This webpage is about created sites of historical memory, places where people have constructed reminders of past events, usually tragedies. Such places were constructed as reminders of the past and in many cases still serve their original function. They are also parts of the landscape with their own histories, however, histories which are worth studying in their own right. Here on the website, the term "Sites of Memory" is defined spatially, that is, more narrowly than Pierre Nora, who coined the French term lieux de mémoire originally. We have a broader understanding of the term, and cover all aspects of memorial culture, at the blog.
The main purpose of this site is educational. Students of history can come here to research "sites of memory" and, hopefully, learn to better understand their origins and cultural purposes. To this end, the right side-bar has a modest but growing list of links to resources about "sites of memory" and public cultures of memory. The right side-bar also contains links to other places on the web where you can find pictures and descriptions of memorial sites.
The left side-bar is the navigation for sites of memory which have been gathered specifically for this webpage collection. In most cases, the sites will not be things I have researched, but things I have stumbled across while travelling or which have been submitted to me by my students and other people. The descriptions are often subjective, provisional and, in some cases, guesswork. For a few of the sites substantial information is available.
At present, most of the sites there were "collected" by me. But not only do my students make many contributions, but I am always looking for contributions by others, especially from far-away places. Go to submissions page if you think you might want to join the growing list of contributors.
Mark R. Hatlie Tübingen, Germany hatlie.de
Contact / Impressum:
Mark R. Hatlie (ViSdM)
Im Feuerhägle 1
D-72072 Tübingen
Germany
+49-151-20495350
www.hatlie.de
sitesofmemory @ hatlie.de