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
