False Fire: The Wartburg Book-Burning of 1817

Autor: Steven Michael Press
Rok vydání: 2009
Předmět:
Zdroj: Central European History. 42:621-646
ISSN: 1569-1616
0008-9389
DOI: 10.1017/s0008938909991014
Popis: A twenty-first-century visitor must find it difficult to imagine that the Thuringian city of Eisenach, lately known for its shopping, once held a place in the collective memory of Germans. On October 18, 1817, 450 students descended upon Eisenach for the Wartburg Festival, a two-day commemoration of the tricentenary of Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses and the fourth anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig. Drawing on the symbolic power of nearby Wartburg Castle, best known as Luther's hideout in 1521, the festival witnessed a number of songs and speeches calling peacefully for the introduction of reforms by German governments. But that was only part of the story. In a sideshow to the official proceedings, a handful of students also claimed to throw “reactionary” literature into a bonfire, thus interesting police across Europe.
Databáze: OpenAIRE