Table Of ContentPalgraveMacmillanMemoryStudies
SeriesEditors:AndrewHoskinsandJohnSutton
International Advisory Board: Steven Brown, University of Leicester, UK;
Mary Carruthers, New York University, USA; Paul Connerton, University of
Cambridge,UK;AstridErll,UniversityofWuppertal,Germany;RobynFivush,
EmoryUniversity,USA;Tilmann Habermas, UniversityofFrankfurtamMain,
Germany; Jeffrey Olick, University of Virginia, USA; Susannah Radstone,
UniversityofEastLondon,UK;andAnnRigney,UtrechtUniversity,Netherlands
The nascent field of Memory Studies emerges from contemporary trends that
includeashiftfromconcernwiththehistoricalknowledgeofeventstothatof
memory,from‘whatweknow’to‘howwerememberit’;changesingenerational
memory; the rapid advance of technologies of memory; panics over declining
powersofmemory,whichmirrorourfascinationwiththepossibilitiesofmemory
enhancement;andthedevelopmentoftraumanarrativesinreshapingthepast.
Thesefactorshavecontributedtoanintensificationofpublicdiscoursesonour
pastoverthelast30years.Technological,political,interpersonal,socialandcul-
turalshiftsaffectwhat,howandwhypeopleandsocietiesrememberandforget.
This groundbreaking series tackles questions such as: What is ‘memory’ under
these conditions? What are its prospects, and also the prospects for its inter-
disciplinary and systematic study? What are the conceptual, theoretical, and
methodologicaltoolsforitsinvestigationandillumination?
AleidaAssmannandSebastianConrad(editors)
MEMORYINAGLOBALAGE
Discourses,PracticesandTrajectories
AleidaAssmannandLindaShortt(editors)
MEMORYANDPOLITICALCHANGE
BrianConway
COMMEMORATIONANDBLOODYSUNDAY
PathwaysofMemory
RichardCrownshaw
THEAFTERLIFEOFHOLOCAUSTMEMORYINCONTEMPORARYLITERATURE
ANDCULTURE
AstridErll
MEMORYINCULTURE
AnneFuchs
AFTERTHEDRESDENBOMBING
PathwaysofMemory,1945tothePresent
IrialGlynnandJ.OlafKleist(editors)
HISTORY,MEMORYANDMIGRATION
PerceptionsofthePastandthePoliticsofIncorporation
YifatGutman,AdamD.BrownandAmySodaro(editors)
MEMORYANDTHEFUTURE
TransnationalPolitics,EthicsandSociety
AmyHoldsworth
TELEVISION,MEMORYANDNOSTALGIA
JasonJames
PRESERVATIONANDNATIONALBELONGINGINEASTERNGERMANY
HeritageFetishismandRedeemingGermanness
MikyoungKimandBarrySchwartz(editors)
NORTHEASTASIA’SDIFFICULTPAST
EssaysinCollectiveMemory
EmilyKeightleyandMichaelPickering
THEMNEMONICIMAGINATION
RememberingasCreativePractice
PhilipLeeandPradipNinanThomas(editors)
PUBLICMEMORY,PUBLICMEDIAANDTHEPOLITICSOFJUSTICE
EricaLehrer,CynthiaE.MiltonandMonicaEileenPatterson(editors)
CURATINGDIFFICULTKNOWLEDGE
ViolentPastsinPublicPlaces
MottiNeiger,OrenMeyersandEyalZandberg(editors)
ONMEDIAMEMORY
CollectiveMemoryinaNewMediaAge
AnnaSaundersandDebbiePinfold(editors)
REMEMBERINGANDRETHINKINGTHEGDR
MultiplePerspectivesandPluralAuthenticities
VictorJeleniewskiSeidler
REMEMBERINGDIANA
CulturalMemoryandtheReinventionofAuthority
EvelynB.TribbleandNicholasKeene
COGNITIVEECOLOGIESANDTHEHISTORYOFREMEMBERING
Religion,EducationandMemoryinEarlyModernEngland
Forthcomingtitles:
OwainJonesandJoanneGarde-Hansen(editors)
GEOGRAPHYANDMEMORY
ExplorationsinIdentity,PlaceandBecoming
PalgraveMacmillanMemoryStudies
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Preservation and National
Belonging in Eastern
Germany
Heritage Fetishism and Redeeming
Germanness
Jason James
UniversityofMaryWashington,USA
©JasonJames2012
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 ISBN 978-0-230-32034-5
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12
Contents
ListofFigures vi
Acknowledgments vii
1 TheHistoricCityscapeandtheUnifiedNation 1
2 Heimat Eisenach 28
3 CulturalHeritageandGermanness 62
4 HeritageFetishismandtheHeimat Imaginary 92
5 ClaimingCulturalBelongings 127
6 RedemptionandtheVoiceofTrauma 156
Notes 178
WorksCited 197
Index 212
v
Figures
1 Historicstructuresassymbolsofrecovery:thecontrast
betweenpre-andpost-unificationfaçades 4
2 GDRPlattenbauapartmentblocksinEisenach-North,a
settlementontheoutskirtsofthecitybuiltinthe1980s 37
3 TheSophiencenter,alsoknownas“littleManhattan,”from
thesoutheast 42
4 ThecompletedadministrativecomplexonEisenach’s
marketplace.Totheleftistheoldtownhall,totheright
(barelyvisible)ahalf-timberedhousedatingfromthe
seventeenthcentury 46
5 Lutherplatzlookingwest,neartheentrancetothe
Karlstrassepedestrianzone 55
6 “Alien”architectureinKatharinenstraße 120
vi
Acknowledgments
The road from the inception of this project to its completion has been
long, which means that the number of individuals who have played a
directorindirectroleinmakingitpossibleandtowhomIowethanks
isquitelarge.Ifmypoormemoryhasledmetoneglectanyone,Ihope
theywillforgivethezerstreuteProfessorforthelapse.
I owe an immense debt of gratitude to the people of Eisenach who
generously offered me their time, help, hospitality, and trust. I hope
that I have done justice to their concerns and efforts in both my
descriptions and critiques. Surely not all of them will agree with my
assessments, but I hope they will see that this work expresses in its
own way my sense of attachment to the city. The friends I made dur-
ingmytwoyearsinEisenachmadeitahome,andtheirencouragement
and loyalty have done more than they know to help me complete
this project. I owe special thanks to Klaus Wugazzer, Ulrike Quentel,
JörgDeußing,JacquelineGrundt,EllenAckermann,RomanHadaschik,
Simone Möller, Heidi Hanisch, Jennifer Green, and the Thiebe family.
The Institute for Cultural Anthropology and European Ethnology at
the University of Frankfurt am Main offered me valuable institutional
support during my initial period of fieldwork and a warm welcome
when I visited Frankfurt. Special thanks go to Dr Heinz Schilling, a
generousandthoughtfulmentor.Ourconversationsdidmuchtoshape
thiswork.
TheGermanAcademicExchangeServiceprovidedgenerousfinancial
support for this project, both in its preliminary stages and in the sec-
ond year of my field research. Many thanks also to the Friends of the
International Center at the University of California, San Diego, which
provided additional funding for my research in Germany, and to the
Department of Anthropology at that university for its support in both
the research and the writing phases. A Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship
in the Humanities at Barnard College provided me with the time and
institutional support to begin reworking my dissertation. I received
assistance at later stages of the project from the University of Mary
Washington.
ColleaguesattheinstitutionswithwhichIhavebeenassociatedsince
receiving my PhD have also provided me with invaluable guidance
vii
viii Acknowledgments
andcritiqueaswellasencouragement.Iwouldespeciallyliketothank
Leslie Sharp, Paige West, and Elizabeth Bernstein at Barnard College;
LynnMeskell,MarilynIvy,andCatherineNepomnyashchyatColumbia
University; Bill Bissell, Susan Niles, Dan Bauer, Andrea Smith, David
Schrag,andToriLanglandatLafayetteCollege;andEricGable,Margaret
Huber, Debra Schleef, and Susan Fernsebner at the University of Mary
Washington. Fellow students, colleagues, and friends who also deserve
acknowledgment and thanks include Ken Maffitt, Sharla Blank, Julia
Offen,KevinBirth,JohnCollins,MatthewHill,SusanMazur-Stommen,
Robert Rotenberg, Richard Handler, Daphne Berdahl, Amy Howard,
SuzanneBessenger,KevinVose,andDebraRodman.
I am deeply indebted to my mentors at the University of California,
San Diego, for the time and energy they devoted to my education.
They have all done much to make me the scholar that I am. I am
gratefultomydissertationadvisorMichaelMeekerforhiscarefulcom-
ments and frank critiques. When my thinking became too confined to
Eisenach and Germany, he reminded me of the need to think com-
paratively, and when I became steeped in abstractions and sweeping
stories, he drew my attention back to the place and people of my
research. His unwillingness to accept my overly modest estimations of
myworkandabilitieswasapowerfulformofencouragement.Andhow-
ever odd it may seem to suggest that a cultural anthropologist might
focus too intensely on culture, it is by virtue of his teaching, along
with that of F. G. Bailey, that I keep one eye carefully trained on the
social.
TanyaLuhrmann,whoservedasmyadvisoruntilherdeparturefrom
the University of California, San Diego, always listened patiently and
reminded me of the proverbial forest when I got lost among the trees.
Ibenefitedgreatlyfromherkeensenseofwhatitmeanstobeaprofes-
sional anthropologist, and the enthusiasm with which she approaches
thevocationhasbeeninfectious.IamalsogratefultoMarthaLampland
for her constant good humor and unmitigated enthusiasm about my
work.Ourtalksoverdinneralwaysgavemea(frequentlymuch-needed)
morale boost as well as intellectual inspiration. Last but by no means
least, Cynthia Walk always helped me to see my work in a refreshing
light while helping me to navigate the difficult waters of thinking and
writingaboutGermany.Mycompletionofthisprojectowesagreatdeal
toherenergeticsupport:herconfidenceinmeandmyworkdidmuch
tosolidifymyown.
IowemorethanmeregratitudetomywifeAudreyShortandourson
Kai.Thetimeandenergyrequiredtocompletethisbookhassubtracted
Acknowledgments ix
fromthetimeandenergyIcoulddevotetothem.Itwillnotbeeasyto
repaytheimmensepatienceandsupporttheyhaveprovided,butIwill
certainly try. Finally, I wish to thank my family in Missouri, who have
supported me even when they realized that my endeavors would take
mefartherawayfromthem.
