Historical Authenticity: A Transdisciplinary Compendium

Author:   Prof. Dr. Martin Sabrow (Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam, Germany) ,  Dr Achim Saupe (Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam, Germany)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN:  

9781350474819


Pages:   672
Publication Date:   11 December 2025
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained


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Historical Authenticity: A Transdisciplinary Compendium


Overview

Authenticity has become a key concept in the culture of history and memory in the 21st century. This open access book explores the multifaceted nature of ‘historical authenticity’ and its uses in various academic, museum, and historical-cultural contexts. Through 70 alphabetically-arranged articles, Historical Authenticity explains the problems and power of ‘historical authenticity’ as well as the fascination for authentic objects, authentic places and authentic voices of the past. The book shines a light on how today’s attitudes to the past are characterised by an intense striving for historical authenticity - a phenomenon which began to assume new potency in the last third of the 20th century. It considers how this manifests itself in practical terms, like in the value attached to ‘authentic objects’ in museums, collections and archives, or to ‘authentic places’ – be they historic buildings, urban architectural ensembles or memorial sites designated as direct embodiments of history. The volume also reflects on how this desire for historical authenticity and past ‘reality’ goes hand in hand with a longing to experience history ‘first-hand’, as evidenced in the degree of public attention accorded to surviving witnesses of historic events, the frequent screenings of historical documentaries and feature films, and the popularity of historical re-enactments. ‘Historical Authenticity’ convincingly makes the case that this is all ultimately bound up with the human longing for things regarded as ‘genuine’, and the impulse to reconstruct and preserve what is ‘true’ and ‘original’. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Leibniz Research Alliance.

Full Product Details

Author:   Prof. Dr. Martin Sabrow (Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam, Germany) ,  Dr Achim Saupe (Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam, Germany)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
ISBN:  

9781350474819


ISBN 10:   1350474819
Pages:   672
Publication Date:   11 December 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained

Table of Contents

List of Contributors Introduction, Martin Sabrow and Achim Saupe 1. Architectural Reconstruction, Arnold Bartetzky 2. Architecture, Andreas Putz 3. Archives, Bernhard Grau 4. Aura, Katja Stopka 5. Authorship and Authorization, Michael Wetzel 6. Autochthony, Christoph Kohl 7. Belonging, Susannah Eckersley 8. Built Heritage Conservation, Ingrid Scheurmann 9. Canon, Christopher Voigt-Goy 10. Charisma, Achim Saupe 11. Citizen Science, Maike Weißpflug 12. Collections, Ina Heumann 13. Contemporary Witness, Martin Sabrow 14. Credibility, Kristin Meißner 15. Cultural and Natural Heritage, Andrea Rehling 16. Cultural Heritage, Eszter Gantner and Heidi Hein-Kircher 17. Digitality, Andreas Fickers 18. Diversity, Georg Toepfer 19. Eigentlichkeit, Katja Stopka 20. Excavation and Feature, Ursula Warnke 21. Exhibition, Katrin Pieper and Joachim Baur 22. Forgery, Thomas Eser 23. Heimat and Fremde, Maren Möhring 24. Historical Experience, Sabine Moller 25. History Tourism, Hanno Hochmuth 26. History Marketing, Manfred Grieger 27. Hoax, Martin Doll 28. Identity, Achim Saupe 29. Industry Culture, Torsten Meyer and Michael Farrenkopf 30. Intangible Cultural Heritage, Helmut Groschwitz 31. Irony, Christoph Rauen 32. Language and Discourse, Heidrun Kämper and Rainer Perkuhn 33. Layers of Time, Achim Landwehr 34. Library, Petra Feuerstein-Herz 35. Literature, Christoph Zeller 36. Maps, Peter Haslinger 37. Masterpiece, Heike Zech 38. Materiality, Andreas Ludwig 39. Mediality, Christoph Classen 40. Memorial Sites, Thomas Schaarschmidt and Irmgard Zündorf 41. Museum, Thomas Thiemeyer 42. Narrative, Antonius Weixler 43. Nostalgia, Tobias Becker 44. Origin, Originality, Helmut Groschwitz 45. Original/Copy, Wolfgang Augustyn 46. Patina, Oliver Mack 47. Photography, Annette Vowinckel 48. Political Myth, Jan Burkamp and Tilmann Siebeneichner 49. Populism, Christoph Kohl 50. Postcolonialism, Barbara Christophe and Heike Liebau 51. Provenance Research, Ulrike Schmiegelt 52. Public Engagement (Vermittlung), Dominik Kimmel and Stephan Schwan 53. Reenactment, Stefanie Samida 54. Relic, Martin Sabrow 55. Representation, Thomas Werneke 56. Restoration Ethics, Stefan Brüggerhoff 57. Rituals, Harald Schmid 58. Sacralization, Johannes Paulmann 59. Self, Nikolaus Buschmann 60. Simulation, Markus Walz 61. Source, Stefan Jordan 62. Substitute, Markus Walz 63. Testimony, Sara Jones 64. The Body, Annelie Ramsbrock 65. The City, Christoph Bernhardt 66. Tradition, Susanne Klien 67. Types, Willy Xylander 68. Victimization, Ulrike Jureit 69. Virtual Reality, Stephan Schwan Index

Reviews

This fascinating volume offers conceptual, historical, theoretical, and empirical approaches to authenticity from diverse disciplines. Its exposure of English-language readers to German perspectives is especially important. Organized alphabetically around timely issues – from architecture and archives to tradition and virtual reality – this work will be indispensable in the fields of historic preservation, tourism, museums, memory studies, and cultural heritage. * Helaine Silverman, Research Professor Emerita, University of Illinois, USA * 'Historical Authenticity' is an important book. it clarifies and historicises this increasingly contested notion of authenticity through interdisciplinary perspectives and multiple angles, thereby complexifying the debates. It will be useful for both students and researchers in humanities and social sciences. * Sophia Labadi, Professor of Heritage, University of Kent, UK & University of Bonn, Germany *


Author Information

Martin Sabrow is Senior Fellow and Former Director of the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam, Germany. He is the author of numerous books, amongst them biographies on Walter Rathenau and Erich Honecker. Achim Saupe is Research Fellow at the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam, Germany. He is the co-editor of The Politics of Authenticity and Populist Discourses (2021).

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