Germania Triumphant: The Niederwald National Monument and the Liberal Moment in Imperial Germany

TitleGermania Triumphant: The Niederwald National Monument and the Liberal Moment in Imperial Germany
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2000
AuthorsMazón, Patricia
JournalGerman History
Volume18
Issue2
Pagination162-192
Date Published04/2000
Abstract

Spurred by a growing interest in memorialization, recent literature has emphasized how monuments and national symbols contributed to the ‘invention of tradition’ and the construction of the nation in modern Europe. In his latest work, Rudy Koshar has noted the ‘national state’s need to create objectified symbols of national identity that offered a point of contact and easily recognized visual referent for many disparate groups’. Using the example of the Niederwald monument, the author aims to show in this article not just how traditions are invented but also how the symbols used to do so are themselves conflicted and contested. In particular, the author focuses on the monument’s towering Germania figure, a symbol as full of contradictions as the nation she represented.

URLhttp://gh.oxfordjournals.org/content/18/2/162
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