Performing the New German Past
The People's Day of Mourning and 27 January as Postunification Commemorations
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3613312 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alexandra Kaiser (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 28-49 |
| Publication date | 2008-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | German Politics & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1045-0300 • E-ISSN: 1558-5441 |
| Publisher | Berghahn Books (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.3167/gps.2008.260403 |
| OpenAlex | W2077520737 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
The article sketches the ruptures in today's German memory culture, concentrating on the Volkstrauertag (People's Day of Mourning) and the Gedenktag für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus (Remembrance Day for the Victims of National Socialism) on 27 January. It starts with an overview of the history of the Volkstrauertag with its (outward) transformation from a commemoration day for dead German soldiers into one for "all victims of war and violence." The inclusive model of commemoration that was typical for the Bonn Republic is disintegrating today. In united Germany, the Volkstrauertag and 27 January reflect antagonistic memory strands, that is a memory focussed on the war dead and German suffering or on the Holocaust and German guilt. In light of discussions about commemorating Bundeswehr dead, the article ends by describing a re-heroicizing of the Volkstrauertag and, in a more general way, tries to outline the shifting construction of German national identity
Archaeology · Art history · Collective memory · German · Nazism · Political science · Sociology · The Holocaust · European history and politics · German History and Society · History · Law · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,45 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2023 (9) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |