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AbstractA variety of external forces led to the division of Germany after 1945, and, almost three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, division continues to persist as a social, economic, and political factor in united Germany. This article contributes to scholarly efforts aimed at delineating the ways in which division became a component in the self-perception of many Germans. Focusing on farmers, it shows that their attachment to the land was one such path. At the same time, it argues that farmers were among the first to contend with division in 1945 and, as the most numerous participants in the so-called Little Border Traffic (Kleine Grenzverkehr) between the two postwar states, were keenly aware of the growing division of Germany from its earliest days. The article highlights the choice that farmers made between living in East or in West Germany, arguing that because crossing the border was optional until the mid-1960s, and because land was much less available in the West than in the East, many East German farmers came to associate life in West Germany with the loss of land—and life in East Germany with an ability to keep it. When deciding to stay put, flee westward, or move from West to East, farmers prioritized the degree to which they were attached to their land and property. By making that choice, they cemented their self-perception as belonging to one of the opposing sides. This was not an ideological declaration per se, but rather one rooted in eminently practical considerations.

It is widely accepted that the inter-German border was constructed by East German authorities to halt the emigration to the west, which had damaged the East German economy and undermined the East German state agencies' power. This article argues that this is an inaccurate understanding, which mistakenly treats perceptions and insights gained from studying the Berlin Wall as representative of the mostly rural border between East and West Germany. It emphasizes crucial transformations of frontier society during the 1950s, highlighting the important role of western as well as eastern policy in shaping them.

In the immediate period following the Second World War the Western occupation zones of Germany received eight million ethnic Germans from Central and Eastern Europe. Initially these newcomers were lumped in Western German discourse under the term 'refugees'. Yet, within less than a decade, the term 'expellees' emerged as a more popular denotation. Scholarship has offered two explanations for this semantic change, emphasising the political influence of both the Allies and the 'expellee' leadership. This article presents a complementary reason for this discursive shift. We argue that 'expellees' marked the symbolic weight that the ethnic Germans offered as expulsion victims in order to balance out German guilt for Nazi crimes.

Der »spatial turn« in der deutschen Geschichte. Die deutsche Geschichtsschreibung hat in den letzten Jahrzehnten einen spezifischen »spatial turn« erfahren. Insbesondere haben Historikerinnen und Historiker dabei die Funktion von Rassenideologie und (»Lebens«-)Raum im Zusammenhang mit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg analysiert. Später geriet auch die Nachkriegszeit in den Fokus, in der auch die Ideologien und Logiken des Kalten Kriegs in den Blick rückten. Die Beiträgerinnen und Beiträger des Bandes vereinen die Themen Raum, Ort, Grenzen, Landschaften, Territorialisierung, Umweltgeschichte und Stadtgeschichte. So arbeiten sie heraus, wie die verschiedenen Weltanschauungen und Ideen in der Moderne Deutschland geformt und umgeformt haben. Aus dem Inhalt: Ulrike Jureit: Blonde Provinzen. Eine Kontroverse um Großräume, Ordnungsdenken und Lebensraumideologie Andrea Rottmann: Gefährdete Geselligkeit. Queere Kneipen in West-Berlin zwischen Überschwang, Überwachung und Überfall, 1945-1970 Sarah Wobick-Segev: Between Homes and Heimat: The spatial worlds of the staff and students at the Herrlingen Landschulheim, 1934-1939

Die deutsche Geschichtsschreibung hat in den letzten Jahrzehnten einen spezifischen "spatial turn" erfahren. Insbesondere haben Historikerinnen und Historiker dabei die Funktion von Rassenideologie und ("Lebens"-)Raum im Zusammenhang mit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg analysiert. Später geriet auch die Nachkriegszeit in den Fokus, in der auch die Ideologien und Logiken des Kalten Kriegs in den Blick rückten. Die Beiträgerinnen und Beiträger des Bandes vereinen die Themen Raum, Ort, Grenzen, Landschaften, Territorialisierung, Umweltgeschichte und Stadtgeschichte. So arbeiten sie heraus, wie die verschiedenen Weltanschauungen und Ideen in der Moderne Deutschland geformt und umgeformt haben.