Berlin - Washington, 1800–2000
Capital Cities, Cultural Representation, and National Identities

This collection provides a comparative cultural history of the urban spaces of Berlin and Washington.

Andreas Daum (Edited by), Christof Mauch (Edited by)

9780521841177, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 26 December 2005

334 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.66 kg

"...a valuable contribution that complements the extensive literature on Berlin and Washington, rounding off existing debates." -H-German, Daniela Sandler

This collection examines the urban spaces of Berlin and Washington and provides a comparative cultural history of two eminent nation-states in the modern era. Each of the cities has assumed, at times, a mythical quality and they have been seen as collective symbols, with ambitions and contradictions that mirror the nation-states they represent. Such issues such stand in the centre of this volume. The authors ask what these two capitals have meant for the nation and explore the relations between architecture, political ideas, and social reality. Topics range from Thomas Jefferson's ideas about the new capital of the United States to the creation of the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, from nineteenth-century visitors to small-town Washington to the protesters of the 1968 student movement in West Berlin. This lively collection of essays speaks to audiences as diverse as historians, urban sociologists, architects and readers interested in cultural studies.

Preface Christof Mauch
Part I. Cities as Capitals on a Global Scale: 1. Capitals in modern history: inventing urban spaces for the nation Andreas W. Daum
Part II. The Capital in the Nation: 2. Siting the capital: between Bundesdorf and Metropolis Ken Bowling and Ulrike Gerhard
3. Written capitals: national images and capital topography in travel literature Walter Erhard
4. Prime meridians, national time, and symbolic authority of capitals in the nineteenth century Martin H. Geyer
5. Washington and Berlin: national capitals in a networked world Carl Abbott
Part III. Architecture, Memory, and Space: 6. Monumental architecture and national identity in Berlin: the case of national socialism Dietmar Schirmer
7. Memorializing the Holocaust in Berlin and Washington Janet Ward
8. Capital Gardens: the Mall in Washington and the Tiergarten in Berlin Christof Mauch
9. Socialism on display: East Berlin as a capital Brian Ladd
Part IV. Political Power and Capital Functions: 10. Washington, D.C. under Federal Rule, 1871–1945 Alan H. Lessoff
11. 'Everyday' protest and the culture of conflict in Berlin Belinda Davis
12. Marches on Washington and the creation of National Public Spaces, 1894 to the present Lucy Barber.

Subject Areas: History of the Americas [HBJK], European history [HBJD]