Jana Mezerová
The Colloquialism of German Regional Natural Sciences Using the Region of Upper Neisseland As an Example
The essay points to the significance of local history in the formation process of the identity of Czech (Czechoslovakian) Germans. It uses Niesseland local history to demonstrate how the ethnographic issues were included more predominantly in the content of local regional historical works. In the first third of the 19th century, they included mere brief mentions on the language and customs of the local people as part of statistical and economic works. Gradually, however, the interest in local history grew and culminated a 100 years later in new local history series where folklore is already strongly prominent. Even though folklore is a phenomenon specific to the regions, its reiteration had an opposite effect as well, and clearly demonstrated a shift from regional identity towards an attempt to construct one unified identity.
design by Bedřich Vémola
