Heimat

The mono-cultural landscape of Berchtesgarten, Bavaria stirs up inevitable memories of its recent history. These mountain scenes though are unchanged; it is the same now as it was before the virtues of mountain air and physical fitness were hijacked for the ideology of the Third Reich.

Many tourists come in their coach loads from all over the world to see the stunning views from the ‘Eagle’s Nest’ (given to Hitler on his 50^th birthday by the NSDAP), now a cafe selling inoffensive pens and snow globes but the association with its Nazi past is strong and the big crowds are drawn to the landscape as a metaphor of horror and political power.

‘People are bound to the concept of heimat by their childhood, language and earliest experiences; it is an 'acquired affinity to the landscape.' Heimat can be regarded as association of identity to stereotypical notions of antecedence, community and tradition.

It is a powerful instrument of self assurance and orientation relative to a perceived notion of an alienating world.’

Mountain Scene, Berchtesgarten, Bavaria © Richard Ansett 2006

Heimat #1, Berchtesgarten, Bavaria © Richard Ansett 2006

Heimat #4, Berchtesgarten, Bavaria © Richard Ansett 2006