Postcolonial memory: Young people explore Hamburg's colonial heritage

Postcolonial memory: Young people explore Hamburg's colonial heritage

In the Tanzania Park in Hamburg-Jenfeld on July 6th, everything revolves around the culture of remembrance of the colonial past. The action day “Old stories, new approaches – What does postcolonial memory sound like when young people tell stories?” promises exciting insights into the interconnections of German colonial history and its present. The taz reports that Viktoria Zvolski, a committed education speaker, points out the importance of a postcolonial culture of remembrance, as colonial continuity is still noticeable.

Visitors can look forward to a lively exchange that involves young people in the topic. Zvolski demands loudly taz a stronger anchoring of German colonialism in the German culture of remembrance and sees parallels to National Socialism. “It is shocking that many young people experience discrimination and racism from the age of twelve onwards without the history being taught to them in school,” said Zvolski.

Memory with perspective

The Tanzania Park serves as an important place to project colonial violence and ideologies into the present. During park tours, students experience how these issues still have an impact today. Zvolski and her team have created special workshops to explain the complex connections between colonialism and National Socialism. “The feedback after the first inspections was consistently positive, and a lot of information stuck with us,” explains Zvolski. The students can connect their own reality with historical knowledge and thus find a different approach to the topics.

These workshops not only impart knowledge, but also open up space for personal stories. Many young people already have knowledge of films and the Internet, but often have difficulty understanding the complex connections. As a tool, a timeline was created that shows biographies and historical data to help students better understand the topics.

Hamburg's path to postcolonial memory

The city of Hamburg itself has also taken a step towards a postcolonial culture of remembrance. In July 2014, the Senate decided to develop a city-wide concept that includes various perspectives, such as: HOOU describes. The research center “Hamburg’s (post-)colonial legacy” at the University of Hamburg is working scientifically on the basics.

The aim of this initiative is to develop a multi-perspective memory that takes into account the perspectives of the colonizers and the colonized as well as their descendants. The research center is also planning a virtual participation laboratory that will be actively involved in the design of an urban postcolonial memory concept and would like to promote global exchange on this topic.

Another project includes a blog post series and an in-depth online seminar on German colonial history, led by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Zimmerer and research assistant Kim Sebastian Todzi. If you would like to find out more, you can also watch the video introducing the project, which was published under a Creative Commons license.

It is clear that coming to terms with the colonial past is not only essential, but also an exciting and enriching experience for young people in Hamburg. The action day on July 6th offers the opportunity to delve deeper into these topics and gain new perspectives.