What have the German empress Augusta, Großadmiral Alfred von Tirpitz and the revolutionary seaman Max Reichpietsch in common? One after another they gave their names to the same street in Berlin. This is just one of endless examples how memory, tradition and identity were and are made by naming sites.

The workshop will aim at this politics of naming in the realm of commemorating and remembering war. Geographical sights like streets, squares, barracks, or things like ships will be objects of our investigation. Furthermore memorials – from small ones in towns to big ones monuments are interesting items for the question of naming as well. In a first dimension we will figure out how these sights got their names, say, looking at the process of naming. To put it more concrete we will ask: What is worth to be remembered and what is important to shape identity in a specific time? Further we have to identify different agents involved and pressure groups promoting a specific name in order to define a specific knot in the web of remembrance. Is there a discussion about denomination? Do names compete with each other? Is there a kind of ‘Leitmotiv’ for the politics of naming in a specific time? What can be resources for naming – persons, places, what else? How were – especially memorials – financed? Was there an industry of naming rising in the 20th century? 

To participate, please register with Frank Reichherzer (FrankReichherzer@bundeswehr.org).

Conference languages are English and German. Simultaneous translation is provided for the panels. Please note that the keynote will be held in German and not be translated. A paper with the main argument will be distributed. Discussion is possible in both languages.

Conference Venue:  Zentrum für Militärgeschichte und Sozialwissenschaften der Bundeswehr, Haus 12, Zeppelinstraße 127/128, D-14471 Potsdam

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Programme:

02. Dezember 2015

09:00  Hans-Hubertus Mack  -  Welcoming Speech

09:15  Michael Epkenhans  -  Introduction

Panel I

09:30  Heiner Möllers (Potsdam):  Preserving the Old! Politics of Naming in the Bundeswehr 1956-1990

10:00  Break

10:30  Jörg Echternkamp (Potsdam):  The Symbolic Politics of Naming – Away of Cultivating Tradition in East Germany and the National People's Army

11:00  Erwin Schmidl (Wien):  In the Shadow of the Past – Dealing with Tradition in the Second Bundesheer

11:30  Discussion

12:00  Lunch

Panel II

14:00  Stephen Harris (Ottawa):  Military Commemoration by an "Unmilitary" People – The Memory of the First World War in Canada

14:30  Aaron Pegram (Canberra):  Lest We Forget – Remembering the Great War in the Landscape of Australia's Bush Capital

15:00  Break

15:30  Kingsley Baird (Wellington/NZ):  Naming Rights – Conflict, Coexistence, and Restoration in a Memorial Landscape

16:00  Eric Grove (Blackpool):  Classical Gods, Ships, Places, Battles and Admirals – The Naming of British Warships

16:30  Discussion

18:00  Evening Lecture (Hans Meier-Welcker-Saal)  -  Michael Epkenhans (Potsdam): Namen und Denkmäler im Widerstreit

19:00  Discussion

19:30  Reception

03. Dezember 2015

Panel III

09:00  Nicola Labanca (Siena):  What, who, and how much – First World War and the Naming of Italian Streets

09:30  Frank Bostyn (Ypres):  Ypres – The Naming of Places and Actions during and after the War

10:00  Break

10:30  Thean Potgieter (Pretoria):  Remember to Forget or Forget to Remember – Naming, Memory and Commemoration in South Africa

11:00  Jean Martinant de Preneuf | Philippe Vial (Paris):  The Memory of the World War I in the Marine Nationale through the Naval Onomastics Policy from the Great War to Nowadays

11:30  Discussion

12:00  Final Remarks

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Contact:

Dr. Frank Reichherzer

ZMSBw

FrankReichherzer@bundeswehr.org