Title The German forest : nature, identity, and the contestation of a national symbol, 1871-1914 / Jeffrey K. Wilson

Published Toronto [Ont.] : University of Toronto Press, ©2012 (Beaconsfield, Quebec : Canadian Electronic Library, 2012)

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Description 1 online resource (xi, 326 pages) : illustrations, maps, plans, digital file Series German and European studies German and European studies. Contents 1. National Landscape and National Memory -- 2. Contested Forests: Ideal Values and Real Estate -- 3. Environmental Activism in the Kaiserreich: Berlin and the Grunewald -- 4. Reforestation as Reform: Pomerelia and the Tuchel Heath -- 5. Meaningful Woods: Sylvan Metaphors and Arboreal Symbols Summary 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 Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-311) and index Subject Forests and forestry -- Germany -- History Forests and forestry -- Political aspects -- Germany -- History Forest management -- Germany -- History Landscape protection -- Germany -- History National characteristics, German. Germans. HISTORY -- Europe -- Germany. BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Real Estate -- General. Germans Forest management Forests and forestry Forests and forestry -- Political aspects Landscape protection National characteristics, German Wald Nationalbewusstsein Staatssymbol Forstwirtschaft Germany Deutschland Genre/Form History Form Electronic book LC no. 2012554412 ISBN 9781442686380 1442686383

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