border(hi)stories

During the course oft he 20th century the national and regional identity of Western Hungary and Eastern Austria was often marked by mutual rejection and demarcation. The memory of these conflicts and traumatic events manifests itself in symbolic places of remebrance. Several times, world history was being written in this very region, e.g at the Bridge of Andau during the Hungarian Uprising of 1956 and when the Iron Curtain fell in 1989. The overriding project goal is to improve local knowledge about historical facts in the border region as well as the cooperation among such institutions which disseminate and permanently secure this knowledge as a part of a regional identity.
-Direct results will be firstly a digital inventory of places of remembrance, making documents, background literature and pictures publicly available and accessible.
-Secondly an interactive map showing 60 places of remembrance on both sides of the border, containing basic information in German, Hungarian and English as well as links to more detailed materials in the digital inventory.
-Thirdly a joint travelling exhibition to be presented in different towns across the region, including public discussions with historical experts involved in the project.
A complete exhibition (in the town of Mosonmagyaróvár) as well as a concept for the exhibition and impartment of local historical events and sites (in the town of Köszeg) will be developed in Hungary.
Combined workshops of numerous involved schools throughout the region constitute the central element of dissemination. Their results will be integrated into the digital inventory.
Overcoming the confrontative culture of remebrance in the region can only be achieved through the cooperation of historians, schools and adult education institutions, which participate as strategic partners on both sides. The use of digital media greatly facilitates the establishing of a new transnational culture of remembrance.

Partnership

Lead Partner:

IZ - Verein zur Förderung von Vielfalt, Dialog und Bildung

Partners:

Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen Widerstandes

Land Burgenland

Vas Megyei Önkormányzati Hivatal

Nyugat-Pannon Terület- és Gazdaságfejlesztési Szolgáltató Közhasznú Nonprofit Kft.

Győr-Moson-Sopron Megyei Önkormányzat

Strategic Partners:

Bildungsdirektion für Wien

Bildungsdirektion für Burgenland