Public History and Historical Tourism

Completed research project 
of the Leibniz Research Alliance ‘Value of the Past"

Berlin is regarded as ‘the Rome of the contemporary period’. The varied history of the German capital contributes to a great extent to Berlin’s constantly growing appeal in global tourism. Especially Berlin’s ‘shadowy areas’ from the Nazi dictatorship and the Cold War constitute today a significant locational advantage. 

The project investigated the historical origins of present-day historical tourism since the 1980s and enquired after the importance of historical authenticity within the expectations of tourists as well as in the marketing strategies of the tourism service providers in Berlin. 
The project thereby correlated the tourism boom in the capital with overarching medial and commemorative cultural processes of change. In this way, the project made a contribution to the establishment of public history as a field of contemporary historical research.

First publications on the topic:

Hanno Hochmuth, HisTourismus, Public History und Berlin-Tourismus, in: Christoph Kühberger/Andreas Pudlat (Hg.), Vergangenheitsbewirtschaftung. Public History zwischen Wirtschaft und Wissenschaft, Innsbruck 2012, S. 173-182.

Hanno Hochmuth, Historische Authentizität im Digitalen Zeitalter. Die Videobustouren in Berlin, in: Frank Bösch/Martin Sabrow (Hg.), ZeitRäume. Potsdamer Almanach des Zentrums für Zeithistorische Forschung 2015, Göttingen 2015, S. 76-83.

Hanno Hochmuth, Contested Legacies. Cold War Memory Sites in Berlin, in: Konrad H. Jarausch/Andreas Etges/Christian Ostermann (Hg.), The Cold War. History, Memory, Representation, Berlin/Boston 2017, S. 283-299.