Podcast Summary

New Books Network | German Studies

Episode: Jürgen Zimmerer, "Memory Wars: New German Historical Consciousness" (Reclam Verlag, 2023)

Date: January 3, 2026
Host: Miriam Shawy Schultz with co-host Henriette Deserter
Guest: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Zimmerer

Overview

This episode delves into Memory Wars: New German Historical Consciousness, an edited volume by Prof. Jürgen Zimmerer. Through a wide-ranging conversation, the hosts and Zimmerer explore Germany’s evolving memory landscape, debates over national identity, the impact of colonial legacy, the significance and symbolism of public monuments, the so-called "Staatsräson" in German-Israeli relations, and the current crisis in public historical debate. The tone is reflective, urgent, and at times, deeply critical of contemporary memory politics.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ownership vs. Historical Citizenship

[04:39]

• The book's introduction, “Who Owns German History?” asks who is allowed to participate in shaping the nation's historical narrative—not 'ownership' in a property sense, but in terms of voice and inclusion.
• Zimmerer’s dual goal:
  • To showcase the diversity within German memory culture that mainstream discourse often overlooks.
  • To demonstrate, through diverse contributors, that memory debates should and can be inclusive.

“Who belongs to German history and who has a say in German history and who is allowed to talk and is listened to?” (Zimmerer, [04:39])

2. Transatlantic 'Memory Wars' and German Specificities

[08:27]

• The "memory wars" in Germany parallel culture wars in the US (e.g., fights over Critical Race Theory), but with their own national contours.
• Recent years have seen a conservative and sometimes far-right backlash—often influenced by developments in the US and UK—against moves toward historical pluralism, including postcolonial studies, gender studies, and anti-racist initiatives.
• Activism is also transnational, such as Black Lives Matter's influence on German debates about colonial monuments.

“Everything which goes for more diverse understanding, for emancipation, for empowerment… all this is under attack by those who reject the progress of the last decades.” (Zimmerer, [09:53])

3. The Emergence of a 'New German Historical Consciousness'

[10:57]

• Zimmerer describes a shift from a self-critical, Holocaust-centered national identity (postwar Bonn Republic) to one that revives symbols and narratives of Imperial Germany.
• Berlin’s rebuilt cityscape—especially the Humboldt Forum (imperial palace) and its juxtaposition with Holocaust memorials—exemplifies a move toward historical “normalization” and selective commemoration.

“You could walk from the Brandenburg Gate through Berlin without encountering the destruction and the memorials of World War II and the German century of racist violence. And that is very telling.” ([13:39])

4. Demographic Change and the Limits of Memory Inclusion

[15:57]

• A quarter of contemporary Germans have a "migrant background," yet mainstream memory debates still assume an ethnically homogeneous population rooted in 1945 Germany—a “Nazi fiction,” Zimmerer warns.
• The book argues for expanding the definition of German historical identity to include stories and traumas of all Germans, regardless of background.

“The fiction of a homogeneous German society is a Nazi fiction… If you are of Italian background, Turkish background, Vietnamese background, whatever, you are born in this country, you are German. It's time that we also include their stories, including their traumas, into what German historical identity is.” (Zimmerer, [17:13])

5. Memory, East Germany, and Post-Unification Exclusion

[19:08]

• Recent debates revisit the marginalization of East German voices and the erasure of racist violence that accompanied unification.
• Black East Germans and immigrant communities often feel excluded from the celebratory narratives of reunification.

“Every year we have a celebration for unification and it's never about unifying Germans of diverse cultural or ethnic… backgrounds. It's only about East Germans, white East Germans and West Germans.” (Zimmerer, [21:56])

6. Book Structure & Historiographical Debates

[22:05]

• The volume is organized chronologically, covering the German Empire and its continuities, the Second World War, the Holocaust, east and west Germany, and finally the Berlin Republic.
• Zimmerer emphasizes that these divisions reflect current public and political debates, such as the Hohenzollern restitution controversy, the Fischer dispute over Germany's responsibility for WWI, and debates around colonial legacies.

“Most of it are political controversies which then are translated into historical questions.” (Zimmerer, [27:54])

7. Staatsräson, Israel, and the Limits of Debate

[30:11]

• Since Merkel’s 2008 declaration, Germany’s "raison d'État" (Staatsräson) is to guarantee Israel’s security—but the term’s implications were left deliberately vague, fostering a depoliticized consensus.
• The aftermath of October 7th has seen Staatsräson invoked to limit public speech, especially by and about Germans of Palestinian or Arab descent, and to justify potential infringements on civil liberties.

“Staatsräson is now used as a justification for limiting the freedom of expression. And that is quite problematic.” (Zimmerer, [35:44])

8. Historical Struggles—From Habermas to Today

[39:15]

• Reflects on the 1980s Historikerstreit (historians’ dispute), when Habermas defended the singularity of the Holocaust and set the moral foundations for the Federal Republic.
• Describes a new "Historikerstreit 2.0" in which Holocaust uniqueness is weaponized to suppress postcolonial and migrant perspectives, often labeling critique as antisemitic.
• Examples include controversies over the Humboldt Forum, debates about reparations for the Herero and Nama genocide, and the uproar surrounding the Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe.

“This is now becoming a discussion about perspectives of the global south or international perspective versus German perspectives. And I think that's repeated now in the debate about Habermas…” (Zimmerer, [48:32])

9. Limits of Debate and the Need for Dialogue

[51:07]

• The current atmosphere is highly polarized, with conceptual “triggers” preventing meaningful discussion.
• Zimmerer advocates for genuine attempts to understand the suffering of all sides, resisting the urge for simplistic moral positioning.

“We sometimes just have to accept that there is a horrible situation which cannot easily be solved… we understand the suffering of others.” (Zimmerer, [53:11])

10. Reflections on Gaps & Future Work

[55:52]

• Zimmerer wishes the book had attended more to stories of Muslim-Jewish solidarity and positive cross-cultural engagement.
• For future research, he intends to examine the dangerous resurgence of "völkisch" (ethnosexual/nationalist) concepts in German discourse, especially the racialized idea of “imported antisemitism.”

“That's what really worries me is that what we see now is that the folkish ideas is gaining ground… it has a racist bias to it.” (Zimmerer, [57:48])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On memory exclusion:

  “A lot of Germans… are not responsible for World War I. And then along came Christopher Clark… which could be read like, no, it's not just Germans. It's more a systemic failure. And that it became immediate best seller in Germany… because it was understood by a lot of Germans as we are not responsible, not so responsible for World War I.”
  — Zimmerer, [26:52]

• On Staatsräson and repression:

  “Staatsräson is now used as a justification for limiting the freedom of expression. And that is quite problematic.”
  — Zimmerer, [35:44]

• On inclusion and German identity:

  “Because the debate or our, our concept of German historical identity is shaped by a Germany of 1945, and that is ethnically cleansed German society… we need a new German history consciousness because we need to include those.”
  — Zimmerer, [17:02]

Important Timestamps

• [04:39] Zimmerer on ‘who owns history’ and goals of the edited volume
• [08:27] Transatlantic parallels and German specificity in ‘memory wars’
• [10:57] The emergence of a new historical consciousness post-reunification
• [15:57] Demographic changes and the need for inclusive memory
• [19:08] Marginalization of East Germans and memory of reunification
• [22:05] Book structure and historiographical controversies
• [30:11] Explanation and critique of "Staatsräson" after October 7th
• [39:15] From Habermas and the Historikerstreit to today's debates
• [51:07] On the difficulty—and necessity—of restoring public debate
• [55:52] Missed opportunities and plans for future research

Tone and Takeaways

Zimmerer, both passionate and even-tempered, calls for critical self-reflection, pluralism, and empathy in approaching German history and memory. He is outspoken about present dangers: new exclusions, the silencing of minority perspectives, and the instrumentalization of historical trauma for political ends. The hosts support and extend his arguments, bringing a sense of urgency and personal investment to the conversation.

For Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

This episode is essential for anyone interested in German history, the politics of memory, and the intersection of historical scholarship and contemporary identity debates. It offers succinct yet nuanced explanations of current controversies, their historical roots, and what’s at stake for Germany—and for wider global discussions of memory and inclusion.