Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Seven Circles of European Memory

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Cultural Memories

Part of the book series: Knowledge and Space ((KNAS,volume 4))

Abstract

Europe is mainly a common market, a free zone for private and business travels, and partly a common currency. Against this conventional wisdom the author argues that Europe is more than the Euro (and the Champions League) and that it can function only with a shared memory of its conflicting past during the twentieth century. The author develops seven circles of European memory, starting with the unbalanced remembrance of totalitarian crimes (Holocaust and Gulag). He focuses then on ethnic cleansing particularly in the European periphery–the Turkish genocide against the Armenians, the civil war in former Yugoslavia, and the massacres under the colonial period in Africa. A particular aspect is the remembrance of forced and voluntary migration processes into Europe. “European” is not an artificial consensus on these aspects but a civilized way to deal with disparate views.

This chapter is a work in progress. Earlier versions were published in the journals Eurozine, Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik, and Social Research. I would like to thank many colleagues for their constructive critique, especially Stefan Troebst, Siobhan Kattago, Heidemarie Uhl, and Wolfgang Schmale. The chapter was translated by Simon Garnett, s.garnett@eurozine.com

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adorno, T. (1971). Erziehung nach Auschwitz [Education after Auschwitz]. In T. Adorno (Ed.), Erziehung zur Mündigkeit. Vorträge und Gespräche mit Hellmut Becker 1959–1969 (pp. 88–104). Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Taschenbuch.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antrag der Fraktionen SPD, CDU/CSU, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen und FDP. (2005, June 15). Drucksache 15/5689. Retrieved October 29, 2010, from http://dipbt.bundestag.de/doc/btd/15/056/1505689.pdf

  • Ausstellungen zur Flucht und Vertreibung in Bonn und Berlin [Exhibitions on flight and expulsion in Bonn and Berlin]. (2006, May 18–August 27). Konzept Berlin. Retrieved October 27, 2010, from http://www.dhm.de/ausstellungen/flucht-vertreibung/index.html

  • Basic, N., & Welzer, H. (Eds.). (2007). Der Krieg der Erinnerung: Holocaust, Kollaboration und Widerstand im europäischen Gedächtnis [The war of memory: Holocaust, collaboration, and resistance in the European memory]. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Behnen, M. (Ed.). (1977). Ausgewählte Quellen zur deutschen Geschichte der Neuzeit: Bd. 26. Quellen zur deutschen Außenpolitik im Zeitalter der Imperialismus 1890–1911 [Selected sources on modern German history: Sources on German foreign policy in the age of imperialism, 1890–1911]. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernlocher, L., & Geiss, P. (Eds.). (2006). L’Europe et le Monde depuis 1945 [Europe and the world since 1945]. Histoire/Geschichte 1 (Manuel d’histoire franco-allemand). Paris: Nathan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brumlik, M. (2010). Neoleninismus in der Postdemokratie [Neo-Leninism in the postdemocratic era]. Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik, 8, 105–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bundestag, D. (2005, April 21). Stenografischer Bericht der 172 Sitzung: Plenarprotokoll 15/172 [Minutes of the 172nd General Session] (pp. 16127–16136). Retrieved October 29, 2010, from http://dipbt.bundestag.de/dip21/btp/15/15172.pdf

  • Council Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA. (2008, November 28) combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law. Official Journal, L 328, December 6, 2008. Retrieved October 8, 2010, from http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32008F0913:EN:HTML

  • Drechsel, B. (2010). The Berlin Wall from a visual perspective: Comments on the construction of a political media icon. Visual Communication, 1, 3–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drechsler, H. (1984). Südwestafrika unter deutscher Kolonialherrschaft. Der Kampf der Herero und Nama gegen den deutschen Imperialismus (1884–1915) [Southwest Africa under German colonial rule: The battle of the Herero and Nama against German imperialism (1884–1915)]. Berlin: Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greiner, B. (2010). Verdrängter Terror. Geschichte und Wahrnehmung sowjetischer Speziallager in Deutschland [Repressed terror: History and perception of Soviet special camps in Germany]. Hamburg: Hamburger Edition.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J. (2006). Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland after Auschwitz: An essay in historical interpretation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gudkov, L. (2005). Die Fesseln des Sieges. Russlands Identität aus der Erinnerung an den Krieg [The bondage of victory: Russia’s identity stemming from the memory of the war]. Osteuropa, 55(4–6), 56–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hillenbrand, K. (2010, May 25). Simon Wiesenthal Center: Die Organisation fahndet intensiv nach noch lebenden Kriegsverbrecher [Simon Wiesenthal Center: The organization is hunting down war criminals who are still alive]. Tageszeitung, Berlin, p. 5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalniete, S. (2004). Old Europe, new Europe: Speech at the opening of the Leipzig Book Fair, 2004. Retrieved March 24, 2004, from http://www.mdr.de/DL/1290734.pdf

  • Kalniete, S. (2006). With dance shoes in Siberian snows (M. Gailītis, Trans.). Riga: The Latvian Occupation Museum Association. (Original work published 2001)

    Google Scholar 

  • Leggewie, C. (Ed.). (2004). Die Türkei und Europa. Die Positionen [Turkey and Europe: The positions]. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Quintrec, G., Geiss, P., & Bernlocher, L. (Eds.). (2006). Europa und die Welt seit 1945 [Europe and the world since 1945]. Histoire/Geschichte 1 (Schülerband), Leipzig: Klett-Schulbuchverlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levy, D., & Sznaider, N. (2001). Erinnerung im globalen Zeitalter: Der Holocaust [Remembering in the global age: The Holocaust]. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manutscharjan, A. (2005, April 18). Eine äußerst sperrige Last der Erinnerung. Seit 90 Jahren offiziell tabu: Der Völkermord an den Armeniern in der Türkei [A highly cumbersome memory—officially taboo: The Armenien genocide in Turkey]. Das Parlament, No. 16. Retrieved October 27th from http://www.bundestag.de/dasparlament/2005/16/ThemaderWoche/001.html

  • MEPs: ban hammer, sickle and swastika. (2005, February 2). Baltic Times (Riga), p. 1. Retrieved October 22, 2010, from http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/11860

  • Michnik, A. (1998). Letters from freedom: Post-Cold War realities and perspectives. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naimark, N. (2001). Fires of hatred: Ethnic cleansing in twentieth-century Europe. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paletschek, S. (2008). Der Weihnachtsfrieden 1914 und der erste Weltkrieg als neuer (west-)europäischer Erinnerungsort. Epilog [Epilogue: The Christmas Truce of 1914 and World War I as a new western European site of memory]. In B. Korte, S. Paletschek, & W. Hochbruck (Eds.), Der erste Weltkrieg in der populären Erinnerungskultur (pp. 213–221). Essen: Klartext.

    Google Scholar 

  • Protokoll der Bundestagsdebatte, Tagesordnungspunkt 6. (2005, April 21). Drucksache 15/4933 [Stenographic record of the Bundestag debate (172nd General Session), Document 15/4933]. Retrieved October 29, 2010, from http://www.bergner.de/files/Antrag%20Armenien%201504933.pdf

  • Rabinovici, D., Speck, U., & Sznaider, N. (Eds.). (2004). Neuer Antisemitismus?—Eine globale Debatte [New anti-Semitism? A global debate]. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sabrow, M. (Ed.). (2010). Bewältigte Diktaturvergangenheit? 20 Jahre DDR-Aufarbeitung [Dictatorial past overcome? Twenty years of research on the GDR]. Leipzig: Universitätsverlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaller, D. J. (2004). “Ich glaube, dass die Nation als solche vernichtet werden muss”: Kolonialkrieg und Völkermord in “Deutsch-Südwestafrika” 1904–1907 [“I believe that the nation as such must be annihilated”: Colonial war and genocide in “German Southwest Africa,” 1904–1907]. Journal of Genocide Research, 6, 395–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmale, W. (2008). “Osteuropa”: Zwischen Ende und Neudefinition? [“Eastern Europe”: Between end and new definition?]. In J. M. Faraldo, P. Gulińska-Jurgiel, & C. Domnitz (Eds.), Europa im Ostblock: Vorstellungen und Diskurse (1945–1991) (pp. 23–35). Cologne: Böhlau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmid, B. (2008, February 9). Geschichtspolitik: Schlupfloch am andern Ufer. Frankreich: Die jüngsten Polemiken um das Kolonialismusgesetz zeigen, wie die Geschichte zum Spielball der Politik wird [History policy: Loophole on the other bank of the river—France: The recent polemics surrounding the colonial law show how history is becoming a political football]. Wochenzeitung (Paris). Retrieved October 21, 2010, from http://www.uni-kassel.de/fb5/frieden/regionen/Frankreich/kolonialismus.html

  • Schmid, H. (2008). Europäisierung des Auschwitzgedenkens? Zum Aufstieg des 27. Januar 1945 als “Holocaustgedenktag” in Europa [The Europeanization of the commemoration of Auschwitz? On the rise of January 27 as a “Holocaust Remembrance Day” in Europe]. In J. Eckel & C. Moisel (Eds.), Universalisierung des Holocaust? Erinnerungskultur und Geschichtspolitik in internationaler Perspektive (pp. 174–202). Göttingen: Wallstein.

    Google Scholar 

  • Semprún, J. (2005, April 14). Niemand wird mehr sagen können: “ja so war es” [Nobody will be able to say: “Yes, that’s how it was”]. ZEIT-Online, Kultur, No. 16. Retrieved October 27, 2010, from http://www.zeit.de/2005/16/BefreiungBuchenw_

  • Sundhaussen, H. (2010). Ethnische Säuberung [Ethnic cleansing]. In D. Brandes, H. Sundhaussen, & S. Troebst (Eds.), Lexikon der Vertreibungen. Deportation, Zwangsaussiedlung und ethnische Säuberung im Europa des 20. Jahrhunderts (pp. 229–234). Vienna: Böhlau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Troebst, S. (2005). Jalta versus Stalingrad, GULag versus Holocaust. Konfligierende Erinnerungskulturen im größeren Europa [Yalta versus Stalingrad, Gulag versus Holocaust: Conflicting cultures of memory in greater Europe]. Berliner Journal für Soziologie, 3, 381–400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Troebst, S. (Ed.). (2010). Postdiktatorische Geschichtskulturen im Süden und Osten Europas. Bestandsaufnahme und Forschungsperspektiven [Postdictatorial cultures of history in the south and east of Europe: Inventory and research perspectives]. Göttingen: Wallstein.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tych, F. (2010). Holocaust muss in ganz Europa aufgearbeitet werden: Interview mit der Zeitung Das Parlament [The Holocaust has to be addressed throughout Europe: Interview in Das Parlament.]. Retrieved October 9, 2010, from http://www.bundestag.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/2010/pm_1001227.html

  • Vuckovic, N. (2003). Qui demande des réparations et pour quels crimes? In M. Ferro (Ed.), Le livre noir du colonialisme (pp. 1023–1056). Paris: Robert Laffont.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wegmann, H. (2010, July 13). Unsere Vorfahren ruhen nicht in Frieden. Tageszeitung (Berlin), p. 14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeitgeschichte-online. (2004, January). Die Erinnerung an Flucht und Vertreibung [Memory of flight and expulsion]. Retrieved November 15, 2010, from http://www.zeitgeschichte-online.de/md=Vertreibung-Inhalt

  • Zimmerer, J., & Zeller, J. (Eds.). (2003). Völkermord in Deutsch-Südwestafrika. Der Kolonialkrieg (1904–1908) in Namibia und seine Folgen [Genocide in German Southwest Africa: The colonial war (1904–1908) in Namibia and its aftermath]. Berlin: C. Links.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut, 45128, Essen, Germany

    Claus Leggewie

Authors
  1. Claus Leggewie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claus Leggewie .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Geographie, Universität Heidelberg, Berliner Str. 48, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany

    Peter Meusburger

  2. School of Geography, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom

    Michael Heffernan

  3. Abt. Geographie, Universität Heidelberg, Berliner Str. 48, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany

    Edgar Wunder

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Leggewie, C. (2011). Seven Circles of European Memory. In: Meusburger, P., Heffernan, M., Wunder, E. (eds) Cultural Memories. Knowledge and Space, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8945-8_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation