that Germany's recently gained position as a ‘pivot’ (two positive bilateral relationships) between the US and Chinese ‘wings’ (positive bilateral relations with Germany and negative bilateral relations with each other) is desirable from the perspective of the strategic triangle. At the same time, being pivot is also challenging and hard to maintain. Alternative options, such as entering a US–German ‘marriage’ directed against China, are also problematic. The article therefore concludes that Germany has tough decisions to take going forward.

Making Historicity: Paleontology and the Proximity of the Past in Germany, 1775-1825.

This article analyzes the making of a novel consciousness of historicity in Germany around 1800, one that regarded mountains as vaults of a shared and palpable past. Revisiting a paleontological debate about the origin of large mammal bones found in caves, it reads the science of Johann Christian Rosenmüller (1771-1820) as a social and political accomplishment. By attributing the fossils to an indigenous "cave bear," and communicating an elite scientific debate to a lay audience, Rosenmüller presented an account of Germany's primordial past that fed seamlessly into its present, nurturing an idea of nationhood grounded in the (sub)soil.

Endeavour and Responsibility of the Historian – Creating an Archive of Ego Documents in Regions of Highly Contested Memories

The Irish folklore collection is a national social archive and has been an important focal point and a stabilizing influence on the development of the Irish collective identity after the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922. This historic blueprint has been adapted and modified to fulfill a similar role in the emerging collective identity of South Tyrol in Northern Italy, where a challenging minority issue was pacified through far-reaching concessions and a regional political and cultural autonomy. This contribution outlines that establishing a social archive in this area of contested memories and conflicting interpretations of the history of the 20th century poses many challenges to the historian, ranging from the respect for individual recollections to the adoption of internationally accepted interpretations of the Fascist past in Germany and Italy. It concludes that despite these challenges, a social archive might be the appropriate instrument to foster reconciliation and mutual understanding.

The Deutschland83 miniseries. Technological representation of the Cold War between Ostalgie, vintage mood and Vergangenheitsbewältigung

The article analyzes the German television series Deutschland83 on air, not only in Germany, since 2015. The author wants to demonstrate how the use of representation in the eight episodes of the series of numerous technological objects from the Cold War period represents a way to tell in Germany's recent past before reunification to a new generation audience. From a methodological point of view, the article leans on semiotic and cultural studies themes, analyzing for each episode which type of technological object is highlighted by the plot and why. In the article neither the historical reconstruction nor the summary of the eight episodes of the series are left out. The vintage technological objects present in the Deutschland83 series can be divided into objects of common use and objects not of common use: in the first case, the objects have the task of historically contextualizing the series, in the second case, the objects not of common use they have the task of influencing the whole plot centered on the espionage activities of the protagonist Martin / Mortiz and his attempt to thwart nuclear war.

Mark Edward Ruff, The Battle for the Catholic Past in Germany 1945–1980

Mark Edward Ruff, <i>The Battle for the Catholic Past in Germany 1945–1980</i>

Memórias entrelaçadas: versões do passado na Alemanha e no Japão, 1945-2001

Mesmo em nossa era da globalização, os estudos de história da memória tendem a reforçar a categoria de nação. Isso vale também para as interpretações das diferentes maneiras pelas quais a Alemanha Ocidental e o Japão lidaram com suas próprias atrocidades e derrotas na Segunda Guerra Mundial. Frequentemente, os historiadores opõem o engajamento crítico com o passado recente na Alemanha à recusa japonesa em reconhecer, no pós-guerra, suas próprias responsabilidades. A causa desses desenvolvimentos divergentes é, segundo essa linha de raciocínio, invariavelmente encontrada na história interna desses dois países quando não na psique coletiva alemã e na japonesa. Em contrapartida, este artigo argumenta que debates sobre memória não se desenrolam em isolamento nacional, e que suas diferentes trajetórias precisam ser situadas em um contexto global.

Mark Edward Ruff. The Battle for the Catholic Past in Germany, 1945–1980.

Mark Edward Ruff. The Battle for the Catholic Past in Germany, 1945–1980.

The Frankfurt trial (1963—1965) and overcoming the past in Germany

In the first post-war decades in Germany the problem of crimes of the Nazi regime was hushed up. Information about the flagrant crimes of the Nazis in the concentration camps was perceived by the Germans as “propaganda of the winners”. The Frankfurt process of 1963-1965 was an event that contributed to the understanding of the criminal past of its country by the German society. Before the court in Frankfurt there appeared 22 Nazi war criminals who were accused of murder and complicity in the killing of prisoners of concentration camps and death camps of Auschwitz. During the trial, horrific facts of mass destruction of people and unprecedented cases of humiliation of human dignity were revealed. The position of the prosecution was that the defendants voluntarily served in Auschwitz, realizing that the main purpose of the operation of the camp is the mass destruction of Jews, purposefully participating in the implementation of a common criminal plan. The defense adhered to the strategy that the defendants were only weak-willed executors of the orders of the highest Nazi leadership and were forced to commit crimes at the risk of their own lives. None of the accused pleaded guilty, and in their closing speeches they expressed neither regret nor remorse to the victims and their relatives. The verdict of the jury was soft: only 6 accused were sentenced to life imprisonment, the rest received various (from 3 to 14 years) terms of imprisonment, three were acquitted. However, the significance of the Frankfurt trial exceeds the purpose of the criminal punishment of the Nazi criminals. The process became a milestone in the course of overcoming by the Germans of their recent past, the awareness of the responsibility of German society for the crimes of national socialism.

What Remains: Everyday Encounters with the Socialist Past in Germany

What Remains: Everyday Encounters with the Socialist Past in Germany

The Battle for the Catholic Past in Germany 1945–1980Mark Edward Ruff

The Battle for the Catholic Past in Germany 1945–1980Mark Edward Ruff

What Remains: Everyday Encounters with the Socialist Past in Germany. By Jonathan Bach. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017. 272p. $30.00 cloth.

What Remains: Everyday Encounters with the Socialist Past in Germany. By Jonathan Bach. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017. 272p. $30.00 cloth.

The Battle for the Catholic Past in Germany, 1945‐1980. By Mark EdwardRuff. Pp. xvi, 394, Cambridge University Press,2017, $39.99.

The Battle for the Catholic Past in Germany, 1945‐1980. By Mark EdwardRuff. Pp. xvi, 394, Cambridge University Press,2017, $39.99.

Między obawą a nadzieją- poszukiwanie nowej roli zjednoczonych Niemiec na arenie międzynarodowej. Zarys debaty polityków i intelektualistów w pierwszej połowie lat 90-tych

W wyniku zjednoczenia Niemiec w 1990 r. powstało największe i najludniejsze państwo Unii Europejskiej. Ze względu na przeszłość Niemiec oraz fakt, że proces jednoczenia przebiegał zaskakująco szybko, pytania o rolę, ambicje międzynarodowe zjednoczonych Niemiec stały się istotnym elementem ówczesnej debaty międzynarodowej. Przede wszystkim na to pytanie musieli odpowiedzieć sami Niemcy. Artykuł przedstawia debatę polityków i wybranych intelektualistów (przede wszystkim politologów, ekonomistów), która odbyła się w Niemczech w pierwszych 5 latach po zjednoczeniu. Ukazuje najważniejsze osie sporu, odmienne wizje roli Niemiec oraz sprzeczne oczekiwania międzynarodowych aktorów. W ostatnim fragmencie przedstawiono również ówczesną krytykę konkretnych działań rządu niemieckiego na arenie międzynarodowej, która odzwierciedla ambiwalentne, nierzadko sprzeczne oczekiwania wobec zjednoczonych Niemiec.

Large-Scale Immigration and Labour Market Integration: First Lessons from the Recent Past in Germany

In summary, because of their exogenously driven and often non-voluntary migration pace, refugees often face a disadvantageous starting position in a developed destination country with respect to their labour market integration.

From Survivor to Fourth-Generation Memory: Literal and Discursive Sites of Memory in Post-dictatorship Germany and Spain

The transition of the memory of twentieth-century conflicts from survivor to cultural memory has become inevitable with the passing of the survivor generation. This article examines the role of different generations in the retrieval and commemoration of the traumatic past in Germany and Spain by focusing on two main areas: firstly, it analyzes the debates surrounding the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin and the ongoing review of form and function of existing memorial sites in the city, as well as ongoing vandalism and trivialization of these sites. Secondly, it examines recent debates and protests in Spain surrounding the 1977 Amnesty Law by prominent artists and the wider public. These range from protests against the indictment of Judge Baltasar Garzón in 2010 for opening an investigation into crimes against humanity committed by the Franco regime to demonstrations in November 2015 demanding an annulment of the 1977 Law, and to the recent Argentinean court case of Franco-era human rights crimes. Considering Pierre Nora’s notion that lieux de mémoire can be ‘material or non-material’, this article suggests that debates and demonstrations can act as a virtual space in which memory is viable. It analyzes the role of the ‘generations of postmemory’, in particular the third and fourth generations, in forestalling silence and forgetting and changing existing rigid discursive patterns.

‘Painting like nature’: Chance and the Landscape in Gerhard Richter's Overpainted Photographs

This essay demonstrates that Gerhard Richter's overpainted photographs make a critical intervention within the context of a return to figuration and the landscape genre in West German painting of the 1980s. It situates the overpainted photographs within an alternative understanding of chance as natural process, and argues that, by reappropriating a former tradition of randomness at a time when Germany's past was resurfacing in political and cultural discourses, Richter redefines the landscape against various ideological recuperations of the genre, from the Third Reich to neo-expressionism.

Xenophobia, Asylum Seekers, and Immigration Policies in Germany

In the context of Germany's anti-Semitic past, current attitudes towards refugees and immigrants are surveyed and compared with other countries. Higher levels of xenophobia in former East Germany, despite far fewer foreigners than in West Germany, is explained with the official denial of the fascist legacy, in contrast to an effective reeducation policy and dealing with the Nazi past in the West. Islamophobia and allegations of welfare tourism have now emerged as the main obsession of xenophobes. Yet, overall attitudes towards outsiders have improved, together with legislative changes in immigration policy and citizenship acquisition, the weekly anti-Muslim demonstrations by PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans) in Dresden and arson attacks on asylum homes notwithstanding. Younger and better educated Germans are far less xenophobic. This analysis portrays the current German public discourse, provides relevant statistics on immigration, explores contested integration/asylum policies, scrutinizes implications of categories from the cultural repertoire through which migrancy is understood and assesses the contending political forces.