Archäologie der Moderne aus Sicht der Landesarchäologie Sachsen-Anhalts – Chance oder Problem?

Abstract

The Archaeology of the Modern Period is a great challenge for the whole subject and the archaeological heritage management. However, archaeology provides additional historical sources that can calibrate written, pictorial and audiovisual sources because of its nonintentional genesis. Furthermore, it also offers great opportunities for archaeology due to the high level of public interest and the public’s direct and sometimes emotional relation with the archaeological remains. For this reason, the Archaeology of the Modern Period is by no means necessarily accompanied by cutbacks in other areas of archaeological heritage management, but may even lead to a stronger anchoring of state archaeology in the public consciousness and to its expansion. Its potential is illustrated by several case studies, ranging from the prisoner-of-war camps of Quedlinburg and Wittenberg from the First World War to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Bauhaus in Dessau.