Das Gedächtnis der Reichsstadt

The town-chronicles, relations, files and historical paintings of Lubeck form a unique basis of sources for research on the culture of rememberance of German cities in the late middle ages and the early modern era. The military defence of Lubeck's status as an imperial city in the battle of 1227 was remembered for over five centuries by the burghers of Lubeck in many ways. Councillors and burghers quarreled over the nature of the conspiracy of the buthers' guild in 1384 up to the 18th century. The book deals with the development of the different ways of remembering these important events against the background of the town's history, especially the burghers' disturbances. Astonishing continuities come to the surface. Thus neither Reformation nor enlightenment were able to cleanse the appearance of St. Maria Magdalena on the day of from the minds of the Lubeckers. Also the picture of the bloody quelling of the buthers' conspiracy in 1384 as painted by councillors' chronicles was drawn into question by many burghers: was it really a necessary defence against an evil attempt at the counciloors' lives or a cold-blooded judicial murder of disagreeable opponents?