Denkmal-Landschaften

Every monument stands on its own—and every monument is always part of a complex network of many other monuments. This gives rise to “monumental landscapes,” which form the tangible core of every national space of remembrance. In modern liberal societies, this space is undergoing constant change. Monuments are reinterpreted and relocated; some people even want to redesign them—or even turn them upside down—as a sign of rejection of an unpopular past. Yet monuments are very rarely destroyed these days; instead, they are set aside in cemeteries or museums. This should not be overlooked amid the current wave of protest activism involving symbolic acts of desecration such as graffiti: today’s “monument toppling” usually consists of a process of musealization (and thus, all the more, preservation). The transformation of these “monument landscapes” typically takes place amid public controversies and negotiations. Without these societal debates, the commemorative value of monuments would be very limited, as they would attract no attention. This volume brings together twelve analyses of the transformation of monument landscapes. The focus is on German examples. Distinctive features and commonalities become apparent through comparisons with monument landscapes in the former Southern states of the U.S., in the post-Soviet region of Eastern Europe, in East Asia, and in Israel.