Heimat is a German word that has no simple English translation. It is often expressed with terms such as
home or
homeland, but these English counterparts fail to encapsulate centuries of German consciousness and the thousands of connections this quintessential aspect of German identity carries with it.
The meaning of Heimat
Heimat is a specifically German concept to which people are bound by their birth, their childhood, their language and their earliest experiences. Heimat found strength in an increasingly alienating world as Germany's population made a massive exodus from rural areas into more urbanised communities around the country's major cities. Heimat was a reaction to the onset of modernity, loss of individuality and intimate community.
Heimat began as an integral aspect of German identity that was patriotic, without being nationalistic. Regional identity (along with regional
dialectGerman dialect is dominated by the geographical spread of the High German consonant shift, and the dialect continuum that connects the German with the Dutch language.-German dialects vis-à-vis varieties of standard German:...
) is an important foundation for a person's Heimat.
The specific aspects of Heimat — love and attachment to homeland and the rejection of anything foreign — left the idea vulnerable to easy assimilation into the fascist "blood and soil" literature of the
National SocialistsNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
.
Heimat in film media
Heimat is most readily seen in the
HeimatfilmHeimatfilm is the name given to a film genre that was popular in Germany, Switzerland and Austria in the 1950s. They were usually shot in the Alps, and always involved the out-of-doors. Heimatfilms were noted for their rural settings, sentimental tone and simplistic morality, and centered around...
e from the Heimat period c.1946-1965, in which filmmakers placed a profound emphasis on nature and the provincial homeliness of Germany. Forests, mountains, landscapes and rural areas portrayed Germany in a homely light with which the German people readily identified.
In 1984
Edgar ReitzEdgar Reitz in Morbach, Hunsrück) is a German filmmaker and Professor of Film at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe.- Early life and education :...
released his film
HeimatHeimat are three series of 30 episodic films by Edgar Reitz which view life in Germany between 1919 and 2000 through the eyes of a family from the Hunsrück area of the Rhineland. Personal and domestic life is set against glimpses of wider social and political events...
. This epic production provided an in-depth illustration of Heimat on a variety of levels, most poignantly highlighting the provincial sense of belonging and the conflict that exists between urban and rural life.
Sociology
Many see the post-war concept of Heimat as having emerged as a reaction to Germany's self-imposed position on the world stage, a symptom of the forced introversion following the world wars, and an attempt at individual distancing from responsibility for Nazi Germany's actions.
In the wake of World War II, Germans are still rarely seen demonstrating a specific pride in their 'Germanness'. With the emergence of a renewed sense of Heimat, Germans show pride in their regional origins as
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
ers,
BavariaBavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
ns,
PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
ns or
SwabiaSwabia, Suabia, or Svebia is both a historic and linguistic region in Germany. Swabia consists of much of the present-day state of Baden-Württemberg , as well as the Bavarian administrative region of Swabia...
ns.
Support in international law
In international law the "right to one's homeland" (German:
Recht auf die Heimat; French:
droit au foyer; Spanish;
derecho a la patria) is a concept that has been gaining acceptance as a fundamental human right and a precondition to the exercise of the right to self-determination. In 1931 at the Académie de Droit International in The Hague (
Hague Academy of International LawThe Hague Academy of International Law is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, The Netherlands...
),
Robert RedslobRobert Redslob was an German-French constitutional and public international law-scientist who was critical of the French constitution in the early twentieth century. His ideas from his work Die parlamentarische Regierung in ihrer wahren und in ihrer unechten Form from 1918 had a remarkable...
spoke of the right to the homeland in connection with the right to self-determination in
Le principe des nationalités
Georges Scelle in Belgium, Felix Ermacora in Austria, Alfred de Zayas in the United States, and Christian Thomuschat and Dieter Blumenwitz in Germany are amongst those who have written extensively on the subject.
The first United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Jose Ayala LassoJosé Ayala Lasso is a retired Ecuadorian lawyer and diplomat, currently residing in Quito. He served as Foreign Minister of Ecuador on three occasions.- Career :...
of Ecuador affirmed this right, which is reflected in the 13-point Declaration appended to the Final Report on "Human Rights and Population Transfers"
Essay
Ladenthin, Volker: Jeder Mensch ist heimatberechtigt, in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Nr. 301/91) 28./29.12.1991, S.19