Death in East Germany, 1945-1990 (Web PDF) von Felix Robin Schulz

List of Illustrations
List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgements
Glossary

Introduction

Chapter 1.The Origins of Modern German Sepulchral Culture
Chapter 2.After Death: The Organization of Disposal
Chapter 3. Resting Places? Cemeteries in the GDR
Chapter 4. Burning Bodies: Cremation in the GDR
Chapter 5.The Communal Burial of Ashes: New Spaces for Disposal
Chapter 6. Funerals in the GDR: A Diversity of Rituals

Conclusion

Bibliography
Index

As the first historical study of East Germanys sepulchral culture, this book explores the complex cultural responses to death since the Second World War. Topics include the interrelated areas of the organization and municipalization of the undertaking industry; the steps taken towards a socialist cemetery culture such as issues of design, spatial layout, and commemorative practices; the propagation of cremation as a means of disposal; the wide-spread introduction of anonymous communal areas for the internment of urns; and the emergence of socialist and secular funeral rituals. The author analyses the manifold changes to the system of the disposal of the dead in East Germanya society that not only had to negotiate the upheaval of military defeat but also urbanization, secularization, a communist regime, and a planned economy. Stressing a comparative approach, the book reveals surprising similarities to the development of Western countries but also highlights the intricate local variations within the GDR and sheds more light on the East German state and its society.

Felix Robin Schulz is Lecturer in Modern European History at Newcastle University. He has taught at Lancaster University, the University of York, and Sunderland University. His research interests include the history of sepulchral cultures, regional and national memorialization, and the link between landscape and identity. He has published on death and disposal in East Germany as well on the history of the Alps.