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DEFINING DESTINATIONS: TOURISM'S RELATION TO EAST GERMAN IDENTITY
BEFORE AND AFTER REUNIFICATION
Kerry F. Anderson
A Thesis
Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green
State University in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
August 2008
Committee:
Dr. Geoffrey Howes, Advisor
Dr. Christina Guenther
ii
ABSTRACT
Dr. Geoffrey Howes, Advisor
The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between tourism and
regional identity in eastern Germany before and after reunification. This study examined how
certain sites of tourism in eastern Germany have been promoted in order to create specific,
idealized identities. The first chapter discussed theories of tourism and tourism’s role in the
construction and reflection of identity. The subsequent chapters applied this general background
information to the specific context of eastern Germany. This study outlined the practice of
tourism in the GDR and analyzed pre- and post-unification travel guidebooks written in both
English and German to show how this region’s identity has been represented and misrepresented
in tourism-specific informative texts.
The study then continued in the form of three smaller case studies. These case studies
examined historical information and promotional campaigns regarding three relatively different
sites of tourism in eastern Germany: Saxon Switzerland, Leipzig, and Ferropolis. Saxon
Switzerland is a national park; Leipzig was the second-largest city in the GDR and has
experienced multiple makeovers since reunification; and Ferropolis is an open-air museum and
event venue first established after reunification on the grounds of a former brown-coal mine.
My research revealed that tourist imagery, organizations, and promotional strategies in
the GDR attempted to create an idealized adherence to the values of socialism and an idealized
belief in the GDR. Several idealizations of identity have been noted in sites of tourism since
reunification: idealization of achievements before the socialist era; idealization of the future;
and idealization of certain aspects of transformations presently taking place in eastern Germany.
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This study focused on the portrayal and promotion of specific tourist destinations and can serve
as a springboard for further research into tourist responses.
iv
Dedicated to Sabine Heklau and Constance Porysiak.
v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to acknowledge the professors of German at Bowling Green State University
for giving me the opportunity to study in Salzburg and in Bowling Green. Their support made
this project possible. I would like to especially acknowledge Christina Guenther and Geoffrey
Howes for their help, encouragement, and guidance in writing this thesis.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................
1
CHAPTER I. TOURISM AND IDENTITY.........................................................................
3
CHAPTER II. URLAUB FÜR ALLE? – TOURISM IN THE GDR ...................................
13
CHAPTER III. PROMOTION AND IDENTITY IN TRAVEL GUIDES...........................
19
CASE STUDIES – INTRODUCTION .................................................................................
37
CHAPTER IV. SAXON SWITZERLAND..........................................................................
38
CHAPTER V. LEIPZIG .......................................................................................................
46
CHAPTER VI. FERROPOLIS .............................................................................................
57
CONCLUSION....…..............................................................................................................
72
BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................
74
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LIST OF FIGURES/TABLES
Figure/Table
Page
Fig. 1
“Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer”.................................................................
45
Fig. 2
“Malerweg” Brochure..........................................................................................
45
Fig. 3
“Bach lebt.”..........................................................................................................
55
Fig. 4
“Lernen Sie Flanieren.” .......................................................................................
56
Fig. 5
Aerial View of Ferropolis ....................................................................................
64
Fig. 6
The Excavators and Arena of Ferropolis .............................................................
65
Fig. 7
Event at Ferropolis...............................................................................................
65
Table 1 Museum Visitors as of 31 December 2007..........................................................
66
Table 2 Event Visitors, 1997-2007 ...................................................................................
67
1
INTRODUCTION
This study examines the complex relationship between tourism and regional identity in
eastern Germany before and after reunification. It is a comparative study and interdisciplinary in
nature. I aim to illuminate how effects of the transition from being a socialist state to being part
of a unified Germany can be noted in places of tourism and in the regional identities these places
of tourism create. My fundamental argument is that the promotion of tourism in both the
German Democratic Republic (GDR) and in the region of eastern Germany today serves to
construct idealized identities. Idealizations have changed throughout the last half-century due to
political, ideological, economic, social, and cultural shifts; this study highlights the de- and reconstructions of idealized identities associated with these shifts as they play out in the field of
tourism.
Investigating the interconnectedness of tourism and identity in eastern Germany is a new
and exciting task. While research has been conducted on East German identity, on
representations of East Germany since reunification, on histories of tourism in Europe, and on
tourism, culture, and identity in the “New Europe,” there is a lack of research concerning the
specific and unique case of tourism and its role in identity creation in East Germany (Staab;
Cooke; Walton; Ashworth and Larkham; et al.). Many previous studies of tourism and identity
in post-socialist states have focused on countries that have maintained a more or less national
character or that have first become independent nations since the break up of the Soviet Union
(e.g. Romania, Croatia). Less attention has been paid to the unique case of East Germany, a state
that unified with its western neighbor in 1990. There is therefore a need for scholarship in this
area, and my study will hopefully provide new and useful information to help bolster awareness
and interest in this largely unexplored subject.
2
Examining the relationship between tourism and identity in eastern Germany must take
into account research from the fields of German studies, tourism studies, cultural studies, history,
and geography, among others. Chapter 1 discusses major trends of thought that bring these
fields together within the context of my project. I then begin to apply general thought from
Chapter 1 to the particular parameters of my project. Chapter 2 briefly outlines the practice of
tourism in the GDR. I mention the constitutional rights and laws along with the state
organizations that governed tourism and contrast that with more personal, anecdotal insight into
the experience of tourism during the GDR years. Chapter 3 deals with representations and
misrepresentations of East German identity as found in English- and German-language travel
guidebooks published before and after reunification.
I then move on to case studies of three tourist destinations in eastern Germany in order to
exhibit and analyze specific relationships between tourism and idealized identities. The three
destinations are Saxon Switzerland, Leipzig, and Ferropolis. I have chosen these destinations
due to the variety they offer: Saxon Switzerland is a national park; Leipzig is one of the largest
cities in eastern Germany and is known for its urban initiatives; Ferropolis is a new site that has
been created since reunification and that is founded on the grounds of a former brown-coal
mining operation. After devoting discussions to these three tourist destinations in Chapters 4, 5,
and 6, I will bring together the results of my study in a conclusion.
3
CHAPTER I. TOURISM AND IDENTITY
The first steps in examining tourism’s relation to idealized senses of East German
identity include defining tourism and the closely connected terms recreation, leisure, and heritage
as well as recognizing tourism’s role in the construction and reflection of identity. After looking
generally at the complex interface of tourism and identity, one can begin to apply broad,
theoretical connections to the more specific East German situation. In this chapter I will provide
an overview of theories and dimensions of tourism and will then suggest how these theories and
dimensions relate to the process of creating idealized identities in the GDR and in the new
Länder.
Usage of the words “tourism,” “recreation,” and “leisure” is often contested, and
universally accepted definitions are impossibilities (Hall, Tourism and Recreation, 3-4).
However, there are distinctions despite any disputes and overlaps within this body of
terminology. To begin, leisure is the broadest of the aforementioned terms. In an examination
of the meaning of leisure, Stockdale identified three main ways in which the concept of leisure is
used. In one of these ways leisure is seen as a period of time, activity, or state of mind in which
choice is the dominant feature. In another way an objective view is represented that perceives
leisure as the opposite of work and defines leisure as non-work or residual time. In the third way
a subjective view is expressed that emphasizes leisure as a qualitative concept in which leisure
activities take on meaning only within the context of individual perceptions and belief systems
and can therefore occur at any time in any setting (Hall, Tourism and Recreation, 3). When
considering the first two of Stockdale’s views, we can already note how leisure in the GDR, a
state with extensive networks of control that limited personal choice, may have taken on
different meanings than leisure in the area today. The state control and limitation of choice as
4
related to vacationing in the GDR will be explored in Chapter 2; for now I would like to move
forward in the terminological discussion.
When viewing tourism, recreation, and leisure in relationship with one another, tourism
and recreation are generally considered subsets of the wider concept of leisure, regardless of the
exact view of leisure one holds (Hall, Tourism and Recreation, 4). Now, within this framework
of leisure, much overlap exists between definitions of tourism and recreation. Bodewes, for
example, sees tourism as a phenomenon of recreation. On the other hand, Murphy views
recreation as one component of tourism (Hall, Tourism and Recreation, 4). Both notions –
tourism as part of recreation and recreation as part of tourism – are implicitly evident in my case
studies. For instance, I will analyze the significance of Ferropolis’ identity as a site of recreation
and the significance of certain recreational activities in Saxon Switzerland.
Dwelling on the exact differences between tourism and recreation is of relatively low
importance to my study. Thinking about recreation among other key components of tourism and
acknowledging the recent development of tourism studies as a scholarly field is, however, quite
important. Traditionally, tourism has been regarded as a commercial economic phenomenon
rooted in the private domain. Tourism studies is just now escaping from its earlier dependence
on basic economic principles, from an obsession with mechanical analyses of questionnaires, and
from attempts to translate the intangible into the quantifiable (Walton 3). While economic
phenomena are without a doubt major aspects of tourism, defining tourism with almost complete
reference to the private economic domain is over-generalizing, unclear, and misleading. And
with regard to my study, such a reference would be impossible. Simply put, tourism in the GDR
was not a commercial economic phenomenon rooted in the private domain, yet tourism most
certainly existed. There is an urgent need, which many scholars today are working with
5
enthusiasm to fulfill, to sufficiently investigate other components integral to tourism: historical,
cultural, political, social, and environmental phenomena. Also, the relationship between ideas
about tourism and discourses of national and regional identity has started to develop. The issue
of identity has become a vitally important theme connecting political and cultural history in
recent years, but has not yet taken on central importance within tourism studies (Walton 4). I
have conducted this study out of a desire to promote a nuanced approach to analyzing tourism
and the centrality of identity in an under-analyzed, unusual context: a socialist state whose
heavily-guarded national borders disappeared overnight.
The concept of heritage plays a crucial role in the relationship between tourism and
identity. The essential argument of Ashworth and Larkham’s study of tourism, culture, and
identity in the new Europe is as follows: “History, that is the occurrences of the past, is widely
used to fulfill a number of major modern functions, one of which is shaping socio-cultural place
identities in support of particular state structures” (13). “Using history” is how heritage is
created, and the process of using history to create heritage is difficult and full of intrinsic
dilemmas. The necessity of choice is one such dilemma. Not everyone has the choice to decide
what should become heritage and what not; power structures and political agendas underlie
heritage making. Ashworth and Larkham describe heritage as a commodity; history becomes
heritage through a process of commodification. They discuss heritage as “an industry in the
sense of a modern activity, deliberately controlled and organized with the aim of producing a
marketable product” (16). They also go on to state that heritage is one of the chief determinants
of the individual characters of places (19). So what does this say about the former East
Germany? The region has undergone two reconstructions in one generation, in response to
changes in the dominant ideology (121). One can thus gather that different heritages have been
6
created and re-created in a short amount of time, and as I will demonstrate throughout my study,
this has led to the use of tourist spaces to promote varying idealized identities.
This brings my discussion to the actual use of tourist space and the customs known as
tourism. At the outset of The Tourist Gaze, John Urry lays out characteristics of the social
practices described as tourism (2-3). I will paraphrase the first two characteristics here, and it is
important to keep these in mind when comparing the GDR with the new Länder. Firstly, tourism
is a leisure activity that presupposes its opposite, namely regulated work. It is one demonstration
of how work and leisure are organized as separate and regulated spheres of social practice in
modern societies. As we will see in Chapter 2, tourism was intricately tied to the workplace in
the GDR, and the transition from the relationship between work and tourism in the GDR to the
relationship between the two today is ripe for research.
Urry’s second characteristic states that tourist relationships arise from a movement of
people to various destinations and their stay at these destinations. This characteristic supports a
recent approach to conceptualizing tourism as a highly significant form of human mobility. The
notion of tourism as a form of mobility has meant the development of an approach relating
tourism to other elements of mobility such as migration and transnationalism (Hall, Tourism and
Recreation, 6). The opportunity for far greater travel to and from eastern Germany after the fall
of the Berlin Wall meant that notions of East German identity were transplanted into a more
international context.
In addition to mentioning these basic characteristics of tourism, I would like to discuss
key strands in tourism theory that lie behind the specific foci of my study. Morgan and Pritchard
outlined the four major theoretical strands identified in Dann’s The Language of Tourism: the
perspectives of strangerhood, authenticity, play, and the emergent standpoint of conflict. To
7
these perspectives Morgan and Pritchard have added one of interaction (7-17). I will pull out the
aspects of these perspectives most pertinent to my study, and will not mention the perspective of
play in any more detail, as it is not central to my work and as I have already discussed aspects of
the interconnectedness of tourism, leisure, recreation, and work.
The perspectives of strangerhood and authenticity are the longest-established tourism
perspectives. The former was largely constructed by Eric Cohen, who argued that tourism is a
manifestation of people’s desire to visit other places and peoples so as to experience the
differences that exist in the world (Morgen and Pritchard 7-8). His view suggests that the wish
to encounter difference and to search for both novel and strange experiences are prime
motivators of tourism. Though undisputedly one of various possible motivators for tourism, the
desire to experience the different, new or strange cannot universally be held up as a main driving
force of tourism, as will be demonstrated later in this study with regard to the situation in a
socialist state such as the GDR. The state indeed precluded for many of its citizens the
opportunity to experience the different, capitalist world. This situation again points to the need
to study tourism and its relation to identity in the GDR.
The notion of authenticity has caused much controversy among tourism scholars.
Disputes have centered on whether tourists consume ‘authentic’ representations of other peoples’
lives and societies or whether they are deceived by ‘inauthentic,’ ‘pseudo-events’ designed
specifically for the undiscriminating tourist. Boorstin argues that tourism, far from presenting
authenticity and truth, is in fact a self-sustaining system of illusion generated by the industry and
the media (Morgan and Pritchard 8). In my analysis of guidebooks and in my case studies I will
demonstrate how certain idealizations have been attached to “authentic” representations of
identity at sites of tourism in eastern Germany.
8
Debates surrounding the authentic-or-inauthentic issue have been put into question.
Crick has suggested that the very nature of the authentic or inauthentic debate is illegitimate and
inappropriate, for we live in a world whose cultures are not at all static. Cultures are being
continually re-invented and are subject to changes brought about by both internal and external
forces. Since cultures constantly develop, evolve, and change, the right one has to claim a
version of reality or authenticity must be examined carefully. Also, a growing tendency to focus
on the experience of tourism itself as a reality is making the debate of authenticity or
inauthenticity irrelevant (Morgan and Pritchard 9-12). The concept of continually changing
culture and identity underpins my study. Stuart Hall wrote in his study of cultural identity and
diaspora about two central components of identity construction: one of “archeology” and one of
“production.” Concerning the former, Hall argues that identity attempts to unearth a lost, “true
self.” On the other hand, Hall also understands identity as a dynamic product. He writes:
Cultural identity, in this second sense, is a matter of ‘becoming’ as well as of ‘being.’ It
belongs to the future as much as to the past. It is not something which already exists,
transcending place, time, history and culture. Cultural identities come from somewhere,
have histories. But, like everything that is historical, they undergo constant
transformation (112).
My study of sites of tourism in eastern Germany aims to examine the “true selves” that
have been promoted at certain sites throughout the past half-century. As we will see, even the
“truly German” elements of identity have been promoted in such a way as to fall into line with
dominant power structures and ideologies. This phenomenon itself attests to the continual
change and transformation that forms identity.
9
The role of dominant power structures and shifts in power and politics is now becoming
recognized within tourism studies. The emergent theoretical strand of tourism as conflict
presents issues of power and power’s influence, which had been relatively peripheral to
discussions of tourism in the twentieth century. More and more scholars within tourism studies,
however, argue that power is central to analyses of tourism. Underlining this perspective (and
drawing on Foucault’s concept of discourse, along with Said’s Orientalism text) is the belief that
cultures and histories cannot seriously be understood or studied without their configurations of
power being examined (Morgan and Pritchard 14). When studying a social phenomenon like
tourism, it is necessary to ask why certain tourist attractions, images, and idealizations are
prominent. The analyses of specific tourist attractions, images, and idealizations in my case
studies are based on the notion that power configurations play important roles in the creation and
promotion of tourist ideals and identities.
When viewing tourism from the perspective of power, it can be seen as ideology as much
as physical movement, something strange, authentic or inauthentic, play, or interaction. Tourism
is a ground on which hegemonic relationships of superiority and inferiority are played out, and is
often an example of those who represent having power and authority over the represented
(Morgen and Pritchard 15-17). As we will see in the subsequent chapters, those having control
over vacation facilities in the GDR, those writing for guidebooks, and those making advertising
decisions for tourist destinations all have a certain degree of authority in the construction of
identity.
In light of this strand of tourism theory, one can see how tourism processes have broad
cultural meanings that extend far beyond the actual consumption of tourism products or places.
Tourism identities are packaged and presented according to dominant value systems and
10
meanings. Just as sites of tourism are associated with particular values, feelings, and historical
events, so values, feelings, and events are utilized to promote such sites, reinforcing dominant
ideologies (Morgen and Pritchard 3). Despite tourism’s designation of being leisure time framed
by choice, self-determination, and mobility, the study of tourism, and particularly this study of
tourism in eastern Germany, can lead to an investigation of power structures and how these
structures influence identity.
The last perspective of tourism that I would like to discuss is that of interaction. Morgan
and Pritchard point out that there is an apparent tendency to undervalue the actual experience of
the tourist in the pursuit of an all-encompassing theoretical framework for tourism. A different
strand of sociological thought has developed that tries to move away from dominant
characteristics of tourism and to look anew at the relationships between those who visit and those
who are visited. This newer approach stresses tourism as an active arena of interaction that
impacts the tourist as well as the people or place visited (Morgan and Pritchard 12). In support
of this perspective of interaction, Wearing and Wearing argue that subjective meanings and
realities constructed by tourists in the tourist space should be incorporated into studies of
tourism. These meanings help to create not only the tourist self but also the tourist space. The
tourist destination, site, or space represents more than just an image or object to be consumed by
the watching tourist. It is instead a chora, “a space whose meaning can be constantly redefined
by its inhabitants” (Wearing and Wearing 235). The idea of a “watching tourist” refers to John
Urry’s influential concept of the tourist gaze: the socially organized and systemized way in
which tourists view people and places (Urry 1).
Though the concepts of the tourist gaze and of interaction are valuable to studies of
tourism and identity, I did not have the resources available to investigate tourists’ viewpoints and
11
interactions between tourists and inhabitants; I was not able to examine destinations from
tourists’ perspectives. Instead, I have focused on how certain destinations are represented and
present themselves in order to attract a certain gaze. My study centers on what certain places
want to say and convey to tourists, how places aim to construct identity. I am primarily
concerned with the creation of narrative and visual imagery and with place promotion.
I would therefore like to discuss underlying meanings of place promotion, especially as
they function in the context of eastern Germany. Young and Lever conclude that at the core of
place promotion is the ambition to create an alluring identity that will attract targeted groups
such as tourists or investors (Coles 193). This is, as Holcomb observes, often achieved by
carefully selecting and de- and reconstructing imagery pertinent to a certain place, history,
society, or culture (Coles 193). This phenomenon is central to my study and will underpin the
analyses in Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6.
For post-socialist states such as the former GDR, the credibility of chosen imagery and
associated messages is connected to efforts to oust the negative connotations of political
oppression, economic inefficiency, and incapability under socialism (Light 158; Coles 193).
Reinventing identity for cities like Leipzig has initially meant a selective modification of history
to project the place’s prior qualities and achievements. We will notice this tendency in Chapters
3 and 5, in the place promotion of cities like Leipzig in English-language travel guides and in the
image campaigns initiated by the city of Leipzig. As I will demonstrate, referring back to figures
like Bach and Goethe highlights past successes, which can then be used to signify the coming of
future successes.
This process of reinventing identity is complex and contested. The interplay of desires to
erase memories of the recent communist past, desires to hold on to certain aspects of life under
12
socialism (Ostalgie), economic realities, and the notion that what tourists may want to see can be
a greater driving force in promotional campaigns than purely local initiatives makes for a highly
complicated and nuanced redevelopment of identity. As the government of the GDR adjusted
historical representations to promote the values of socialism, so now is history being reworked
and re-presented to create a new identity in line with the changed political and social atmosphere.
Such identity de- and reconstruction has leaned heavily on Western practices, has looked to
historical ages much farther in the past than the communist period, and is as ideological as GDRera identity construction (Morgan and Pritchard 150; Light 158). I add here the description
“idealized” to the identities constructed by tourism in the GDR and in the region of eastern
Germany today.
Though the relationship between tourism and identity is perhaps not obvious in a cursory
consideration of either tourism or identity, when one looks under the surface of postcards or
souvenirs, one can see strong links binding the two phenomena. As I have demonstrated here
and as I will continue to demonstrate throughout the rest of my study, the links between tourism
and identity in eastern Germany expose specific notions of leisure, mobility, heritage, cultural
change, power politics, ideologies, selective histories and hopes for the future. These links then
combine all of the above notions to construct idealized identities. The process of combining
these notions and constructing identity is, however, quite complex and must be examined
carefully. The following chapters aim to provide insight into this multifaceted process and into
the continually changing yet enduring relationship between tourism and identity in eastern
Germany.
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CHAPTER II. URLAUB FÜR ALLE? – TOURISM IN THE GDR
This chapter will provide basic information about the practice and role of tourism in the
GDR. I will focus on constitutional rights regarding vacation, political and social organizations
involved in the planning of tourism, and anecdotal information. I cannot provide a detailed
analysis of all aspects of tourism in the GDR given the scope of this project, but I would like to
discuss pertinent historical information in order to highlight fundamental relationships between
tourism and identity in the GDR. I do not provide any case studies here as I do later in my study,
but discuss the practice of tourism more broadly. Concepts of leisure and recreation will also be
incorporated in this chapter where appropriate, as much prior research has shed more light on
“free time” in the GDR generally than on tourism specifically.
From the founding of the GDR until its end, tourism was a subsidized business (Biskupek
and Wedel 7). While the growth of mass tourism in the second half of the twentieth century was
seen as a way for West Germany to showcase its economic affluence and to test its relations with
other nations around the world, citizens of the GDR were confined to vacation sites within their
country or occasionally other Eastern Bloc countries (Sandford 619-620). As Mary Fulbrook
notes in her study of East German society, the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED;
the Socialist Unity Party of Germany) was of course interested in organizing its citizens’ leisure
time and harnessing the extra energies of its people for productive pursuits. In fact, the official
notion of leisure and tourism was that they played different roles in capitalist and communist
countries. In capitalist societies, leisure was conceived as therapy or recovery from exhaustive
work. Socialism, however, viewed leisure as a chance to serve the development of capacities,
talents, health, and well-being. The SED leadership also worried that if leisure time or travels
were uncontrolled, the “class enemy” in the form of Western influences or experiences could
14
permeate GDR citizens’ lives (67). State policies and organizations thus became the central
factors regulating tourism in East Germany.
The “right to recovery and recreation” (“Recht auf Erholung”) was guaranteed in the
constitution of the GDR. Article 16 of the initial 1949 constitution stated: “1. Every worker has
the right to recovery and recreation, to annual vacation for a fee, to provision in illness and old
age.”1 This was altered in the 1968 constitution; Article 34 of the 1968 version read:
1. Every citizen of the German Democratic Republic has the right to free time,
recovery and recreation.
2. The right to free time, recovery and recreation is guaranteed by the legal
restriction of daily and weekly working hours, by a fully paid annual vacation, and by the
planned expansion of the network of publicly-owned and other social recreation and
vacation centers.2
There were strict rules governing the length of vacations in the GDR. The minimum
vacation length was at first set at 12 workdays, changed to 15 in 1967, and extended to 18 in
1979. In 1967 the five-day workweek was also introduced; until then people went to work either
every or every other Saturday. Citizens could also receive more vacation, dependent on their
age, occupation, or living situation (Biskupek and Wedel 9). I will not go into any more detail
about the allotment of vacation days, but instead move on to aspects of trip planning and
participation.
1
“1. Jeder Arbeitende hat das Recht auf Erholung, auf jährlichen Urlaub gegen Entgelt, auf
Versorgung bei Krankheit und im Alter.” (Biskupek and Wedel 9)
2
“1. Jeder Bürger der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik hat das Recht auf Freizeit und
Erholung. 2. Das Recht auf Freizeit und Erholung wird gewährleistet durch die gesetzliche
Begrenzung der täglichen und wöchentlichen Arbeitszeit, duch einen vollbezahlten Jahresurlaub
und durch den planmäßigen Ausbau des Netzes volkseigener und anderer gesellschaftlicher
Erholungs- und Urlaubszentren.” (Biskupek and Wedel 9; all text translated by Kerry Anderson)
15
East Germany took pride in its socialist guarantees and organizations of recovery and
recreation, and the state’s role in tourism cannot be underestimated. Almost all tourism and
vacation planning was organized by workers’ companies or the Freier Deutscher
Gewerkschaftsbund (FDGB; Free German Trade Union Federation), which also owned and
operated vacation facilities. Only about 10-20% of citizens organized their vacations
individually, and as Biskupek and Wedel mention somewhat sarcastically, “These people were
found at campgrounds at home and abroad, a few in rare private quarters, others attended their
dachas or visited relatives and acquaintances very privately.” (“Diese fand man auf den
Campingplätzen im In- und Ausland, einige wenige auch in raren Privatquartieren, andere
pflegten ihre Datschen oder besuchten ganz privat Verwandte und Bekannte.”) (23). Put
succinctly, even when traveling individually, East Germans were not very free to choose their
destination.
For the most part, all citizens of the GDR (youth included) were highly dependent on
vacations, camps, and holiday facilities run by the state. In 1961, for example, 80,000 children
vacationed in Young Pioneers camps; 750,000 people went on vacations organized by their
workplace; and almost 1,500,000 youth (children to apprentices) took part in local holiday
activities like swimming, walking, and youth camps. In total, 70% of all GDR schoolchildren
and apprentices participated in some form of organized vacation, camp, or holiday activity
(Fulbrook 76). And due to the highly subsidized nature of East German tourism, traveling was
relatively inexpensive. In the 1980s, comparatively more East Germans traveled each year than
West Germans (70-80% of East Germans versus 65-70% of West Germans). However, their
stays were on average shorter (thirteen versus seventeen days), and as hinted in the paragraph
above, they usually did not have much say in where they wanted to go. Traveling for East
16
Germans usually involved being sent to state-owned destinations according to availability, which
sometimes meant going to the backwaters of the GDR (Sandford 620). Despite the extensive and
comprehensive network of vacation planning and state-owned vacation facilities, the GDR was
not able to provide for all its citizens adequately.
Even during the Honecker years that officially emphasized the “well-being of the people”
(“Wohl der Menschen”) not nearly enough developments took place to help satisfy the travel
needs of East Germans. Fulbrook notes that 47 of 177 submissions (Eingaben) to the National
Executive Committee of the FDGB in 1974 related to problems about vacations, and this
proportion was not unusual throughout the rest of the 1970s and early 1980s. Some of the
complaints simply concerned the utter lack of availability of places, and others the low quality of
accommodations (77). Fulbrook provides some anecdotal information regarding the problems of
tourism in the GDR, and I will here share and condense two anecdotes she discusses in her study.
A glaring lack of available places is evident in the case of Frau R. of Karl-Marx-Stadt
(Chemnitz today). She wrote in 1986 that her small firm of 60 people had merged into a large
enterprise of 3,200 and had since lost control of its own vacation funds and facilities, as the
company had now gone into a general pot with only 72 beds in vacation homes available on a
two-week cycle. Frau R. was outraged by just how infrequently any given worker, along with
his or her family, would actually be able to go on vacation under these circumstances (77).
Citizens fortunate enough to be granted a vacation at a nice place and time of year could
also be critical. Workers from four major industrial enterprises spent time around New Year’s
Eve at the vacation home “Fritz Weineck” in the mountain resort of Oberhof. The workers
complained of very long waits and high prices for meals, a menu leaving little choice for those
with dietary restrictions, a lack of places available for New Year’s Eve celebrations, difficulties
17
in obtaining tickets for other events in spite of waiting in long lines, and suspicions of under-thecounter privileging of non-guests (77).
As these anecdotes demonstrate, there was great inequality and inadequacy in the staterun tourism system of the GDR. There was no end to complaints about vacationing within the
GDR, and limitations on travel abroad became a key focus of popular frustration with the
restricted lifestyle in the GDR (Sandford 619). The lack of freedom in travel was important in
shaping East German identity. State-organized tourism aimed to promote pride in and care for
the East German state and citizenry, socialist values and solidarity, and aimed to stave off
Western influences. Ultimately, however, this did not meet with great success.
Travel and vacation within the GDR was highly regulated, but the last travel regulation of
the state marked a monumental turning point in East German tourism and its connections with
identity. On 9 November 1989 SED-Politbüro member Günter Schabowski announced, “Private
travel abroad can be requested with no conditions.” (“Privatreisen nach dem Ausland können
ohne Vorliegen von Voraussetzungen beantragt werden.”) (Biskupek and Wedel 7). With these
words, a completely new dimension of tourism in the GDR was created and identity began to
undergo great transformation. East Germans were quick to adopt Western travel patterns, and
the function and practice of tourism in the new Länder needed to adjust accordingly (Sandford
620).
The desire for and reality of change in tourism does not, however, negate the many
positive experiences people had with tourism during the GDR years. There were many citizens
who did not send in complaints to the FDGB and who enjoyed the tents, dachas, and cheap stateowned facilities of the GDR (Fulbrook 79). Throughout the rest of my study I will take a closer
18
look at the transition from tourism in a socialist culture to tourism in a capitalist-consumerist
culture and the identity construction associated with this transition.
19
CHAPTER III. PROMOTION AND IDENTITY IN TRAVEL GUIDES
Examining the promotion of eastern Germany in both pre- and post-reunification travel
guidebooks allows one to see how the region’s identity has been represented and misrepresented
in tourism-specific informative texts. Travel guidebooks do not merely or objectively inform
readers about sites or accommodations. The content and tone of guidebooks reflect the interests
of their intended audiences as well as the personal opinions of their authors. Different
guidebooks place different touristic values on the same places in order to make varying
endorsements. As Rudy Koshar points out in his study of Baedeker guidebooks, which were the
dominant presence on the German guidebook market throughout the nineteenth century and into
the twentieth, there was a close relationship between the content of the 1913 guide and the values
of the educated middle class in Germany, the Gebildeten. He notes that nearly 30% of the “Main
Points of Interest in Germany” belonged to the category of history and monuments and another
12% related to art galleries and museums (332). I will demonstrate that similar relationships
between authorship, content, and readership of guidebooks have persisted throughout the
twentieth century and are present in current guides.
My study does not focus on interpreting guidebooks, but it is pertinent to look broadly at
the layout, content, and tone of some guidebooks published during the GDR’s existence, the time
of flux surrounding reunification, and the years thereafter. Like Koshar, I believe that tourism,
undertaken either at home or abroad, contributes to a sense of national identity and belonging.
Travel guidebooks provide suggestions about places and objects to be seen when traveling, and
as Koshar points out, the act of stating “what ought to be seen” reflects and promotes notions of
national identities, of both the land being visited and the homeland (339). My purpose here is to
20
show how misrepresentations of East German identity can be gleaned from guidebook texts.
These misrepresentations can be categorized as slighted identity and idealized identity.
This chapter analyzes pre-unification travel guidebooks written in English and German,
guidebooks written in English from 1990 and 1991, and guidebooks written in English after 1991
to highlight general differences and shifts in descriptions of eastern Germany.3 I discuss the
guidebooks in a rough chronological order, making room for slight skips backward and forward
in order to address groups of English-speaking and German-speaking books separately. I do not
explicitly discuss the politics of the Cold War, but rather incorporate commentary on how the
influences of the political atmosphere during this time are apparent in many of the guides.
I will begin with Fodor’s Germany: West and East 1975. In the Editors’ Foreword, the
addition of a chapter on East Germany is noted as the most important adaptation for this volume.
In previous volumes East Germany had occupied only a few paragraphs. The editors state that
the two Germanys had now (since the 1973 Basic Treaty between them) come close to
establishing normal relations and that a new tourist policy in the GDR made it easier for visitors
to enter. They therefore write, “we feel it is time to recognize that nation’s attempts (still far
from adequate, we must confess) to entice more tourism from America, Britain and other
Western countries” (6). In this statement the editors seem somewhat reluctant to acknowledge
the increased possibilities of traveling to East Germany, as if they have waited until it was
imperative to provide information about East Germany. Also, the editors do not expressly
support or endorse East German attempts at luring tourists, they “recognize” them. And
3
The selection of guidebooks was limited by availability and time. The guidebooks I have
chosen are meant to be representative of their respective times, places, and authors, but cannot be
understood as being representative of all guidebooks during the pre- and post-unification periods.
A further, more exhaustive analysis of guidebooks should include books written in German after
1991.
21
significantly, it is the East Germans who are attempting to entice more tourism from Western
countries. Western countries, or so it is phrased, are responding to the GDR’s inadequate
attempts at garnering visitors, not necessarily generating interest themselves or answering to
calls from within their own countries for more information about traveling to East Germany.
The first chapter of this volume is titled “Germany Today: One Fascinating Country in
Two Modern States.” In this title alone we see that the author of the chapter, George Bailey,
considers East Germany to be part of one greater country of Germany. The ten-page chapter
starts off with a quotation from Friedrich Schiller: “Germany? But where is it? I cannot find
such a country” (13). Bailey then relays existential musings of Ernst Moritz Arndt and
Metternich to point out the historical difficulties Germans have had with defining their country.
Bailey draws no conclusion here as to a definition of Germany, but rather perpetuates the
question of “what is the fatherland of the Germans?” and uses prominent German figures to do
so (13). He is perhaps legitimizing the current political situation of Germany by reiterating
views held by important Germans in the past: Germany has been a divided country for much of
its existence.
After having addressed sections such as “Music and Castles” and “Fairy Tales and
Witches,” where Bailey capitalizes on traditional Romantic drawing powers and enchantments of
Germany, the chapter ends with the section of “Modern Germany.” In the earlier sections Bailey
does not avoid addressing East Germany, but his commentary homes in on storied and mythical
representations of East Germany. For instance, in “Fairy Tales and Witches” Bailey notes that
there is a bronze inscription on the wall of a public building in Hameln describing the more than
four million East German refugees who came to West Germany in the first fifteen years after
World War II as compensation for, and as spiritual descendants of the children who were lured
22
away to the east centuries ago by the pied piper (19). It is in the last two paragraphs of the
“Modern Germany” section that fanciful depictions yield to a more frank description of current
events. Here we read about Willy Brandt’s Ostpolitik, the Four Power Agreement, and the
increase in access between West and East Germany since the Basic Treaty of 1973. The
endorsing, sweeping tone of a travel guide is not lost here, though, as one reads about how the
two new German states’ competition for international custom and favor enhances the political
and cultural fascination of Germany. Bailey even goes so far as to state that “the international
arena that is Germany” is “culturally and politically the most fascinating country in the world”
(22). Bailey endorses East Germany here, but only as it is connected to West Germany and as it
is a part of a greater whole.
We encounter East Germany again in the last chapter of Fodor’s Germany: West and
East 1975. As illustrated above, a chapter title alone can embody opinions about German
identity. Each chapter title in this volume consists of two parts, an objective geographical
designation followed by an appealing description. For example, there is “Western Germany: The
Historic Land,” “Southwestern Germany: The Picturesque Land,” “Southeastern Germany: The
Holiday Land,” and “Northern Germany: The Seagirt Land.” Then comes “East Germany: The
German Democratic Republic” (10-11). This break in the rhetorical scheme signifies a
difference in assessment. East Germany is made even more into the Other, and with a
description like this, attention is placed on its political and nomenclatural difference, with no
accompanying allusion to a more specific and attractive social place or landscape (e.g. “holiday
land,” “seagirt land”).
The chapter begins with a short (one-page) analysis of the founding of East and West
Germany and of divided Germany’s position as the linchpin of the Cold War (465). A section
23
entitled “The New Look” then follows, in which East Germany’s rather dour exterior is
explained. The section also states that, “As a tourist, one misses terribly the family-run business
or inn.” “Little touches that are indigenous to life in older-established ways of society” have
disappeared and “have no place here” (468). There is a tone of lament and loss that harks back
to earlier times, and that plays ironically on the idea of a “new look.”
This sense of looking back is evident in the next section, “East German Voices.” Current
writers such as Peter Hacks and Christa Wolf are mentioned as important figures, though the
author states that their work does not seem to exist in English at the time. He puts down East
Germany by accusing the state of promoting the “official voice” and telling “half-truths” rather
than extolling the work of such writers. The author then, however, follows with a somewhat
equivocal comment about these writers themselves. They “have lived outside East Germany at
times, but have chosen to return there to live and work” (468). No explanation of their reasons
for moving back to East Germany is given, and it is possible to interpret this comment as saying
that these writers sympathize with East Germany or favor it over other places, and must therefore
write biased literature. The section then quickly moves away from a discussion of contemporary
culture when the author states, “having said this much it is still more appropriate to dwell on the
rich sources of art and music in previous centuries in East Germany” (468). The book claims
that with the amount of work of this kind and of philosophy and literature, East Germany was a
“Sleeping Beauty, waiting for a prince to bring her wonders to life” (469). Here the reader again
notices a fairy-tale reference to identity and a sense of pride in the past, not in the present. In
fact, the only photograph to occupy a full page in the East Germany chapter is of the cathedral
doors in Erfurt. A clichéd image of Germany is invoked in the caption of this photograph: “East
Germany’s chief attractions to foreign visitors are its museums, performing arts and cathedrals
24
…” (472). Although the guidebook employs certain rhetorical devices that emphasize East
Germany’s otherness, the attractions that are promoted here are those that align with general,
positive perceptions of German art and architecture.
Though Fodor’s Germany: West and East 1975 may only begrudgingly address East
Germany and view the inclusion of a chapter on the GDR as a political necessity rather than an
expression of desire to travel there, the guidebook appears as faintly objective when compared to
Germany: A to Z Guide from 1980. The author of this travel guidebook, Robert S. Kane, shares
his “evaluations of some 40 selected West German destinations, North Sea to the Alps, Lake
Constance to the Czech frontier, with a quartet from East Germany, as well, to add a bit of spice”
(vii). The comment is unabashed in its lack of objective grounding, painting East Germany to be
even more the exotic Other, and trivializing the country, as if it were there only to mix things up
a little. Kane is straightforward about the subjective nature of his descriptions, stating in the
preface that the content of the guide is a consequence of personal involvement in Germany (vii).
The overall tone is much more personal than that of Fodor’s Germany: West and East 1975,
though some aspects of the layout are quite similar.
Kane’s chapter titles mirror the pattern in Fodor’s Germany: West and East 1975; there is
an objective, geographic place name followed by an imaginative description. Here we have
“Bremen: Proud and Hanseatic,” “Marburg: Mini-Medieval Marvel,” and “Würzburg: What the
Prince-Bishops Wrought,” among many others. Two chapter titles, however, stick out from the
charming and catchy rest. These are, to no surprise, “Berlin, West and East: A Study in
Bittersweet” and “East Germany: Potsdam, Dresden, Leipzig.” Once again, the chapter title
devoted to East Germany has no inspired characterization, and the chapter title for Berlin has a
25
sense of melancholy mingled with contentment. One can suppose that the existence of East
Berlin and the Wall are responsible for the former feeling, West Berlin for the latter.
In his description of East Berlin, Kane makes it a point to inform potential tourists that
East Berliners are similar to West Berliners in certain ways. “People dress relatively fashionably
and well, and are quite as immaculately groomed as their western neighbors. They live well
(mostly in modern high-rise apartments) and eat well” (73). He then mentions the good, albeit
rigidly Marxist, education and extraordinarily rich performing arts in East Berlin before assuring
his readers that the residents are nothing to be afraid of. “Most importantly, perhaps, for the
newcomer: East Germans do not have horns. They do not bite. They do not growl. They smile
quite as often, I would guess, as West Germans” (74). Firstly, that this joke is set up with the
words “most importantly” is of interest. Is Kane being purely sarcastic here, taking something
obvious and of minor importance and attempting to increase the comedic effect by starting off
with “most importantly?” Or is he addressing actual, significant fears of his readers and
exaggerating those fears in order to bring some humor to the text? By including this comment in
his guidebook, no matter how sarcastic or exaggerated, Kane fundamentally must have been
referring to a stereotype or fear among his readership that East Germans were unfriendly or even
hostile to foreigners. It is clearly right that Kane should try to rid his readership of such a
stereotype or concern if he finds it to be false, but his assurance is problematic and delivers a sort
of one-two punch with its references to animals and West Germans. Kane is undoubtedly trying
to be funny here, and though his comment is positive, it comes off as flippant, condescending,
and insensitive, especially when viewed within the context of the entire travel guide. As noted
previously, four destinations in East Germany are covered in the guide “to add a bit of spice.”
26
And when only 19 out of 338 pages of text are devoted to East Germany, the author cannot
afford to make such jokes without seeming to portray East Germany as an inferior society.
The places and items of interest noted in “East Germany: Potsdam, Dresden, Leipzig”
point to the past, as does the East Germany chapter of Fodor’s Germany: West and East 1975.
The Sans Souci palace in Potsdam, The Zwinger in Dresden, and “pockets of interest” such as
the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, a city “not without something of an agreeable bustle,” are a few of
the highlights mentioned (136). The roundabout rhetoric in Kane’s description of Leipzig does
not have the sound of a ringing endorsement, but rather of a carefully crafted semi-compliment.
The place of semi-compliments and slighted identity is assumed by inflated flattery and
idealized identity in two travel guides printed in East Germany during the early 1970s. Of a
different nature, the layout, content, and tone of these travel guides portray East Germany from
an overly precise, overly positive perspective. Though the first German guide I will discuss,
Reiseführer: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, sounds much more official and objective than
the English language ones discussed above, the information serves nonetheless to promote an
idealized East German state.
Reiseführer: Deutsche Demokratische Republik from 1973 devotes the first 35 of its 463
pages to a brief overview of the Reiseland (the land of travel that is the GDR) and to a relatively
lengthy general introduction. Already on the first page of the overview we notice a positive
depiction of the present that is missing from the travel guides for English speakers. After first
describing the beauty of the physical landscape of the DDR, the author moves onto the cities.
“Our cities are also full of special, particular features: each city has its characteristic face,
molded by centuries of history and the strongly pulsing present.” (“Auch unsere Städte sind
voller Eigenart: Jede Stadt hat ihr charakteristisches Gesicht, geprägt von jahrhundertelanger
27
Geschichte und stark pulsierender Gegenwart.”) (5). Cities that have preserved their old inner
quarters, such as Quedlinburg and Stralsund, are named along with new cities like
Eisenhüttenstadt and Halle-Neustadt as being the destinations of tourists. No mention of these
socialist-model cities as being sites of attraction is found in the English-language guides
examined. What this GDR travel guide considers to be a pulsating present corresponds to
Western descriptions of bleak appearances and missing charms from the past.
The general introduction of Reiseführer: Deutsche Demokratische Republik is quite
detailed, and it is possible that a reader might not recognize it as a travel guide in many places.
The impersonal tone and descriptive information match those of a textbook or atlas. Aspects of
life in the GDR are described with precision, and the introduction contains a lot of facts,
numbers, and percentages to convey a sense of legitimacy. The introduction begins with a
section on territory and population, where the effects of geologic phenomena are explained, high
and low pressure fronts and precipitation are mentioned, and the status of forests summarized.
Tables containing information such as the lengths of rivers and population density make up a
significant part of the section (9-14). The following statement opens the next section on state
structure and domestic and foreign politics: “The German Democratic Republic is a socialist
state. It is the political organization of those working in the city and countryside that, together
under the leadership of the working class and its Marxist-Leninist party, realizes socialism.”
(“Die Deutsche Demokratische Republik ist ein sozialistischer Staat. Sie ist die politische
Organisation der Werktätigen in Stadt und Land, die gemeinsam unter Führung der
Arbeiterklasse und ihrer marxistisch-leninistischen Partei den Sozialismus verwirklichen.“) (15).
This statement is taken verbatim from Article 1 of the constitution of the German Democratic
28
Republic.4 It is a clear indicator of the connection between politics and the promotion of tourism
in this guidebook. The language used throughout the introduction is perhaps suspiciously
official, tame and scientific; the repeated occurrence of descriptions that strive to be neutral
actually may create a sense of skepticism, leaving readers to wonder where some personal
stimulation and excitement could be found, or if there were something hidden behind a façade of
facts. Just into this section on politics, though, there is a photograph that takes up a little more
than half the page and that may pique some interest. It is the first photograph in the guide and it
shows Erich Honecker thanking another politician, Leonid Breshnev (17). Photographs of
vineyards, cathedrals and the like are the usual fare of travel guides, but the photograph here
actively emphasizes the political status of the GDR and the status of its top politician within the
Eastern Bloc.
The introduction then commits itself to relaying about twenty pages’ worth of
information about the GDR’s economy, commerce, education, science, research, culture,
healthcare, social welfare, sports, and finally, vacation and recreation (21-40). While historical
and cultural information is generally a staple of travel guides, Reiseführer: Deutsche
Demokratische Republik seems to contain this information for the purpose of bolstering and
idealizing its identity just as much as for appealing to the interests and needs of tourists. That the
metallurgical industry increased production sixfold between the years 1950 and 1971 (22), that
machine production increased eightfold (23), that the output of the chemical industry increased
4
This statement falls between the 1968 and 1974 versions of the constitution. The opening of
Article 1 of the 1968 constitution reads, “Die Deutsche Demokratische Republik ist ein
sozialistischer Staat deutscher Nation. Sie ist die politische Organisation der Werktätigen in
Stadt und Land, die gemeinsam unter Führung der Arbeiterklasse und ihrer marxistischleninistischen Partei den Sozialismus verwirklichen. The opening of Article 1 of the 1974
version reads, “Die Deutsche Demokratische Republik ist ein sozialistischer Staat der Arbeiter
und Bauern. Sie ist die politische Organisation der Werktätigen in Stadt und Land unter Führung
der Arbeiterklasse und ihrer marxistisch-leninistischen Partei.”
29
by 643% (22), and that great success was had in the state’s fight against tuberculosis (36) is
noteworthy, but it is questionable if this information is of prime interest to tourists per se. It
would, however, be of prime interest to anyone seeking reasons to have pride in the present state
of the GDR and to idealize conditions there.
The idealization of East Germany is even more apparent in DDR Reiseführer from 1974.
This guide also begins with an introduction filled with information about the GDR’s economy,
politics, and social achievements, and provides the readers with a substantial geographic
overview. A less objective, more politically motivated tone prevails in this text. In the third
paragraph on the first page, as if the guide were anticipating Kane’s apprehensive American
readers, we learn that, “Whoever visits the GDR, whichever language he speaks – every traveler
and tourist can be assured that he will be received hospitably everywhere here, for he is a guest
in a land whose highest political principle is humanism.” (“Wer auch immer die DDR besucht,
welche Sprache er auch spricht – jeder Reisende und Tourist kann versichert sein, hier überall
gastfreundlich aufgenommen zu werden, denn er ist in einem Land zu Gast, dessen höchster
politischer Grundsatz der Humanismus ist.”) (5). Knowing that humanism was of utmost
importance in the GDR would most likely not have rid Western travelers of any doubts or
concerns, particularly if they then read in the following section titled “Way into the Future” that
it was especially the Soviets who had brought an end to the fascist fury in World War II
Germany, and that the historic program of Germany’s Communist Party had shown the way out
of deep distress [with its reestablishment] on 11 June 1945 (5). DDR Reiseführer is bold in its
sweeping political statements that idealize the founding and foundations of East Germany.
Such inflated statements are prevalent in this introduction. We read a few pages later that
the foreign policy of the GDR is determined by the interests of its own people as well as of the
30
people of all states, that the economy is crisis-free (“eine krisenfreie Wirtschaft”), and that the
GDR’s socialist education system guarantees all citizens the opportunity to broaden and perfect
their knowledge and ability in all fields (8-11). The wording is at once so abstract, ambitious,
impractical, and positive that the travel guide sounds as if it were promoting a utopian state.
After the laudatory introductions, both Reiseführer: Deutsche Demokratische Republik
and DDR Reiseführer present information about places and sites of attraction in East Germany. I
will not discuss these places and sites here, but would like to point out the detail found in these
travel guides. Small places such as Arneburg and Rübeland, in Saxony-Anhalt, and Wasungen
and (Burg) Ranis, in Thuringia, are described in both guides. Currently, I cannot find
information about these places on the website www.deutschland-tourismus.de. They are just
some of the numerous examples of the all-inclusive character of these guidebooks. The
information given about these places is quite encompassing, as well, and speaks to the politicized
nature of the publications. For example, when reading about Rübeland in DDR Reiseführer we
learn that the modern “Kaliwerk,” a facility with high-performing shaft furnaces for the
production of calcium oxide, is significant for the small town (93). We learn even more about
the production if we turn to the information in Reiseführer: Deutsche Demokratische Republik.
“The trains carrying burned lime roll without pause on the electrified track through the narrow
Bode valley to Blankenburg, in order to then take the way to the state combine, publicly owned
firm “Chemische Werke Buna, Schkopau” or to the publicly owned firm “Stickstoffwerk
Piesteritz.” (“Pausenlos rollen die Kalkzüge mit dem gebrannten Kalk auf der elektrifizierten
Bahnstrecke durch das enge Tal der Bode nach Blankenburg, um dann den Weg zum Kombinat
VEB Chemische Werke Buna, Schkopau, oder zum VEB Stickstoffwerk Piesteritz zu nehmen.”)
31
(204-205). I doubt that any tourists desired to ride along on these trains; the information is
provided to impress upon readers an idealized picture of East Germany.
Switching gears and moving ahead by about 15 years, I would like to discuss two
English-language guidebooks published around the time of the Wende. Though copyrighted
1990, Fodor’s 90: Germany must have been completed before the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9
November 1989. The guide states that talk of reunification is more and more on the political
agenda in the wake of the massive flight of thousands of young East Germans via Hungary in
late summer 1989, but no mention of the opening of the Wall and East German borders is made
(x). Thus, all information provided in this guide is told from a historical point of view
immediately preceding the fall of the Wall.
As in Fodor’s 1975 guide, the last chapter of Fodor’s 90: Germany is reserved for East
Germany, here being called “Excursions to East Germany.” As to be expected, and as necessary,
the treatment of East Germany is a bit different in the 1990 guide. However, negative aspects
regarding East Germany are brought up in the introduction of the last chapter before anything
positive is mentioned; somewhat derogatory remarks are made with reference to East German
identity; only East Berlin, Dresden, and Leipzig are discussed; and there are also statements in
the text that history had already proved false. For example, the author writes in the first
paragraph that, “the old adage that only the East Germans could make a success of communism –
economically at any rate – seems hard to refute” (506). Then follows, “There is – or so it
appears to the casual visitor – a slightly deadening quality to the country, something born of a
single-minded but blinkered commitment to communism, and a marked absence of the drive for
personal enrichment, if not exactly joie de vivre, that is so conspicuous a feature of West
Germany” (506). It is easy to completely disregard these statements vis-à-vis the immense joy
32
and celebration surrounding the fall of the Wall and opening of the borders. We also notice here
the comparison to West Germans that conveys East German identity as lacking a lust for life that
apparently abounds in West Germany. Such a statement can be taken as insulting and
undervaluing.
When the author then proceeds to highlight what East Germany has to recommend itself,
the content actually ends up comparing East Germans to West Germans again, also in a way that
makes East Germans seem lesser to a certain extent. The guide claims that East Germans appear
quite uninterested in trading their ordered lifestyles for Western freedoms. “The fast cars,
foreign vacations, and chic fashions of West Germany are as hard to imagine in East Germany as
a Wartburg … tearing down the Autobahn to Munich … as it jams its brakes on only inches from
a Porsche. In fact, the contrast between Wartburg and Porsche is as apt a symbol of the division
between West and East Germany as any” (506). Though the author then states that East
Germany is clearly no more or less “German” than West Germany, the difference between the
states is emphasized, and the difference here is the material inferiority of East Germany.
The guidebook then, however, makes a comparison that puts East Germany under a more
positive light. It asserts that there is an “identification with traditions in many small East
German towns and cities that tells you much more about an older Germany than do the frenetic
lifestyles of Frankfurt or Hamburg, Stuttgart or Köln” (506). Interestingly, this assertion is in
direct opposition to the claim in Fodor’s Germany: West and East 1975 that the “little touches”
that are part of “older-established ways of society” had disappeared from East Germany and had
no place there (468). Perhaps Fodor’s overlooked the existence of such traditions in 1975 – such
an oversight would have fit well with a stronger anti-communist stance – and perhaps by 1990
33
any fears of a European communist enemy had all but dissolved, and Westerners were able to
look at life beyond grim Plattenbauten.
Looking beyond drab socialist housing seemed to have inevitably meant looking to the
past. When Fodor’s 90: Germany states that East Germany culturally proclaims its German
spirit, the guide is referring to Luther, Bach, Goethe, Schiller, Liszt, Wagner, and Sans Souci,
just to name a few (506). We find this tendency in The Penguin Guide to Germany 1991, as
well. In a reversal of the pattern of chapter titling noted in the guides from 1975 and 1980, the
chapter on East Germany in The Penguin Guide to Germany 1991 is listed in the Table of
Contents as “Bach and Luther Country (East Germany).” All other chapters about areas in West
Germany have strictly geographic titles. For example, there is “The North, “The Mosel Valley,”
and “The Rhine Region Around Frankfurt” (vii). The chapter title for East Germany is the only
one that offers an additional, more intimate description, and in fact, this description precedes the
more objective geographic name. Not insignificantly, this name is placed in parentheses,
perhaps as a way to conceal partially what is now world history.
The chapter on East Germany begins by stating that since the communist regime has
toppled, “the land of Luther and Goethe and Bach should soon be an inviting destination once
again” (206). Implied in this statement is that the former East Germany was not an inviting
destination and that it is not quite yet inviting, but that it was inviting before the establishment of
the GDR. We immediately notice a turning to the past to promote the present-day East
Germany. The guide echoes sentiments found in Fodor’s 90: Germany when claiming that after
being isolated behind a wall for decades, the former GDR “somehow seems still part of a
simpler, quieter past. Crossing the border, you step into a place where walks in the woods and
strolls in the park are part of the pattern of everyday life” (207). Though there is still mention of
34
smog, water pollution, and paper shortages, The Penguin Guide to Germany 1991 embraces
travel to East Germany more fully than in the previous English-language guidebooks discussed
by idealizing the past and its endurance in East German identity. Surely there must have been
places in West Germany in 1991 where people enjoyed daily ambles around the park, but this
activity is highlighted as being part of the simple life that has managed to survive in East
Germany.
When mentioning the richness of cultural and historic sites, the guide means those with
connections to the pre-GDR past. It highlights, among others, Eisleben as Luther’s birthplace,
Wittenberg as where Protestantism began, Eisenach as the birthplace of Bach, and Weimar as
where Goethe and Schiller wrote (207-210). It is significant, though, that these smaller cities are
now recognized and given page space alongside Dresden, Leipzig, and Potsdam. Notably, this
chapter on East Germany spans 47 of the total 712 pages in The Penguin Guide to Germany
1991 (about 6.6%), whereas the East Germany chapter in Fodor’s 90: Germany spans only 24 of
the total 547 pages (about 4.4%).
Moving forward to Fodor’s 97: Germany, the tone of looking only to the pre-GDR past
as a way to promote the region had expanded to include the notion and excitement of a region in
transition. On the opening page of the chapter titled “Thuringia and Saxony,” which is the first
chapter to deal with the new Länder and third-to-last in the travel guide, we read that it is the
traditional tourist sites along with the opportunity to see an area in transition that make eastern
Germany worth visiting (517). Though emphasis is put on the transition taking place in the
region, it is quite conspicuous that a significant amount of the short introduction to this chapter is
almost identical to parts of the introduction to the “Excursions to East Germany” chapter from
1990. For example, when discussing lifestyle differences between the former eastern and
35
western halves of Germany and the sense of an older Germany in the eastern part, we read in the
1997 guide that, “Time has not stood still east of the former border, but it has taken much less of
a toll than in the west” (518). The statement was only minutely different in 1990: “Time has not
stood still on this side of the border, but it has taken much less of a toll than it has in the West”
(506). This nearly copy-and-pasted statement about time standing still seems out of place in a
context supposedly promoting transition. This chapter of “Thuringia and Saxony” makes
another questionable move by lumping the cities of Halle and Dessau under the category of
Thuringia, when they are really located in Saxony-Anhalt (522).
Fodor’s 97: Germany inarguably provides much more information about eastern
Germany and portrays the region much more positively than the 1990 guide. However, certain
inconsistencies such as those shown above, coupled with the fact that the area of the former East
Germany is saved for the third- and second-to-last chapters (the second-to-last is “The Baltic
Coast;” the last is “Portrait of Germany,” a seven-page-long chronology of important events with
book list), give the impression of a lingering sense of a slighted identity.
By 2007, as evidenced by Let’s Go Germany, any such sense had disappeared.
Information about the transitions associated with the Wende is assigned to a general section on
German history, not to the individual chapters on the states in eastern Germany (61). Each state
of the former East Germany receives its own chapter, and these chapters are scattered throughout
the guide, with Mecklenburg-Vorpommern coming before Baden-Württemberg. The guide
begins its discussions on German regions with Berlin and then moves counterclockwise across
the map of Germany. A stricter, more objective geographic order supersedes the East-West
divide in the layout of Let’s Go Germany.
36
Slighted or idealized representations of identity as they relate to tourism in eastern
Germany may not be as obvious now, but as my case studies in the following chapters will
attempt to illuminate, highly selective representations are certainly still there. Idealizations of
identity have taken on new forms within the realm of tourism in eastern Germany throughout the
past two decades and continue to manifest themselves today.
37
CASE STUDIES – INTRODUCTION
The purpose of the following case studies is to provide a look into three sites of tourism
located in the former East Germany in order to gain a deeper understanding of how identity has
been reflected, constructed, and idealized within these specific spaces. I rely on site promotion
as found on websites and in travel guides, promotional campaigns, brochures, photographs,
narrative text, statistics, and previous research to support my argument. Some trends as noted in
Chapter 3 will resurface, though this time in site-specific discussions.
I have attempted to depict identity idealization, reflection, and construction as
demonstrated within relatively different sites of tourism. My case studies center on Saxon
Switzerland (die Sächsische Schweiz), Leipzig, and Ferropolis. Saxon Switzerland is a national
park where nature is the primary driving force behind tourism; Leipzig was the second-largest
city in the GDR, has been a historically important trade center for hundreds of years, and has
experienced multiple makeovers in order to lure visitors; and Ferropolis is an open-air museum
and venue first established after reunification on the grounds of a former brown-coal mine near
Dessau. My aim in selecting these sites is to show how similar relationships between identity
and tourism play out in different spaces, to highlight if and how these relationships vary from
place to place, and to offer a diverse as possible glimpse into past and current features of the face
of tourism in eastern Germany.
38
CHAPTER IV. SAXON SWITZERLAND
“All of nature was a great lyrical poem in every possible meter. The stream squabbled in the
most splendid iambs over the many stones that lay in its way, the rocks stood there so broad and
proud like respectable hexameters.”
(“Die ganze Natur war eine große lyrische Dichtung in jedem möglichen Versmaß. Der Bach
zankte in den vortrefflichsten Jamben über die vielen Steine, die ihm im Wege lagen, die Felsen
standen so breit und stolz da wie respektable Hexameter,”
-Hans Christian Andersen on Saxon Switzerland, 1831, as quoted in Weber 11-12)
Saxon Switzerland is a national park with an area of 93.5km2 located about 30km
southeast of Dresden. It is the only national park in the state of Saxony and today receives over
two million visitors annually. The park is found within the Elbe Sandstone Mountains
(Elbsandsteingebirge) and divided into two separate parts that are embedded in protected areas
to form the larger Saxon Switzerland National Park Region, and has been bordered since 2000 by
the Bohemian Switzerland National Park in the Czech Republic (nationalpark-saechsischeschweiz.de). Though the quiescent area (area without human intervention) is at present 40%, the
objective within the next 30 years is greater than 75%, and though the goal of the park is to keep
the area from economic exploitation, my focus is on examining the human intervention in this
area, the cultural impact on the landscape, and how these tie into issues of identity. As we will
see, the area’s identity has been prone to idealizations stemming from certain cultural, societal,
and political currents throughout the past two centuries.
The unique rock formations of Saxon Switzerland began to take shape as an arm of the
sea receded at the end of the Cretaceous period about 66 million years ago and gradual processes
of erosion took over, but the landscape as it is known today was not “discovered” until the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The region was difficult to access, and the few who passed
through thought of it as threatening and rather discouraging. This attitude changed, however,
39
with the birth of Romanticism and the advent of Romantic aesthetic theory (Bell and Lyall 7-8).
It is believed that the Swiss painters Antonio Graff and Adrian Zingg determined the name
“Saxon Switzerland,” and in 1804 Wilhelm Lebrecht Götzinger wrote in the first travel guide for
Saxon Switzerland, Schandau und seine Umgebung oder Beschreibung der sogenannten
Sächsischen Schweiz (Schandau and its Surroundings or Description of the so-called Saxon
Switzerland), that one could call this extraordinary region “Saxon Switzerland” not without
justification (Weber 32). Weber maintains that the comparison with Switzerland did not apply to
the alpine regions of that country, but rather referred in general to the romantic and varied
landscape of the mountainous land. However, morphologically there is a close similarity to the
mesas southwest of Basel (Weber 12-13).
Around the time of Götzinger’s description, romantic and artistic references to the region
abounded. Hans Christian Andersen’s words are noted at the outset of this chapter, and Heinrich
von Kleist wrote in 1801 that the land looked “as though the angels had played in the sand” (“als
hätten da die Engel im Sande gespielt,” qtd. in Weber 11). Saxon Switzerland and the
surrounding area became the inspiration and subject of an astonishing amount of cultural
production. More than a thousand works of visual art used Saxon Switzerland and the nearby
Plauen Valley as their subject between the years 1770 and 1830 (Phillips 46). Among these
works is Caspar David Friedrich’s famous “Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer” (“The
Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog”) from 1818 (see fig. 1). This painting is today depicted on the
homepage of the main website for tourists in the park, “saechsische-schweiz.de,” which is
operated by the association of tourism in Saxon Switzerland (the Tourismusverband Sächsische
Schweiz). It is used to promote the “Malerweg” (“Painters’ Path”), a new, 112km-long trail
connecting the most beautiful points in Saxon Switzerland, a landscape that, as the website
40
publicizes, cast a spell over many painters more than 200 years ago. The current edition of a
brochure containing information about the “Malerweg” has a modern version of this painting as
its cover: a photograph of a hiker standing on a rock outcropping with his back facing the
viewer, complete with bent left leg and hiking poles at the right of his body (see fig. 2). On the
homepage of the English version of the website, the endurance of the Romantic period’s effect
on the identity of the region is reiterated clearly. The website states: “The oceans of the
Cretaceous period have evolved into the romantic scenery of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.
Caspar David Friedrich was here two hundred years ago. When is your turn? Oceans are gone
now, romanticism remains” (saechsische-schweiz.de). Comparing romanticism to something as
vast as prehistoric oceans, and making the point that, unlike the oceans, romanticism has
survived, creates the impression that romantic elements are extremely important, practically
innate aspects of Saxon Switzerland. I will return to the longevity of romanticism at the end of
the chapter; for now I would like to return to the early days of German Romanticism and
connected issues of identity in the region.
As Denise Phillips writes in her study of urban sociability and regional natural history in
Dresden from 1800-1850, the surroundings of German cities became important social spaces for
urban residents as excursions, either day-trips close to home or extended tours to famous scenic
landscapes, acquired emotional weight for middle-class city dwellers. Enjoyment of nature
became a stereotypical basis of friendship in the educated middle classes, and an excursion into
the countryside was one activity that separated the polished from the unrefined. Phillips states
that this meaningful interaction between town and country was particularly pronounced in
Dresden, already distinguished in the late eighteenth century for its natural setting. Both natives
of Dresden and visitors sought out Saxon Switzerland and spots upstream along the Elbe River.
41
Phillips points to the notion that, given the preeminence of Romantic artwork and literature,
those wandering through Saxon Switzerland were always, whether virtually or literally, in the
presence of images and texts (46-47). Early touristic use of Saxon Switzerland demonstrates
how the natural landscape helped to form and solidify concepts of a middle-class identity, and
also indicates how cultural phenomena, in this case Romantic ideals of beauty, can construct
certain perceptions of landscape and identity. Simon Schama states that, “Landscapes are culture
before they are nature; constructs of the imagination projected onto wood and water and rock”
(Schama 61). This holds true for Saxon Switzerland. What had been previously considered
frightening and menacing became, due to cultural shifts, breathtakingly beautiful and
picturesque. In 1836, parts of the region became the first nature reserve in Germany
(nationalpark-saechsische-schweiz.de). At the same time, the region became destined for
increases in tourism, and the construction of the Bastei Bridge in 1850/51 attests to that. The
Bastei Bridge was the first building in Europe intended only as a tourist attraction. It was
originally a sandstone bridge, but increasing crowds of tourists forced reconstruction with wood
(saechsische-schweiz.de). Also, confirming the picturesque qualities of the area, Hermann
Krone, a pioneer in the field of photography, took the first landscape photographs ever to be
taken in Saxony in Saxon Switzerland in 1853 (Weber 7). Beauty and means of capturing it
continued to be “discovered.”
A sense of investment in this beauty and the desire to preserve it grew in the latter half of
the nineteenth century. Halting sandstone quarrying on the Elbe became a top priority of locals
during this time, and beginning in 1877 demands were made to restrict quarrying. After much
effort, seventeen quarries were shut down in 1910. Moving ahead to the mid-twentieth century,
one notes that such active concern for the land of Saxon Switzerland continued in the GDR, and
42
replanting projects tried to restore forests in landscapes disturbed by sandstone quarries (Weber
23). The inhabitants of the Elbe Sandstone Mountain region were successful in furthering the
protection of Saxon Switzerland during the GDR years, despite the failure of the government to
establish the area as a national park. A group of state officials and experts suggested the creation
of a national park in 1954, but Saxon Switzerland did not actually become a national park until
1990. Instead, the government of the GDR officially recognized Saxon Switzerland as a
conservation area (a step above the recognition as a nature reserve) and continued to expand the
extent of surrounding nature reserves. However, problems such as pollution, erosion, and
intensive land use persisted in this region during the East German years, and new measures
continually had to be taken and fought for to stave off damage (nationalpark-saechsischeschweiz.de).
When reading travel guides from the GDR, one does not get a sense of the environmental
problems that threatened the major vacation and recreation center of Saxon Switzerland; tourism
was promoted without mention of environmental degradation. And one still gets this sense today
when viewing both the official national park website and the website for the association of
tourism in Saxon Switzerland. Tourism is promoted exclusively within a context of conservation
on the national park website, with headings such as “Being a Guest in a Sensitive Natural
Environment” (“Zu Gast in empfindlicher Natur,” nationalpark-saechsische-schweiz.de). The
tourism association’s website, on the other hand, is much more economically driven, full of
advertisements for package deals and hotel rooms (saechsische-schweiz.de). One immediately
notices inherent contradictions associated with straddling environmental conservation and
tourism. My purpose is not to go into detail about these contradictions, but it is important to
recognize their effects on identity. Traveling to Saxon Switzerland nowadays can at once be
43
related to a sense of investment in and appreciation of nature and to a sense of causing harm to
the natural environment. It is up to both the national park and the visitor to nurture a sense of
identity that accommodates benefits to both human culture and nature. However, it is often the
case that identity becomes idealized in the promotion of tourism in a place like Saxon
Switzerland when tourist agencies choose not to mention the environmental sensitivity of an area
and instead focus on a consumerist culture that has taken root.5
Such neglect of environmental realities is an idealization that persists in tourism
promotion today. I would like to return to the promotion of Saxon Switzerland in the GDR,
though, to point out an idealization that is not present on the current websites of the national park
and association of tourism. Abundant, top-class rock climbing is certainly promoted as one of
the many activities in Saxon Switzerland today, but it is not promoted in the same way as it was
during East German times.
In a section on rock and mountain climbing in his book from 1990, Weber discusses how
a rope and muscle strength are not the only things necessary for climbing. A sense of
comradeship (Kameradschaftssinn) and discipline are qualities that distinguish experienced
climbers. He then writes, “It is therefore no wonder that there were many brave people among
them who saw the resistance to fascism as their most important task in life.” (“Es ist deshalb
nicht verwunderlich, daß es unter ihnen viele mutige Menschen gab, die den Widerstand gegen
den Faschismus als ihre wichtigste Lebensaufgabe ansahen,” 27). Weber goes on to mention
how 89 out of the 200 members of the “United Climbing Unit” (Vereinigte Kletterabteilung) had
been taken to Nazi concentration camps, and how the rocky border with Czechoslovakia was
5
For example, the Bastei-Hit “Best Price” package deal advertised on www.saechsischeschweiz.de offers a half-day joyride (“eine Spritztour”) in the hotel’s own Mercedes Cabrio SLK
during the high season.
44
well suited for illegal meetings of the “Red Mountaineers” (Rote Bergsteiger). This group
smuggled endangered anti-fascists over the border into Czechoslovakia and printed anti-fascist
fliers in nearly inaccessible caves to be distributed in Dresden (27). In an English-language
travel guide printed in the GDR in 1983 we also read about the clandestine communist
operations in this border area. In fact, the information about these activities between Germany
and Czechoslovakia takes up one of only five paragraphs in the section devoted to the history
and significance of Saxon Switzerland in this travel guide. The guide states that, “One of the
links of friendship uniting our two nations roots in this common anti-fascist tradition. An
indication of the close friendship between our countries is the large number of people crossing
the frontier between them at weekends or spending their holidays in the neighbouring country”
(Travel Guide: German Democratic Republic 77-78). Indeed, in 1975 the “Nature Study Trail of
ČSSR-GDR Friendship” (Naturlehrpfad der Freundschaft ČSSR-DDR) had been developed in
Saxon Switzerland as part of the “International Hiking Trail of Friendship Eisenach-Budapest”
(Internationaler Bergwanderweg der Freundschaft Eisenach-Budapest, Weber 10). Saxon
Switzerland was thus used to promote an official sense of friendship with other Eastern Bloc
countries along the idealized and ideological lines of a shared anti-fascist identity.
Perceptions of Saxon Switzerland, a natural landscape, have been shaped and idealized
significantly by cultural, social, and political trends. What was once considered dangerous
became dazzling. Romantic ideals created a new identity for Saxon Switzerland, one that
affected the self-understanding of the middle class in the nineteenth century, and one that
continues to affect current advertising campaigns for tourism in the national park, as well as the
current self-understanding of the park itself and of its tourists. The idea of experiencing wild and
romantic nature is still central to tourism in Saxon Switzerland, even if this means overlooking
45
how deeply the area has been affected by human development. Saxon Switzerland also did not
remain untouched by the political agenda of the GDR. Tourism in the area was seen as a way to
bolster ideals of an anti-fascist identity and ideals of socialist brotherhood with Czechoslovakia.
Fig. 1. Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer
saechsische-schweiz.de
Fig. 2. Malerweg Brochure
46
CHAPTER V. LEIPZIG
Leipzig, dubbed “Little Paris” by Goethe in recognition of its cultural contributions to
Europe and the world, has a long history connected to the exchange of goods and information.
Known as the Messestadt (exposition town), Leipzig began hosting local trade fairs in the
fourteenth century, and by the late nineteenth century these fairs had turned into international
spectacles. Leipzig maintained a privileged position during the East German years, as it formed
together with Halle and Bitterfeld a triangular conurbation of one million people. The area
accounted for 60% of GDR productivity and was synonymous with manufacturing,
petrochemicals, and energy production from huge open-pit brown coal mines. Leipzig managed
to maintain a relatively diverse economic base, and spring and autumn expositions continued to
be held throughout the period to showcase the city as an important international meeting place
and center of foreign trade for the socialist world (Coles 195-196; Fellmann 41). Along with
playing an important role in the movement of goods, Leipzig was central to social movements
during the GDR era. The Prayers for Peace (Friedensgebete) at the Nikolaikirche and the
following Monday Demonstrations (Montagsdemonstrationen) were integral in bringing a
peaceful end to socialist rule in 1989.
The purpose of this case study is not, however, to go into detail about Leipzig’s history,
but rather to take a look at how the city has attempted to reinvent its self-image and identity with
regard to tourism since reunification. Tim Coles published a study in 2003 about urban tourism,
place promotion, and economic restructuring in post-socialist Leipzig, and I will use his work as
a point of departure for my discussion of the city’s current image campaign, Leipziger Freiheit
(Leipzig Liberty). Coles argues, as do I, that discourse surrounding tourism in the former East
Germany too often centers on the tourism industry’s role in job creation, regeneration of urban
47
fabric, and the gradual elimination of inequalities between east and west, and not enough on the
more subtle aspects of tourism in a region undergoing transition and transformation. While
Coles focuses on economic restructurings as they relate to place promotion and tourism, I will
focus on the implications that certain promotional strategies have for identity. As Coles notes,
Leipzig’s reputation as “Boomtown Ost” (boomtown east) and its status of being a model for
economic development and urban governance in the new Länder make the city an apt choice for
a deeper investigation of the relationship between place promotion and identity (190-192).
Coles points to three place promotional campaigns in Leipzig from the early postsocialist period, two of which I will only mention briefly here. (The third, Medienstadt Leipzig,
was aimed less at tourism and more at business investment and regeneration in the media
industry.) The Messestadt Leipzig (Exposition City) campaign was initiated in 1991 with the
intention of re-establishing Leipzig as a major destination in the national and international
exposition and conference tourism market. To a large extent, the campaign hoped to achieve this
by capitalizing on the city’s past reputation as a center of world trade. The campaign proposed
the construction of an entirely new Messegelände (fair grounds) on the northern edge of the city
instead of redeveloping the existing facilities in town. The proposal was passed within two years
(an incredibly short time, notes Coles), and the new Messegelände opened on 1 April 1996 (199201).
Although such decentralized development often has a negative impact on a city center,
there was an incomplete understanding of this in Leipzig at the time; there was no zoning plan
when the proposal was submitted, and urban politicians liked the idea (Coles 201). I will not go
into detail about the consequences this project has had for inner-city development; my focus is to
examine the consequences that the Messestadt Leipzig campaign has had for identity
48
development. It is important to consider the implications that building completely new fair
grounds had for Leipzig’s identity in the early 1990s. A new Messegelände held a certain
amount of prestige and projected ideals of confidence and ability. According to the Leipziger
Tourist Service, by the end of the 1990s Leipzig was able to proclaim itself assuredly as “an
innovative city with a long tradition” (Coles 199). As this shows, the Messegelände flagship
project marked an interest in recalling Leipzig’s historical economic and international status as a
way to reinvent itself and idealize its new, present status.
The other promotional campaign Coles points to is Leipzig Kommt! (Leipzig is coming!).
This branding scheme was not closely associated with any flagship projects like Messestadt
Leipzig, but was initiated in 1993 as a more general image and self-identification campaign.
Public and private regeneration initiatives bore this slogan aimed at raising awareness among
both internal and external audiences of the progress being made to revive the city. Leipzig
Kommt! was designed to stimulate optimism toward growth and change and was intended to
make people feel that Leipzig was a “city with future” (Coles 199-200). The campaign wanted
to offer images of a burgeoning, attractive environment and collective action; the exclamation
mark even helps to create a sense of action and enthusiasm. Most importantly, we see here a
significant break from the earlier promotional campaign in that Leipzig Kommt! does not refer
back to the past. The city’s new identity is not tied to previous glory days, but rather to an
alluring, idealized future. In fact, approaching the slogan very literally, the city of Leipzig is not
even on the scene yet; it is coming. We know nothing of Leipzig’s history except, perhaps, that
it is one the city would like to avoid or reject. The past is absent in the language of this
campaign as it promotes an identification with a promising, albeit vague and idealistic, future.
49
This brings my discussion to the image campaign that was launched in June 2002,
Leipziger Freiheit. The city of Leipzig’s website, “leipzig.de,” offers a link to the Leipziger
Freiheit campaign’s own website, “leipziger-freiheit.de.” This site shares much information
about the campaign, and here one can view many of the images used in its promotion. On the
homepage of this site, the first image one is confronted with is a stylized version of Bach’s head
in front of sheet music, with the words “Bach is alive. The Bach festival in Leipzig.” (“Bach
lebt. Das Bachfest in Leipzig.”) There is a row of rectangles to click on, each one providing a
different image and mini-description. The images range from a field with cattle in the
foreground and the new Porsche factory in the background to a very nice apartment with the
description “3 bedroom, located in city, 130m2 , old stucco building, balcony, sunny, 600 Euro”
(“3 Zimmer, Citylage, 130qm, Stuckaltbau, Balkon, sonnig, 600 Euro.”) This row of images
provides viewers with a look not only into Leipzig’s musical tradition and this tradition’s
presence today, but also into current economic progress and lifestyles in Leipzig. In fact, only
two of the fourteen images refer specifically to Leipzig’s history, and both of these relate to
Bach. Although it is the first image seen on this site, and therefore one given significant weight,
Bach’s image is quickly succeeded by the city’s present and future. (Interestingly, there is still
an image referring to Leipzig’s failed bid to host the 2012 Olympic Summer Games.) Just from
viewing these images, one can gather that Leipziger Freiheit is about promoting the current
vitality of, and opportunities in, the city.
Though the German and English versions of the website are similar, there are noticeable
differences. One of these differences is that the English version’s homepage contains an
additional, opening paragraph before giving the information that is found on the German page.
(This opening paragraph is, however, also located on the German website, but on a different
50
page.) At the beginning of this paragraph we read, “Take advantage of freedom, bring visions to
fruition, experience self-realization. We are not sure how you define this – in Leipzig we simply
call this ‘Leipziger Freiheit!’” This very general opening statement does not direct potential
tourists to any museum or to the opera, but rather invokes “a stirring feeling of well-being,” as
the paragraph goes on to say. The Leipziger Freiheit campaign centers on creating a balanced,
dynamic identity brimming with opportunity for investors, businesses, the young elite, start-ups,
scientists, students, artists, music lovers, and tourists. For non-German-speaking members of
these categories, the promotion of the general atmospheric qualities of Leipzig is made clear
immediately. For Germans, who perhaps do not immediately require this broad description in
order to sense what the campaign promotes, this statement is saved for later.
When reading about the philosophy of Leipziger Freizeit, one notices another difference
between the English and German versions. The English version states that, “Only a good image
will free Leipzig from its perceived greyness.” No mention of “greyness” is made in the German
version. One could argue that this stems from the notion that it is simply unnecessary for
Germans to have to read this. They are perhaps much more aware of these perceptions than
people who have either never been to the former East Germany or who have experienced the
region only as “outsiders” and are therefore more susceptible to generalizations about postsocialist cities. One could also argue, however, that the German version pursues a stronger break
from the socialist past in order to emphasize Leipzig’s new, idealized identity. The campaign
slogan, though simple, certainly refers to the city’s leading role in bringing down the GDR, or
put differently, in bringing “liberty” to East Germany. One gets the sense that the Leipzig
depicted in Leipziger Freiheit truly is a different city than the Leipzig of the GDR era; indeed, it
is a city that has liberated itself from this era.
51
History is certainly not dismissed in the Leipziger Freiheit campaign, though, and I have
noted this already in the rendition of Bach. History may play only a supporting role in order to
emphasize the new developments and current scene in Leipzig, but it is nonetheless exploited to
promote present-day idealizations. A highly selective history consisting of the legacy of trade
fairs, the cultural achievements of Bach and Goethe, and the Monday Demonstrations and
peaceful revolution of 1989 is retold on the homepage of both versions of the website to show
that, “Leipzig has always been a source for inspiration and ideas that have impacted world wide”
(leipziger-freiheit.de). Explicitly referring back to a touched-up history is not of central
importance to the entire campaign; the focus of advertisements aimed at investors, entrepreneurs,
and businesses, for example, is instead on the idealized rise of Leipzig since reunification. Open
markets ready to be conquered by courageous individuals and companies are touted (leipzigerfreiheit.de). However, in certain advertisements geared toward tourists and visitors, specific
historical remnants from a time before socialism are rendered as being directly linked to more
general present-day attractions in Leipzig.
I have included two such Leipziger Freiheit advertisements intended for tourists and
visitors to examine this connection between a selective history and current idealizations. Figure
3, an advertisement titled “Bach lebt” (Bach is alive), depicts a young woman dressed brightly
and seated at a large, ornate organ. The text is light and jaunty, opening with, “Bach is alive.
And in Leipzig, to be precise. True, his body has been lying here buried for a long time, but his
spirit is alive.” (“Bach lebt. Und zwar in Leipzig. Zugegeben, sein Körper liegt hier schon
lange begraben, aber sein Geist lebt.”) (leipziger-freiheit.de). The advertisement goes on to
make a direct, humorously overextended connection between Leipzig’s atmosphere during
Bach’s time and the city’s atmosphere today:
52
Johann Sebastian Bach composed his greatest works in Leipzig, the “St.
Matthew Passion,” the “Mass in B Minor,” or the “Art of Fugue,” for instance.
On top of that, his wife bore him thirteen children here. Bach must have thus felt
pretty good in Leipzig. And that’s for the same reasons why Leipzig also still
attracts so many musicians, literary figures and actors today: Because you can
professionally and personally develop freely and fully here.
(Johann Sebastian Bach hat seine größten Werke in Leipzig komponiert.
Etwa die “Matthäuspassion,” die “h-Moll-Messe” oder die “Kunst der Fuge.”
Darüber hinaus schenkte ihm seine Frau hier dreizehn Kinder. Bach muss sich in
Leipzig also ziemlich wohl gefühlt haben. Und das aus den gleichen Gründen,
warum es auch heute noch so viele Musiker, Literaten und Schauspieler nach
Leipzig zieht: Weil man sich hier beruflich und persönlich frei entfalten kann.)
(leipziger-freiheit.de)
The connection between a selective history in Leipzig, namely Bach’s life, and current
life in Leipzig is obvious and idealized in this first advertisement. The tone and content of the
advertisement do not attempt to hide this idealization, but instead wittily support an exaggerated
notion of what the city has to offer. The connection between a selective history and current
idealizations is not as straightforward in the second advertisement I will discuss (see fig. 4), but
can be detected nonetheless.
The title of this advertisement, “Lernen Sie Flanieren” (Learn to Stroll), is in itself
worthy of brief analysis. John Urry discusses the idea of the “flâneur” as originating in
nineteenth-century Paris, a place where new modes of perception developed in the midst of
boulevards and urban growth, and he argues that the strolling flâneur of Parisian streets was a
53
predecessor of the twentieth-century tourist (Urry 126-127). A connection between this older
idea of strolling and present-day life and tourism in Leipzig is made in the second advertisement.
The advertisement states that the word “flanieren” (to stroll) has fallen somewhat out of fashion,
presumably because one can simply no longer stroll in most cities. But we read that things are
different in Leipzig; in this city one can wander through extensive Gründerzeit passages and
easily reach museums, churches, and the splendid old fair houses on foot. And there are also
countless bars, restaurants, clubs, theaters, and cabarets (leipziger-freiheit.de).
The advertisement makes a connection between Leipzig’s urban development up through
the late nineteenth century and the city’s current urban setting with no mention of urban
development during the socialist period and its impact on the current face of Leipzig. There are
also no reasons given as to why one in Leipzig does not rush through concrete pedestrian zones
during the day and why the sidewalks are not figuratively folded up at night like in many other
cities, as the advertisement claims. A selective history and idealized impression of Leipzig’s
urban setting is portrayed in this advertisement, and the connection made here between Leipzig’s
past and present skips over most of the twentieth century.
Promotions of Leipzig as a tourist space have undergone various reinventions of identity
since reunification, all of which have idealized the city’s past, present, or future. An initial postreunification image campaign, Messestadt Leipzig, relied on the city’s history and reputation as a
center of world trade in order to create a new sense of confidence, attraction, and economic
capability. A following campaign, Leipzig Kommt!, did not rely on the past at all, but rather
focused on the city’s future. The campaign strove to identify Leipzig with growth, progress,
promise, and potential. The current image campaign, Leipziger Freiheit, aims to create a
balanced and dynamic identity full of opportunity. The campaign concentrates on the present-
54
day offerings for tourists, businesses, families, students, scientists, and artists alike. Although
touting the present and the positive developments in the quality of life since reunification is the
campaign’s primary concern, it draws on polished histories to support new idealizations.
55
Fig. 3. Bach lebt. Reprinted with permission from Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH.
56
Fig. 4. Lernen Sie Flanieren. Reprinted with permission from Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing
GmbH.
57
CHAPTER VI. FERROPOLIS
“What to do? Demolish, scrap, and cover up the tracks? Or build on the past and venture a new
beginning?”
(“Was tun? Abreißen, verschrotten, die Spuren verwischen? Oder auf der Vergangenheit
aufbauen und den Neuanfang wagen?”) (ferropolis.de)
Like Leipzig and Saxon Switzerland, Ferropolis – Die Stadt aus Eisen (Ferropolis – The
City of Steel) also must work carefully with a selective past in order to promote its current
identity, image, and role in tourism in eastern Germany. Unlike the previous two sites, however,
Ferropolis was not conceived until after reunification and thus has been able to transform GDR
history and identity more completely than Leipzig and Saxon Switzerland. Ferropolis was
founded in 1995 as an open-air museum in Gräfenhainichen, a town near Dessau in SaxonyAnhalt, on the grounds of the former brown-coal strip mine Golpa-Nord. Five enormous mining
excavators, each up to 130 meters long and 30 meters high, have been put to rest on a peninsula
surrounded by the man-made Gremminer Lake. The arrangement of the machines serves a dual
purpose: Ferropolis is both museum and venue, functioning as a reminder of the industrial
history of the region as well as a unique stage for concerts (see fig. 5).
The brown-coal mining industry severely impacted Gräfenhainichen and the
surrounding area during the GDR’s existence. The land that Ferropolis now occupies began to
be developed for mining in 1958, and the extraction of raw brown coal began in 1964. Near the
end of the 1970s, the village of Gremmin had to be obliterated and its citizens needed to resettle
due to the Golpa-Nord mine. Mining did not stop here until 1991. By that point, the total
volume of overburden (the earth and rock material removed in order to extract coal during the
mining process) had reached 342.3 million meters3, and 69.9 million tons of raw brown coal had
58
been extracted. The mine had an area of 1,915 hectares. Though this was a huge-scale
operation, Golpa-Nord was actually one of the smaller mines in the GDR (ferropolis.de).
The end of the GDR meant the end of the brown-coal mining industry. The decades of
unleashed industry and pollution were over, but also the decades of secure employment and
admirable service on the part of the workers and engineers involved in the mining operations,
despite their massive inefficiencies. There was no more future for brown coal in Saxony-Anhalt.
However, as Ferropolis exemplifies, there was a future for the place where brown coal mining
had deeply affected the land and identity of those involved in the industry. When remediation
work began after the closing of Golpa-Nord in 1991, the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation proposed
ideas for an Industrielles Gartenreich (Industrial Garden Realm) and created the concept of
Ferropolis as part of this larger project. The term Industrielles Gartenreich refers to Karl August
Böttiger’s and August von Rode’s descriptions of the Principality of Anhalt as a “garden realm”
in the early nineteenth century (Holden 84). By the late twentieth century this garden realm had
been uprooted and ravaged, but such a wrecked landscape held the potential for meaningful
reflection on the historical, social, political, and cultural processes that had transformed the
region and its identity. The landscape also had the potential to be transformed even further to
foster the development and promotion of a new identity.
Artists, architects, and planners from the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, Büro Kiefer (a
landscape architecture studio in Berlin), and Büro für Urbane Projekte (a Leipzig-based center
for the design of urban projects and projects in transformational landscapes), along with
architects Jonathan Park and Ian Ritchie, worked to redevelop the Golpa-Nord mine into a place
that appreciated, intensified, and modified what was already there. The general idea was to
create a memorial to years of brown coal extraction, to depict the site as a form of post-modern
59
art, and to provide a gathering place. Ferropolis was formally founded in 1995, and was also
recognized in that year as an Expo 2000 project, which associated the site with the 2000 World
Fair in Hanover and its theme of “Man, Nature, Technology” (Holden 84). The Gremminer Lake
was created in 2000 by flooding the Golpa-Nord mining pit with groundwater and water diverted
from the nearby Mulda River. The concert arena, which has a capacity of 25,000 people and is
surrounded by the excavators, was officially opened in the same year (ferropolis.de).
Ferropolis arguably idealizes the region’s industrial history by so prominently displaying
the mining excavators (see fig. 6). Paul Betts notes in his study of East German memory and
material culture that the identity and self-worth of many ex-GDR citizens was closely linked to
labor and production (752). The mining excavators, gigantic remnants of the not-so-distant days
of heavy industry, indisputably dominate the scene at Ferropolis. But, even though these
“dinosaurs of a past age” (“Dinosaurier eines vergangenen Zeitalters”) are the key components
of Ferropolis’ double function as museum and venue, they are no longer used for production, and
no one labors here in the same way anymore. The former sense of identity has been deadened,
put on display, and transformed at Ferropolis, and any idealization of the region’s past is at once
sobered by the stillness of the immense machines. Indeed, the place where industry and labor
once made up daily life has now become “recovery and recreation for a day – an island far
removed from the everyday, a place full of energy.” (“Und Ferropolis ist Erholung für einen Tag
– eine Insel weit ab vom Alltag, ein Ort voller Energie.”) The extinct machines stand as
motionless memorials to the site’s past industrial identity, while the “present is celebrated”
(“Gegenwart wird gefeiert.”) (ferropolis.de). Energy produced by mining has given way to
energy produced by crowds of people enjoying themselves at concerts (see fig. 7). The past
60
serves as an overwhelming backdrop to the present, but the present uses this backdrop to contrast
distinctly the transition into new times.
Looking closely at a brochure that can be downloaded from the website, the website
itself, and visitor statistics for Ferropolis allows one to decipher further between the past and
present, to see how the past is rendered to promote Ferropolis, and to see how the dual purpose
of Ferropolis is advertised and fulfilled. I have learned from Isa Feller, Ferropolis’ contact for
tourism, that the museum and venue receives no grants or funding, and therefore advertising
campaigns are very limited. The Internet site is a primary means of advertising, and I will focus
my examination of advertising on the website’s downloadable brochure and the website itself.
Isa Feller sent me statistics regarding both museum and event visitors, which I will refer to in a
discussion on Ferropolis’ realization of its dual purpose.
The theme of discovery permeates the brochure. “Discovery” implies new experiences
and excitements, new findings, and obtaining knowledge for the first time. “Discovery” does not
focus on the past, and this theme has been chosen carefully and purposefully to promote
Ferropolis as a place where history has been transformed and where new opportunities await.
The second page of the downloadable version of the brochure is titled “The Discovery of a New
World” (“Die Entdeckung einer neuen Welt”) and describes Ferropolis as a mysterious place that
turns visitors into discoverers. The brochure opens with the words:
Continents, coal deposits, electricity, atoms and genes – we live in a time
where nothing more seems undiscovered. But there are mysterious places that
make you a discoverer. One of these places is Ferropolis, the fantastic City of
Steel. Framed by the deep blue waters of Gremminer Lake and populated by real
giants of the industrial age, a mysterious world that lets organizers’ dreams
61
become reality awaits you. … Under the “eyes” of the still witnesses of a past
epoch, Ferropolis affords the perfect stage for every occasion. Surrender yourself
to the entirely special atmosphere – and visit this place where discoveries never
stop.
(Kontinente, Kohlevorkommen, Elektrizität, Atome und Gene – wir leben
in einer Zeit, in der nichts mehr unentdeckt scheint. Aber es gibt sie,
geheimnisvolle Orte, die Sie zu Entdeckern machen. Einer dieser Orte ist
Ferropolis, die phantastische Stadt aus Eisen. Eingerahmt von den tiefblauen
Wassern des Gremminer Sees und bevölkert von wahren Giganten des
Industriezeitalters, erwartet Sie eine geheimnisvolle Welt, die Veranstalterträume
Wirklichkeit werden lässt. … Unter den “Augen” der stillen Zeugen einer
vergangenen Epoche bereitet Ferropolis die perfekte Bühne für jeden Anlass.
Lass Sie sich von der ganz besonderen Atmosphäre gefangen nehmen – und
besuchen Sie diesen Ort, an dem die Entdeckungen niemals aufhören.)
(ferropolis.de)
The following pages in the brochure also support this theme of discovery and advertise
Ferropolis as a totally new place. Rendering Ferropolis as a frontier is achieved by page titles
such as “In the Land of Unlimited Opportunity” (“Im Land der unbegrenzten Möglichkeiten”),
“Going Exploring” (“Auf Entdeckungstour”), and “The Contact to a New World” (“Der Kontakt
zu einer neuen Welt”). Though aimed at promoting Ferropolis as a new, undiscovered place,
such present-day frontier rhetoric actually builds on Ferropolis’ past identity. Ferropolis was a
land of opportunity for the brown-coal mining industry, a frontier discovered, exploited, and thus
transformed. Since reunification the land has undergone another transformation; it has a new
62
name, a post-modern character, and a forward-looking function. Ferropolis is not promoted so
much as the site of a former brown coal mine, but rather as a site that has transformed its past to
form a new identity and serve a new purpose. This purpose is dual in nature, as mentioned
earlier in this chapter, and one part concerns reflecting on the past. This reflection on the past
cannot, however, be separated from Ferropolis’ other function as venue and gathering place.
The Ferropolis website and visitor statistics attest to the City of Steel’s dedication to
promoting its dual purpose and to its ability to realize both functions. On the “Offerings”
(“Angebote”) page of the website, for example, one can obtain information about different types
of tours, the museum, opportunities for sport and play, and places to visit in the surrounding area
such as Dessau and Wittenberg. On the “Program” (“Programm”) pages one can see all of the
events scheduled for the current year, read about the events that took place in the previous year,
and read about the recently opened “Kulturcafé Orangerie” that offers “international miner
cuisine” (“internationale Bergarbeiterküche”). In the “Press” (“Presse”) pages one can read about
some of Ferropolis’ developments and achievements in recent years. In 2006, for example,
Ferropolis won the German “Live Entertainment Award” in the category of “ Most Outstanding
Venue” (“Herausragendste Veranstaltungsstätte”). All of these concrete developments point to
Ferropolis’ success in attracting visitors and events alike. In fact, the avant-garde musician
Björk will be going to Ferropolis in July 2008 to hold her first concert in Germany in five years
(ferropolis.de).
The statistics for museum and event visitors also exhibit a fairly successful and balanced
relationship between the two goals of Ferropolis. Though certainly not linear, the growth pattern
in the number of museum visitors from 1999-2007 has been positive (refer to Table 1). The
lowest number of visitors was recorded in 1999, the highest in 2000 (due to association with the
63
Expo 2000), and the second highest in 2007. Though in general, and with the exception of 2004,
more people have been attending events since 2000, the number of event visitors has slightly
decreased since 2005 (refer to Table 2). The year 2003 saw over twice as many visitors than the
second highest year (2001), with big names such as Herbert Grönemeyer, the Böhse Onkelz,
Metallica, and Nena all performing.6 Importantly, the statistics show that neither the museum
side nor the event side of Ferropolis significantly outweighs the other. More people visited the
museum than attended events in 2000, 2004, and 2007; more people came for the events than for
the museum in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006. The numbers are not even, but they do seem
to suggest that both functions are attractive to visitors and that both functions are essential to
Ferropolis’ identity.
Ferropolis not only occupies and represents a specific transformed physical space, but it
also plays a unique role in the more general representation of East German identity since
reunification. Ferropolis is not “ostalgic.” While the reflection on the region’s industrial past
and the admiration of the monumental machines do idealize the GDR past to a certain extent, the
purpose of Ferropolis is not to look back fondly, but rather to acknowledge the place’s industrial,
political, social, and cultural history and to transform it for new uses and for creating a new
identity. In Ferropolis, the material remnants of the Golpa-Nord mine and the larger brown-coal
mining industry have not been “repossessed and privatized” like much of GDR cultural memory
(Betts 754). They have been reissued, if you will, and put on display not to romanticize the past,
but to provide a new ground for public awareness, enjoyment, and identity. Betts writes in his
study, “Where GDR goods once served as a source of perennial dissatisfaction and
embarrassment, they later became emblems of pride and nostalgia. In part this is because these
6
Any further explanations for the fluctuations in numbers of museum and event visitors were not
researched or found.
64
formerly disdained articles suddenly became material reminders of a vanished world, newly
idealized ‘fragments of a crumbled identity’” (741). The excavators at Ferropolis cannot be
considered consumer goods, but they are material remnants of a lost world. However, instead of
remaining only “fragments of a crumbled identity” and signifying loss, they are used as a way to
construct a new identity, one that represents a transition into new times and that incorporates
relaxation and celebration in the place of labor and environmental degradation.
Fig. 5. Aerial View of Ferropolis. Photograph by Christiane Eisler; reprinted with permission
from Isa Feller.
65
Fig. 6. The Excavators and Arena of Ferropolis. Photograph by Christiane Eisler; reprinted with
permission from Isa Feller.
Fig. 7. Event at Ferropolis. Photograph by Andre Kehrer; reprinted with permission from Isa
Feller.
66
Table 1
Museum Visitors as of 31 December 2007
Monat Besucher Besucher
1999
2000
Besucher Besucher Besucher Besucher Besucher Besucher Besucher
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Januar
Februar
März
April
Mai
Juni
Juli
August
Sept.
Oktober
Nov.
Dez.
473
400
546
2,368
4,361
2,718
3,133
3,631
3,278
2,430
498
483
947
1,102
1,202
4,686
3,938
6,401
11,684
8,911
8,271
10,392
2,478
628
781
838
1,629
4,862
5,639
5,769
6,440
5,190
5,498
5,297
1,423
605
577
2,260
3,616
4,509
7,135
3,389
5,170
2,440
2,896
3,140
1,412
630
334
575
1,831
3,861
5,687
4,413
3,297
3,451
4,198
3,239
1,374
585
246
32
149
1,557
3,381
3,504
3,772
5,020
4,711
4,513
876
427
810
466
3,395
2,299
5,588
3,533
4,788
5,304
4,915
6,121
1,027
433
478
479
681
4,692
5,323
4,335
2,670
5,400
3,783
4,682
806
714
543
985
1,324
5,725
6,711
4,354
4,129
9,348
4,414
4,708
1,439
938
Summe
24,319
60,640
43,971
37,174
32,845
28,188
38,679
34,043
44,618
Source: Provided by and reprinted with permission from Isa Feller.
67
Table 2
Event Visitors, 1997-2007
1997-1999
Termin
19.-21.September
1997
Sommerfest 1998
7.+8. August 1999
31. Dezember 1999
Art der Veranstaltung
Richtfest (Theater und
"Carmina Burana"),
verschiedene Bands und
Kunst
erstes "Melt! open air"
(Techno-Festival) in
Ferropolis,
Silvesterfeier
Veranstalter
EXPO S/A GmbH
Besucher
4.000
EXPO S/A GmbH
2.000
Bittersweet
eventagentur
4.000
Verein industrielles
Gartenreich
Summe
200
10.200
2000
Termin
29.+30. April 2000
Art der Veranstaltung
"iron sound" (Techno),
Besucher
Bundeswettbewerb im
Rettungsschwimmen
"Made of steel" (Techno),
ev. Jugendcamp "neuland",
Veranstalter
eva Concert
DRK-Landesverband
S/A
Oxon GbR
2.-4. Juni 2000
Amt für Jugendarbeit
7.-9. Juli 2000
der Kirchenprovinz
Sachsen
Theaterworkshop
Eurocamp 2000
2. August 2000
offizielle Eröffnung mit der EXPO S/A GmbH,
16. Juli 2000
"Feuermusik" von Mikis
Miete incl. aller
Theodorakis und Gert Hof, Nebenkosten
melt! open air,
Bittersweet
5. August 2000
eventagentur
Juso Kreisverband
Kunstevent
12. August 2000
Wittenberg
"unity is a weapon",
Förderverein Junger
25. August 2000
independent Rock-Festival, Musiker
Kirchliches
17. September 2000 Chorsingen
Forschungsheim
Wittenberg
24. September 2000 Festival der Tanzgruppen, Verkehrsverein
Bergwitzsee
SRL e. V.
30. September 2000 Firmenevent
27. Mai 2000
Besucher
2.000
150
5.000
3.000
100
8.500
7.000
400
2.000
200
2.000
100
68
29. September 2000 Oldtimer-Ausfahrt
Summe
Moll GmbH
300
30.750
2001
Termin
21. April 2001
Art der Veranstaltung
Melt ! club tour,
11. Mai 2001
Puhdys,
16. Juni 2001
14. Juli 2001
3.-5. August 2001
Böhse Onkelz,
Oldtimer Ausfahrt
melt! open air,
18. August 2001
25. August 2001
21. September 2001
26. Oktober 2001
16. November 2001
30. November 2001
14. Dezember 2001
Summe
Radio SAW Hit-Arena,
Andre Rieu,
Techno-Party
Techno-Party
Techno-Party
Techno-Party
Techno-Party
Veranstalter
Besucher
Bittersweet
1.000
eventagentur
Gruppe SIX und
1.300
Enrico Schüttauf
Känguruh Production
20.000
Curbici Veterano
200
Bittersweet
14.500
eventagentur
Känguruh Production
2.500
Känguruh Production
11.500
Toxic base
450
Toxic base
400
Toxic base
300
Toxic base
200
Toxic base
200
52.550
2002
Termin
7.-9. Juni 2002
Art der Veranstaltung
melt!open air
15. Juni 2002
22. Juni 2002
29 Juni 2002
07. Juli 2002
Modern Talking
Nabucco
Peter Maffay
Bergmannstag
Veranstalter
Besucher
Bittersweet
12.000
eventagentur
Känguruh Production
4.000
Känguruh Production
6.000
Känguruh Production
15.000
IGBCE und Vereine
1.000
30. August 2002
13. und 14.
September 2002
Summe
Deep Purple
Ferropolis in Flammen
Känguruh Production
Känguruh Production
4.500
7.000
49.500
69
2003
Termin
07.06.2003
13.06.2003
Art der Veranstaltung
AIDA
Herbert Grönemeyer
21.06.2003
5.+6.7.2003
12.+13.07.2003
2.08.2003
9.08.2003
17.08.2003
Jethro Tull
Bergmannstag
Böhse Onkelz
Schaumparty
Kastelruther Spatzen
Metallica
23.08.2003
29.08.2003
30.08.2003
November 2003
Summe
Ferropolis in Flammen
Nena
Helmut Lotti
Diverse Bands und DJ´s
Veranstalter
Besucher
Känguruh production
2.500
Concertbüro
28.000
Zahlmann
Känguruh production
3.500
Linzmeier
200
Bo Management
45.000
Happy lines
1.000
Argo Konzerte
2.000
Concertbüro
25.000
Zahlmann
Känguruh production
3.000
Känguruh production
12.000
Känguruh production
4.000
800
127.000
2004
Termin
05.06.2004
18.06.2004
19.06.2004
12.06.2004
Art der Veranstaltung
Pur
Nabucco
Magic of the dance
Sound prospector
09.07.2004
16.-18.07.2004
21.08.2004
20.08.2004
Summe
Rock in Ferropolis
Melt!
Udo Lindenberg
Ferropolis in Flammen
Veranstalter
Besucher
Känguruh production
5.000
Känguruh production
1.500
Känguruh production
2.000
Verein junger
1.000
Musiker
ferroblue
500
Melt! GmbH
9.000
Känguruh production
5.000
Känguruh production
2.500
26.500
70
2005
Termin
27.05.2005
26.06.2005
Art der Veranstaltung
Peter Maffay
Sommerfest Post
Veranstalter
Besucher
Känguruh production
10.000
FERROPOLIS
1.500
GmbH
03.07.2005
Bergmannstag
15.7.-17.7.05
06.08.2005
13.08.2005
Melt!
Tote Hosen
Soundprospector
19.08.2005
20.08.2005
26.08.-28.08.2005
Summe
ABBA-Fever
Nabucco
Rock in Ferropolis
Ferropolis
Förderverein , Stadt
Gräfenhainichen
FERROPOLIS
GmbH
Melt!GmbH
MAWI
Verein Junger
Musiker
Känguruh production
Känguruh production
Ferroblue
2.000
10.000
8000
1000
4000
2000
600
39.100
2006
Termin
1. April 2006
April 2006
13.05.2006
25.05.2006
Art der Veranstaltung
Europarty
Jugendfeuerwehrtag
Connected Tunes
Himmelfahrtsgottesdienst
Veranstalter
Dashrecords
Feuerwehr
RIWE
Kirchengemeinde
Gräfenhainichen
17.06.2006
Deep Purple & Alice
Cooper
Bergmannstag
Känguruh production
5.000
FERROPOLIS
GmbH
Volkssolidarität
Gräfenhainichen
1000
02.07.2006
10.07.2006
Sommerfest der
Volkssolidarität
14.-16.07.2006
21.07.2006
05.08.2006
12./13.08.2006
Melt!
Firmenveranstaltung
Soundprospector
Brass on
25.08.2006
27.08.2006
01.09.2006
Phantom der Oper
Jesus Christ Superstar
Mc Kinsey Sommerfest
Intro
Heimrich & Hannot
Beatclub Dessau
FERROPOLIS
GmbH
Känguruh production
Känguruh production
Mc Kinsey
Besucher
1000
500
500
400
300
13.000
100
1.500
1.500
2.000
1.000
3.000
71
05.09.2006
08.-10.09.2006
20.09.2006
Bosch Präsentation
Onkelz-Fan-Treffen
Namensfest FerropolisSchule
Euro-Party
Mini-Treffen
23.09.2006
25.11.2006
Summe
Bosch
Ferroblue
Ferropolis-Schule
Dashrecords
BMW
150
6.000
450
1000
120
38.520
2007
Termin
06. Januar 2007
Art der Veranstaltung
Abi-Party
29. März.2007
04. Juni 2007
17. Mai.2007
Europarty
Sommerfest der
Volkssolidarität
Himmelfahrtsgottesdienst
1. Juli 2007
13.-15. Juli 2007
28. Juli 2007
20. August 2007
Bergmannstag
Melt!
Carmina Burana
MZ Ferientag
07.-09.September
Onkelz-Fan-Treffen
2007
15.-16. September
Paul-Gerhard-Chorfest
2007
29. September 2007 Euro-Party
Summe
Veranstalter
Interessengruppe
ABI 2007
Dashrecords
Volkssolidarität
Gräfenhainichen
Kirchengemeinde
Gräfenhainichen
Ferropolis
Intro
Lux Events
FERROPOLIS
GmbH
Ferroblue
FERROPOLIS
GmbH
Dashrecords
Gesamtübersicht
Jahr
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Veranstaltungsbesucher
30.750
52.550
49.500
127.000
26.500
39.100
38.520
37.900
Source: Provided by and reprinted with permission from Isa Feller.
Besucher
700
1.000
300
400
1.500
16.000
4.000
1.200
7.000
5.000
800
37.900
72
CONCLUSION
By looking at the ways in which tourism was regulated in the GDR, by detailing
references to East Germany in travel guides, and by examining three different tourist destinations
in eastern Germany (Saxon Switzerland, Leipzig, and Ferropolis), I have shown how intricately
connected the practice of tourism is to identity construction in this region. In particular, I have
demonstrated how narrative and visual imagery and place promotion associated with tourism
play integral roles in creating idealized identities. My research has revealed that such
idealizations have continually changed over time. In the GDR, specific organizations, imagery,
and promotional strategies attempted to create an idealized adherence to the values of socialism.
Since reunification, several tendencies have been recorded: idealization of achievements and
statuses before the socialist era, whereby the GDR years were purposefully ignored; idealization
of the future, whereby places were portrayed as not yet having reached full potential; and
idealization of certain aspects of transformations presently taking place, whereby it is now safe
to reflect more openly and ambivalently on the socialist past and whereby this past may be
recalled to highlight positive change that has occurred since 1989.
In both the GDR and eastern Germany today, certain elements of “Germanness” have
been consistently promoted, despite any varying ideological tints. These elements include the
musical and literary traditions left behind by figures such as Bach and Goethe, for example, and
the tradition of German Romanticism, which is very well evidenced in Saxon Switzerland’s
history. And although it is important to remember that idealizations have continually changed
over time, the process of creating new, idealized identities remains ideologically driven and
subject to politics and power structures. In both pre- and post-unification eras, history has been
73
selectively modified in order to construct idealized identities. The modifications are different
now than they were 30 years ago, but the act of modifying has consistently taken place.
I have conducted this study in an interdisciplinary mode, demonstrating how theoretical
concepts of tourism, culture, and identity can be applied to this specific, and largely
unconsidered, context of eastern Germany. I have focused on specific tourist destinations and
how these destinations portray themselves in order to attract certain responses and create certain
identities. This study can serve as a point of departure for further research into actual tourist
responses to these and other destinations in eastern Germany.
74
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