07:00 PM From the air and from the ground: Personal archives and the materiality of memory in the First World War

How is memory shaped, with the use of which media and by whom? For Aby Warburg, this question is easy to answer: in the early days of the First World War, he began a new diary in which he recorded political events and personal experiences. As a historian of his own time, he understood the unprecedented nature of the events, which he documented not only in words but also with the help of images and newspaper clippings in his “War Zibaldone”.

Exploring the relationship between personal experience and the materiality of memory is a rewarding field for historical image studies and the history of ideas. To this end, the First World War, which tends to be overshadowed in Germany, will be examined in terms of the relationship between visual culture, micro histoire, and memory culture. What story is being told, and with the use of which media?

As descendants of former adversaries, historian of ideas Warren Breckman and art historian Michael Thimann engage in conversation with historian and author Ulrich Raulff, discussing, among other things, their grandfathers’ mementos: the war diaries of the Canadian cavalryman and the photo album of the German pilot. From different perspectives, on land and from the air, from a Canadian self-image and that of the German Empire, they discuss questions of personalised memory culture, the relevance/actualisation of memory and the responsibility of historical science. The private diary entries, which document world historical and military upheavals, as well as the photographs, which show the private side of the war and the technical innovation of aerial observation, play a central role as carriers of memory.

The conversation will be conducted in German.
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