The Memorial to General Gablenz in Trutnov as a Place of Memory of Local Significance Cover Image

Pomník generála Gablenze v Trutnově jako místo paměti lokálního významu
The Memorial to General Gablenz in Trutnov as a Place of Memory of Local Significance

Author(s): Tomáš Korbel
Subject(s): History, Cultural history, Geography, Regional studies, Historical Geography, Ethnohistory, Local History / Microhistory, Military history, Modern Age, Recent History (1900 till today), 19th Century, Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919), Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), Present Times (2010 - today), Period(s) of Nation Building
Published by: Univerzita Pavla Jozefa Šafárika v Košiciach
Keywords: Regional history; Place of memory; Monument; Historical consciousness; Local cultural memory; Festivities; Local community; Subjects of place of memory;

Summary/Abstract: In this article, changes in the meanings attributed to and local relations with General Gablenz's memorial – a local monument and reminder of the 1866 Prussian-Austrian War – are observed over the period from its construction to the present. First, the role of the memorial in memory studies is presented (Nora’s concept of places of memory) in terms of its semiotic-content structures and three basic functions of festivities that establish its social significance. Second, the use of historical consciousness or local cultural memory is considered as a methodical concept for the study of this monument, which fulfilled a social role not at the national level, but only in the regional context within the collective memory of the local community. Third, the concept of local culture memory is applied and described from the point of view of various actors (subjects of memory places) of commemorative practices (military associations, city leaders, etc.) during the ceremonial inauguration of the monument in 1868, during the solemn deposition of General Gablenz’s relicts in the monument in 1905, and during the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the deposition of those relicts in 2005. It is obvious that the significance of this monument as a place of memory has been shaped by the local community, but at the same time it itself became an important source of identity for this society because of its ability to preserve his living memory.

  • Issue Year: 7/2018
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 84-102
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Czech