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Imperial Designs?

Large exhibition about the German emperor, Otto the Great, and the Roman Empire opened in Magdeburg this weekend amidst growing misgivings in the rest of Europe about the future role of Germany…

Not so long ago the Italian newspaper “Il Giornale” owned by the brother of the Lombardian Berlusconi – printed a front-page showing Angela Merkel raising her right arm in a gesture associated with the Nazi-salute. As anyone could see the photo was severely tampered with in photo-shop (as was the benign waxen face of Berlusconi just below).

Nevertheless the newspaper found it appropriate to accompany an article about the so-called imperial designs of Angela Merkel with this photo, titling it “the Fourth Reich”, and claiming in the text that she is angling for the title of “imperatore de Roma”. It stands to reason the article raised a global furore in the media.

All this happened at the same time as curators, architects and historians were putting the finishing touch upon a huge “Landesausstellung” in Magdeburg, entitled “Otto the Great and the Roman Empire”. Of course, the exhibition has been planned for years in order to celebrate the anniversary of Otto the Great’s birth in 912 and his imperial crowning in 962 in Rome. Nevertheless it seems to be quite topical, although the curators has deliberately sidestepped in order not to raise the spectre of the second and third “Reichs” when the achievements of Otto the Great were so disastrously appropriated to construct the founding myths of Der Kaiser (1871 – 1918) and later Hitler (1933 – 1945).

Very prudently – probably in view of this, but hopefully also because she was otherwise engaged in cleaning up the sordid acts of the Greeks, the Spaniards and the Italians – Angela Merkel did not take part in the official opening of the exhibition in Magdeburg, which took place in the cathedral, where Otto the Great was entombed in 973. Official representation was delegated to Prof. Dr. Norbert Lammert, president of the “Bundestag”, who several years ago took it upon himself to be the official protector.

In an interview he gave to “Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk” on the day before the official opening, Dr. Lammert explained why he had engaged himself in this exhibition. In the interview he pointed to the fact that huge exhibitions such as this one might help to emphasise the need to develop a deep historical sense in the general public.

– It is often thought that the further back in history we go, the more history becomes a specialised job for historians. However, this is not the case, says Norbert Lammert and adds that he believes the development of a culture of memory is actually an important task for governements to lift.

In his opinion the history of Otto the Great and his reinvention of the idea of Rome and emperorship as a legitimate form of political institution has special relevance today in Europe. On one hand there is the need to have a legitimate form of universal government bridging the nation states. On the other hand it is necessary to balance this against the need for regional and national self-government. According to Norbert Lammert this is the exact challenge which Otto endeavoured to meet in the 10th century, but ends up adding:

–   However one challenge is ours alone: how do we legitimate such a type of balanced government democratically?

Which of course is a very legitimate and pertinent question in Europe 2012 where governments in Southern Europe right now tends to be led by technocrats instead of elected politicians.

Maybe the photo from the opening of the exhibition is a sign of  this new era. For Otto the Great to be crowned emperor was the same as to be divinely blessed with the job of defending the faith as well as the church and support the missionary efforts amongst the heathens. It was not his job to lead the administration of a realm geographically stretching from Rome to Schleswig. Maybe to be a European politician in the 21st century is to be the guardian of our memorial culture and the values of Europe – whatever they might be deemed to be in a global context of poly-culturalism. And less to take part in the nitty-gritty daily administration of the welfare of our future societies.

In which sense the politicians will be the future “emperors” while the technocrats will take the role of local national and regional administrators. It seems the exhibition in Magdeburg this autumn  will be well worth a visit. At least it raises a number of important questions which we might have to ponder in the future.

Karen Schousboe

Read a presentation of the exhibition

 

Kildonnan at Eigg

Eigg is one of the small isles in the Scottish Inner Hebrids. Around 600 St. Donnán or Donan, a Gaelic priest, arrived from Ireland to introduce Christianity to the Picts of Northern Scotland. According to the martyriology of Oengus St. Donnan was a friend of St. Columba, whom he followed from Ireland to Scotland toward the end of the sixth century. But while Columba chose a socalled “white martyrdom” (i.e. life of exile from his kindred) St. Donnan went for a “Red Martydom” going up further North. Seeking a solitary retreat, he and his companions settled on the island of Eigg, off the west coast of Scotland, which used only to pasture sheep belonging to the queen of the country. Informed of the invasion, the queen ordered the monks to be slain. Her agents, probably a marauding band of Picts, or pirates according to one account, arrived during the celebration of Mass on Easter eve 617. Being requested to wait until after Mass. Then St. Donnan and his fifty-one companions gave themselves up to the sword. According to legend St. Donnan specifically asked to be the last of his flock.

Eventually a new monastery at Kildonnan was founded from Iona, which lasted several cnturies until the Vikings settled on Eigg. Probabaly the monastery was an important and wealthy institution as is suggested by the later mentioning in the Annals of Oan, a Princeps or superior of Eigg, who died in 725 and of Cumméne, another religious who was mentioned in 752. At this time the monastery is believed to have become a royal institution. Several fragments of early Christian Crosses have been recovered from the Kildonnan graveyard and are currently displayed at “The Lodge”

Last year Eigg History Society won £17.500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to carry out an archaeological excavation of the graveyard in order to locate the first monastery from the 7th century. According to the History Society the archaeologists have succeeded in identifying the likely oval enclosure and ditch surrounding the first settlement. Emeritus professor John Hunter based at the University of Birmingham has led the excavation. According to the Scotsman the findings have surpassed all his expectations: Pictish pottery was found in the enclosure which together with the oval form helps to date the settlement to the 7th century.

The Isle of Eigg is owned by The Eigg Heritage Trust

Read about the excavation at the dedicated Eigg Excavation Blog

Current plans for archaeological excavations on Eigg and the other Small Islands

READ MORE:

Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland Ad 80-1000. Alfred P. Smyth. Edinburgh University Press, 1984

Last of the Free: A History of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. James Hunter. Mainstream Publishing  2010.

Medieval Berlin

Most people think of Berlin as a modern bustling town built out of the wreckage of the 19th and 20th century. But Berlin has a much longer and interesting – medieval – history

Around 1170 Berlin was founded on two opposing plateaus: Barnim and Teltow, located on either brink of the river Spree, a tributary to Havel, which feeds the Elbe. The first Berliners were German colonists from the Harz, the Rhineland, Westphalia and Flanders. When they arrived the land was marshy, forested and in fact not very inviting. However, ancient Slavic trading routes along the rivers from West to East passed through and made it an inviting spot to locate a market.

The beginnings were modest. Berlin and Cölln were located on the sandy islands, each with a few wooden houses and a small-timbered church. However, two generations later (around 1230) the Ascanian Margraves: Johann I and Otto III presented the market with city-status exempting them from taxes. The emblem of the House of Ascania, a red eagle and bear, became the heraldic emblems of Berlin.

This investment paid off. A few decades later the Ascanians derived huge profits from customs, tolls and fees on market stands and the use of the mills of the city. The city status started a construction boom in Berlin. First of all the Mühlendamm (Mill Damm) was built on a huge number of massive oak trunks. This linked the two sister cities and at the same time dammed the Spree. This allowed the city to exploit the river in two ways. First off all this forced riverboats to reload their freights, inviting the traders to market their wares at the local market. Secondly the water was used in milling and other forms of crafts and trades (processing cloth, tanning hides etc.) At this time a series of large stone churches were built. St. Nikolai was the first. Later (1270) the Franciscans built the first brick-church echoing the prevalent mode of church building in Northern Germany.

The city itself was the result of a planned exercise. Spandauer Strasse, Jüdenstrasse and Klosterstrasse  ran parallel to each other with plots of land in given to new settlers. Amongst these were the Jews, who were given a separate gated area at the Grosse Jüdenhoff with a synagougue off the Molktenmarkt. Jewish merchants, who were involved in money exchange and the credit business, were among the first settlers. On the other side at the city’s North-Eastern edge, the Margraves reserved a piece of land for themselves.

In the mid-13th century Berlin expanded towards the north-west. The Mariensiedlung residential area grew up around the Neuer Markt, with houses with tiled roofs. At this time the twin city began building city walls in order to replace the older earthwork and palisade fortifications. Around this time more than 2000 people lived within the city’s walls and Berlin had become a major foreign trade hub. From East came wood, rye and linen, salt came from Halle, herrings from the Baltic and cloth from Flanders and the more local textile production centres in Brandenburg. At the end Berlin became a member of the Hanseatic League.

This story is told in much details in a new book, which was recently published in connection with the “Historiale 2012” focusing on the 775 anniversary of Berlin.

Information about medieval buildings and ruins in Berlin

Read more about “The Historiale 2012”

Berlin im Mittelalter: Berlin/Cölln unter den Askaniern. By Norbert F. W. Meier. Berlin Story / Alles Uber Berlin 2012

 

Historiale at Berlin

History festivals may be the way forward to “sell” history in a serious yet popular manner

The Historiale in Berlin has the ambition to be the largest historical festival in Europe. Since 2006 The foundation behind this festival has been the driving force behind a magnificent staged series of events focusing on a wide variety of themes, from “Napoleon in Berlin” to “Haupstadt der Spione”. This year the Historiale celebrates the 775 anniversary of Berlin from the 20th to the 26th of August with a huge mixture of musical events, theatre-performances, lectures, public debates plus guided tours and much more. At the end of the week there will be a large parade where people who are willing to dress up can take part.

A significant part of this takes place around the Nikolaikircheviertel where there is also a marketplace. In the Nikolaikirche itself an exhibition tells the story of this 800-year old building and the personalities, who lived and worked there. At the same time eight small exhibitions along the former city walls show the results from excavations which were carried out in connection with work on the Metro.

However, the gate to the festival is the exhibition in the Berlin Museum where the changing fortunes of the city are told through a combination of multimedia installations, audioguides etc. For the really interested it might be worthwhile to start out by visiting the City Museum of Berlin (Märkisches Museum) where amongst other fascinating thing large models of the historical city from its early beginnings may be studied in detail. For the medieval buff the museum in itself is interesting: the building is more than a 100 years old and in full-blown “historismus” style with a tower built out of red brick and a “Gothic Chapel” with a remarkable collection of medieval sculptures; all newly restored to its former grandeur. At the Museum annex at Ephraim-Palais there is a special exhibition “Berlinmakers ‘n’ shakers. 775 Portraits – One Network” which showcases seven hundred present-day and seventy-five historical figures. Their stories shed light both on the lives of Berliners and also on the uniqueness of Berlin.

Tired of all the noise and jostling from more than 100.000 guests and participants? Maybe it is time to take the train out South and visit one of Berlin’s more hidden gems: The village of Düppel (Museumsdorf Düppel). Here guests can experience a medieval village complete with a fully-fledged farm cultivated with traditional three-year rotation and showcasing old grains as well as medieval gardens. On Sundays volunteers enliven the place with their handcrafts. All scientifically well-documented in an orderly way. (The Museumsdorf is part of the Stadmuseum of berlin).

The program for the Historiale

 Accompanying this years “Festivale” is a book about “Berlin im Mittelalter”:
 Berlin im Mittelalter: Berlin/Cölln unter den Askaniern. By Norbert F. W. Meier. Berlin Story / Alles Uber Berlin 2012