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Demonized, domesticated, virtualized : fortification buildings as a case of Prussian heritage in present-day Kaliningrad

Narvselius, Eleonora LU (2018) In Nationalities Papers 46(3). p.400-421
Abstract
The article explores ways in which the nineteenth-century Prussian military architecture has been used and promoted as a part of the local heritage in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Accommodation of the old fortification buildings to tourism and museum work has been publicly discussed since the beginning of the 2000s, but neither local nor federal authorities have proposed a plan to adapt them to non-military purposes. As a result, these structures, which are protected by federal heritage laws and uniformly built of characteristic red bricks, have become an arena for various initiatives, experiments, and games with the past. Strategies of virtualization discussed in the paper reveal a lack of open public discussion about dark episodes... (More)
The article explores ways in which the nineteenth-century Prussian military architecture has been used and promoted as a part of the local heritage in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Accommodation of the old fortification buildings to tourism and museum work has been publicly discussed since the beginning of the 2000s, but neither local nor federal authorities have proposed a plan to adapt them to non-military purposes. As a result, these structures, which are protected by federal heritage laws and uniformly built of characteristic red bricks, have become an arena for various initiatives, experiments, and games with the past. Strategies of virtualization discussed in the paper reveal a lack of open public discussion about dark episodes of Russian and Soviet history. Consequently, it is important to learn more about how and why contemporary Kaliningraders appropriate the local German legacies, use globally accepted strategies of heritage construction, and develop cooperation with the EU countries, while remaining receptive to official historical narratives promulgated by the national center. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nationalities Papers
volume
46
issue
3
pages
400 - 421
publisher
Cambridge University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85041120163
ISSN
0090-5992
DOI
10.1080/00905992.2017.1374938
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6025785d-51e6-4f7e-92d2-de8a01b06b69
date added to LUP
2018-01-23 20:04:30
date last changed
2022-04-25 05:17:29
@article{6025785d-51e6-4f7e-92d2-de8a01b06b69,
  abstract     = {{The article explores ways in which the nineteenth-century Prussian military architecture has been used and promoted as a part of the local heritage in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Accommodation of the old fortification buildings to tourism and museum work has been publicly discussed since the beginning of the 2000s, but neither local nor federal authorities have proposed a plan to adapt them to non-military purposes. As a result, these structures, which are protected by federal heritage laws and uniformly built of characteristic red bricks, have become an arena for various initiatives, experiments, and games with the past. Strategies of virtualization discussed in the paper reveal a lack of open public discussion about dark episodes of Russian and Soviet history. Consequently, it is important to learn more about how and why contemporary Kaliningraders appropriate the local German legacies, use globally accepted strategies of heritage construction, and develop cooperation with the EU countries, while remaining receptive to official historical narratives promulgated by the national center.}},
  author       = {{Narvselius, Eleonora}},
  issn         = {{0090-5992}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{400--421}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  series       = {{Nationalities Papers}},
  title        = {{Demonized, domesticated, virtualized : fortification buildings as a case of Prussian heritage in present-day Kaliningrad}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00905992.2017.1374938}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/00905992.2017.1374938}},
  volume       = {{46}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}