Memory Wars: Black German History

Who does German history belong to, what is part of it and who can make their voices heard in the debates? These are central questions in the negotiation of German identity. In this panel Jürgen Zimmerer and Tania Mancheno discuss the role of Black German history and the exclusion of certain (biographical) experiences from the German identificatory historical narrative with Katharina Warda and Patrice G. Poutrus.

Both have addressed the topic in the recent anthology "Erinnerungskämpfe. Neues deutsches Geschichtsbewusstsein" (ed. by Jürgen Zimmerer; Reclam 2023) in their article "Die DDR als Migrationsgesellschaft und die rassistische Gewalt der ‚Baseballschlägerjahre‘ in Ostdeutschland: Der Weg in die Berliner Republik" ["The GDR as a migration society and the racist violence of the ‘Baseballschlägerjahre’ (‘baseball bat years’) in East Germany: the road to the Berlin Republic"].

The event is part of the series "Colonial Legacy Dialogues", a cooperation between Kampnagel and the Research Centre Hamburg's (Post-)Colonial Legacy, in which scholars, activists and artists discuss the connections and effects of colonialism in Hamburg, Germany and the Global South.

Moderation: Jürgen Zimmerer and Tania Mancheno