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Reconstructing a German National Cultural Identity:
The Performance of German Classic Drama in Postwar Germany.
Research Methodology Introduction Prospectus Sample Chapter Dissertation Abstract Future of Research Project
First and foremost, I am a historian. That is to say that as a researcher, I tend to rely on historical documents and historical material to make my case regarding a particular thesis. That being said, I also must admit being influenced by the immagination. It has always strucj
I.
Buchenwald liegt bei Weimar
Near the center of what is now the memorial park (Gedenkstätte) dedicated to the concentration camp Buchenwald Post Weimar there is a large stump, the decaying remains of large oak tree. The presence of the stump is notable because it seems peculiarly alone, highlighted by a short retaining wall, and marked by a stone plaque; perhaps, a reminder of the dense forest that once populated this location atop Ettersberg (Etters Hill). Yet, the stump is more notable for its name; a name found etched into the stone plaque beside it: Der Goethe-Eiche (The Goethe Oak).
Less than ten kilometers south of Buchenwald is the provincial German town of Weimar. Recognized as one of the leading cultural cities in Europe , Weimar is synonymous with the national and cultural identity of Germany. It is a city steeped in history and cultural tradition, an attraction that cannot be missed by visitors, who now arrive amidst a sea of museums, plaques, and celebrations. Hailed as the city of Dichter und Denker (Poets and Philosophers), Weimar is a city that has come to represent the very best in German culture. Thus, Weimar's attraction is its history, However, that history has at times been selective in its remembrance, a selectivity due in no small part to the ghostly presence of Buchenwald overshadowing Weimar's cultural legacy.
Weimar's awareness of its cultural importance goes back much further than 1999, when it was named Kulturstadt Europas; an honor it secured largely through the acknowledgement of Buchenwald as a part of the city's history. Prior to 1999 Weimar continually tried to disassociate itself from the infamous camp. However, it was not the first time Weimar sought to protect its cultural heritage. Weimar had its reputation in mind even before there was a Buchenwald.
The historical events that precipitated the placement of Buchenwald, and even its name, are well documented. The proposal of a concentration camp outside Weimar was marked with as much controversy as its very existence would be after the war. Theodor Eiche, who was in charge of Germany's concentration camp system, accepted a proposal by Thüringen's Gauleiter Fritz Sauchel to place Germany's third major concentration camp in Thüringen. A site was chosen outside of Weimar near Ettersberg. However, the name proposed for the camp, Ettersberg Konzentrationslager, was objected to by the cultural establishment of Weimar because of its association with the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The heavily forested area of Ettersberg was a favorite hiking area for many in Weimar, including Goethe. According to the popular literary anecdote, in 1827, Goethe and his secretary Eckermann traveled through the countryside outside Weimar. Stopping atop Etters Hill to rest, the pair sat beneath an oak tree to admire the view which according to Goethe afforded him a view of "half of Thüringen." Because of this single event, or more properly because of Eckermann's recording of it in his diary, the cultural elite of Weimar reasoned that Ettersburg was too closely connected to Goethe to be a sullied by being the name of something as distasteful as a concentration camp. Interestingly, it was not the presence of the oak tree , said to bear Goethe and Eckermann's initials, within the proposed site of the camp, but the name 'Ettersberg' that was objectionable. The semantic signifier supplants the physical presence of a historical object. When Eicke took this complaint to Heinrich Himmler, the name was changed to Buchenwald Post Weimar. The proposed site, with the famous oak at its center, remained the same. Further, when excavation of the site began, it was ordered that the infamous oak tree be spared. Thus, the oak tree remained, imprisoned as it were, within the walls of Buchenwald.
The presence of Goethe's name within the walls of Buchenwald is itself an irony considering the way in which the Goethe Eiche came to symbolize both the rich German heritage championed by the Nazi's and the promise of a return to Enlightenment Humanism for the inmates. That the oak was viewed symbolically by diametrically opposed persons in the camp contributes to the greater symbolism of the oak today. Thus, when the tree was struck by Allied bombs during the March 1945 raid, prisoners and guards alike scrambled to acquire souvenir pieces of the oak. The stump that remains is currently protected from visitors who wish to do the same.