25 Jahre Archäologie von Krieg und Terror: Beobachtungen und Erfahrungen aus der Praxis in Brandenburg

Abstract

Since 1991 the federal state of Brandenburg has one of the most modern monument protection laws within Germany, which gives no age restrictions for archaeological monuments. In addition, there is a considerable density of places and material in Brandenburg that witness war and terror from two world wars and two dictatorships in the region around the former “Reichshauptstadt”. Therefore, contemporary archaeology is not an academic idea for archaeological monument preservation in Brandenburg, but a concrete and pressing task: the monuments are there and their number is decreasing. For example, the Monument Office deals with an increasingly wide range of archaeological monuments from the 20^th century. It is striking that the public reaction is very different from that to usual archaeology – aspects of crime and suffering, victims and remembrance must be taken into account. In this context, archaeology is taking on a new role. As an evidence-based institution, it is gaining influence in current social discourses against tendencies that deny of Nazi crimes. Practical examples show the development of our activities as a learning process in several well-defined phases.