The German Forest : : Nature, Identity, and the Contestation of a National Symbol, 1871-1914 / / Jeffrey K. Wilson.

• VerfasserIn: Wilson, Jeffrey K.,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2019]; ©2012
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Language: English
• Series: German and European Studies
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (344 p.)

From the late eighteenth century, Germans increasingly identified the fate of their nation with that of their woodlands. A variety of groups soon mobilized the 'German forest' as a national symbol, though often in ways that suited their own social, economic, and political interests. The German Forest is the first book-length history of the development and contestation of the concept of 'German' woodlands.Jeffrey K. Wilson challenges the dominant interpretation that German connections to nature were based in agrarian romanticism rather than efforts at modernization. He explores a variety of conflicts over the symbol - from demands on landowners for public access to woodlands, to state attempts to integrate ethnic Slavs into German culture through forestry, and radical nationalist visions of woodlands as a model for the German 'race'. Through impressive primary and archival research, Wilson demonstrates that in addition to uniting Germans, the forest as a national symbol could also serve as a vehicle for protest and strife.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Maps, Figures, and Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- Chapter one. National Landscape and National Memory -- Chapter two. Contested Forests: Ideal Values and Real Estate -- Chapter three. Environmental Activism in the Kaiserreich: Berlin and the Grunewald -- Chapter four. Reforestation as Reform: Pomerelia and the Tuchel Heath -- Chapter five. Meaningful Woods: Sylvan Metaphors and Arboreal Symbols -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Works Cited -- Index -- Backmatter