The idea of German cultural regions in the Third Reich: the work of Franz Petri

This article considers the German idea of the cultural region between the wars, with particular reference to the work of Franz Petri. Drawing on a self-consciously ‘modern’ integration of archaeological, historical and geographical research, Petri was a pioneering figure in the so-called Kulturraumf...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of historical geography 2001-04, Vol.27 (2), p.241-258
Main Author: Ditt, Karl
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
18th-20th centuries. National schools
Bgi / Prodig
Culture
Geography
Historians
Historical section
History of geographical sciences and discoveries
Petri, Franz
Regions
Traditions
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Summary:This article considers the German idea of the cultural region between the wars, with particular reference to the work of Franz Petri. Drawing on a self-consciously ‘modern’ integration of archaeological, historical and geographical research, Petri was a pioneering figure in the so-called Kulturraumforschung school. Petri's method involved an attempt to reconstruct Germanic cultural traditions and legacies in Belgium and northern France through a detailed investigation of Medieval field and place names, burial sites and skeletons. Although Petri's research had initially no explicit ideological or geopolitical objectives, his research into Germanic settlement and ‘soil’ beyond the nation's contemporary political and linguistic borders was used by those German political activists who rejected the Treaty of Versailles and who sought to re-establish a greater German Reich, including some leading National Socialists.
ISSN:0305-7488
1095-8614
DOI:10.1006/jhge.2001.0298