Memorializing the GDR

Since unification, eastern Germany has witnessed a rapidly changing memorial landscape, as the fate of former socialist monuments has been hotly debated and new commemorative projects have met with fierce controversy. Memorializing the GDR provides the first in-depth study of this contested arena of public memory, investigating the individuals and groups devoted to the creation or destruction of memorials as well as their broader aesthetic, political, and historical contexts. Emphasizing the interrelationship of built environment, memory and identity, it brings to light the conflicting memories of recent German history, as well as the nuances of national and regional constructions of identity.

Since unification, eastern Germany has witnessed a rapidly changing memorial landscape, as the fate of former socialist monuments has been hotly debated and new commemorative projects have met with fierce controversy. Memorializing the GDR provides the first in-depth study of this contested arena of public memory, investigating the individuals and groups devoted to the creation or destruction of memorials as well as their broader aesthetic, political, and historical contexts. Emphasizing the interrelationship of built environment, memory and identity, it brings to light the conflicting memories of recent German history, as well as the nuances of national and regional constructions of identity.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations and Key Terms

Introduction

Chapter 1. Memory, Monuments and Memorialization
Chapter 2. Socialist Icons: From Heroes to Villains?
Chapter 3. Soviet Special Camps: Reassessing a Repressed Past
Chapter 4. 17 June 1953 Uprisings: Remembering a Failed Revolution
Chapter 5. The Berlin Wall: Historical Document, Tourist Magnet or Urban Eyesore?
Chapter 6. Remembering the 'Peaceful Revolution' and German Unity

Conclusion: Beyond the Palimpset

Bibliography
Index