A Medievalist’s Gaze
Christian Visual Rhetoric in Modern German Memorials (1950–2000)
Summary
This study offers an unconventional reading of modern and postmodern German memorials from a medievalist perspective. Beginning with a memorial for German soldiers in El Alamein and continuing with memorials for victims of the Nazis in Germany, the book challenges the visual differences between modern and medieval art and transforms the interactions between the two into six productive conversations. The examples discussed move from Christian themes or visual practice directly connected to medieval art in the surrounding local urban landscape, to secular or abstract projects that seem disconnected from premodern forms and formats. The wide variety of techniques, materials, iconography, layouts, and styles demonstrates that medievalism is a method of observation, one that can underscore the links between several works of art, offer a broader context, add layers of meaning, and explore relationships with nearby visual and social environments, physical and mental landscapes, conflicts and memories. The medieval association may also contribute to a project’s potential to arouse empathy and to stand the test of time and distance from the events it is meant to recall. The book’s medieval prism will afford the reader greater insight into these works of art and a better understanding of their contribution to modern and contemporary memory culture in Germany.
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the author
- About the book
- This eBook can be cited
- Table of Contents
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Looking Abroad
- Chapter 1 The German Cemetery in El Alamein
- Part II Looking Around
- Chapter 2 The Memorial Fountain for the Synagogue at Lappenberg in Hildesheim
- Chapter 3 The Way of the Cross in Nuremberg
- Part III Looking through a Medieval Lens
- Chapter 4 Places of Remembrance in Berlin’s Bavarian Quarter
- Chapter 5 Stolpersteine: Addressing the Victim in Situ
- Chapter 6 A Medievalist Guide in Kassel
- Afterword
- Bibliography
- Index
- Series index
Illustrations
Figure 1.1.El Alamein, German memorial (photo: author).
Figure 1.2.El Alamein, German memorial, plan (photo: Volksbund Archive).
Figure 1.4.El Alamein, German memorial, detail, mosaic by Franz Grau (photo: author).
Figure 1.5.El Alamein, German memorial, detail, entrance (photo: author).
Figure 1.7.El Alamein, German memorial, detail, courtyard (photo: author).
Figure 1.8.El Alamein, German memorial, detail, ambulatory (photo: author).
Figure 1.9.El Alamein, German memorial, detail of the mosaic by Franz Grau (photo: author).
Figure 1.10.El Alamein, German memorial, detail of the mosaic by Franz Grau (photo: author).
Figure 1.11.Sinai, Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Icon of Saints Marina, Catherine, and Barbara (photograph courtesy of the Michigan-Princeton-Alexandria Expeditions to the Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai).←ix | x→
Figure 1.16.Franz Grau, sketch for the mosaic at El Alamein (photo: Volksbund Archive).
Figure 2.2.Hildesheim, memorial fountain at Lappenberg (photo: Gerhard Lutz).
Figure 2.4.Hildesheim, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Column of Bernward (photo: Florian Monheim, Dommuseum Hildesheim).←x | xi→
Figure 2.7.Hildesheim, memorial fountain at Lappenberg, east side (photo: Gerhard Lutz).
Figure 2.8.Hildesheim, memorial fountain at Lappenberg, south side (photo: Gerhard Lutz).
Figure 2.10.Hildesheim, memorial fountain at Lappenberg, west side (photo: Gerhard Lutz).
Figure 2.15.Schwarzrheindorf, St. Mary and St. Clemens’ Church, fountain (photo: Annette Waibel).
Figure 2.18.Heimstetten, Church of St. Peter, fountain (photo: Petra Kolb).
Figure 3.3.Nuremberg, Great Road (photo courtesy of Dr Marie Luise Birkholz).
Figure 3.4.Karl Prantl, Kreuzweg (photo: Lukas Dostal, Karl Prantl ARCHIVE).
Figure 3.5.Langholzfeld, Holy Cross Church, Kreuzweg (photo: Stephanie Angerer).
Figure 3.6.Bentheim, Frenswegen Abbey, Kreuzweg (photo: Wikimedia commons: common domain), <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nordhorn_Prantl02.JPG>.←xii | xiii→
Figure 3.10.Johann Adam Delsenbach, St. John’s Cemetery in Nuremberg (photo: Stadtarchiv Nuremberg).
Figure 3.12.Nuremberg, Kreuzweg by Adam Kraft, replica of the sixth station (photo: Simon Hilber).
Figure 3.13.Nuremberg, Kreuzweg by Adam Kraft, replica of the second station (photo: Simon Hilber).
Figure 4.1.Berlin, Schöneberg, Places of Remembrance, detail (photo: author).
Figure 4.2.Berlin, Schöneberg, Places of Remembrance, detail (photo: author).←xiii | xiv→
Figure 4.3.Berlin, Schöneberg, Places of Remembrance, detail (photo: author).
Figure 4.4.Berlin, Schöneberg, Places of Remembrance, detail (photo: author).
Figure 4.6.Berlin, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (photo: Sara Hommelsheim).
Figure 5.1.Hamburg, University Guest House (photo: author).
Figure 5.2.Hamburg, University Guest House, Stolpersteine (photo: author).
Figure 5.5.Hamburg, university’s main building, Stolpersteine (photo: author).
Details
- Pages
- XX, 284
- Year
- 2022
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9781800791091
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9781800791107
- ISBN (MOBI)
- 9781800791114
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9781800791084
- DOI
- 10.3726/b17746
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2021 (December)
- Published
- Oxford, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, New York, Wien, 2022. XX, 284 pp., 79 fig. col., 14 fig. b/w.
