European University Institute Library

Excavating nations, archaeology, museums, and the German-Danish borderlands, J. Laurence Hare

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages [233]-248) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Excavating nations

bibliography

879584247

J. Laurence Hare

German and European studies

archaeology, museums, and the German-Danish borderlands

'Excavating nations' traces the history of archaeology and museums in the contested German-Danish borderlands from the emergence of antiquarianism in the early nineteenth-century to German-Danish reconciliation after the Second World War. J. Laurence Hare reveals how the border regions of Schleswig-Holstein and Sønderjylland were critical both to the emergence of professional prehistoric archaeology and to conceptions of German and Scandinavian origins. At the center of this process, Hare argues, was a cohort of amateur antiquarians and archaeologists who collaborated across the border to investigate the ancient past but were also complicit in its appropriation for nationalist ends. Excavating Nations follows the development of this cross-border network over four generations, through the unification of Germany and two world wars. Using correspondence and site reports from museum, university, and state archives across Germany and Denmark, Hare shows how these scholars negotiated their simultaneous involvement in nation-building projects and in a transnational academic community.--, Provided by publisher

Antiquarians and Patriots -- National Prehistories in the German-Danish Wars -- Discovery and Rediscovery at Haithabu -- Nationalism, Science, and the Search for Origins -- Prehistory and the Popular Imagination -- Creating Nazi Archaeology -- The Fate of Archaeology in the Borderlands