The People's Own Landscape: Nature, Tourism, and Dictatorship in East Germany

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments This book has been long in the making and thus owes a debt to many people. I especially want to thank my mom for all of her love and support. She eventually became a high school German teacher, but she was serving in the American military in West Berlin when I was born. The Federal Archive in BerlinLichterfelde , where much of the research for this book took place, was in fact a former American military base where she worked for a time. Research for my dissertation, which I revised into this manuscript, was made possible by a Fulbright grant from August 2001 to August 2002. I also owe debts of gratitude to the German Academic Exchange Service (or DAAD), the Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam, and a Summer Research Grant from the State University of New York College at Cortland, for funding later research and writing trips to Berlin, Potsdam, and Chemnitz. This project and the winding road it followed owe much to many of my former advisors and professors. At Carleton College, I learned a great deal from Diethelm Prowe and Julie Klassen. At the University of Wisconsin– Madison, Rudy Koshar remained patient with me in the early years and provided key support as my dissertation evolved. I also thank Alison Frank, David Sorkin, Bill Cronon, Suzanne Desan, Laird Boswell, and Nancy Langston. Archives used for this book include the Bundesarchiv in BerlinLichterfelde , the Sächsisches Staatsarchiv Chemnitz, and the Sächsisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Dresden. Local archives and libraries in Saxony and the Erzgebirge included the Kreisarchiv Marienberg-Zschopau, the Geyer Turmmuseum , and the Stadtarchiv Ehrenfriedersdorf. I also benefited from the collections on environmental movements at the tiny eco-Archiv in Hofgeismar associated with the Arbeiterkultur und Ökologie e.V., the Archiv der DDROpposition at the Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft in Berlin, and the Umweltbibliothek in Neubrandenburg. Finally, veterans of East German tourism organizations came to my aid. Joachim Schindler, Wolfgang Bagger, and Bernhard Fisch all welcomed me into their homes and provided access to their papers. x Acknowledgments At SUNY Cortland, Don Wright, Randi Storch, and Lisi Krall have taught me a lot. Life in Germany would not have been the same without Heather, Peter , Kovar, and Hard Painting Man. Thanks also go to all my Madison friends, especially Nikki and Eric. Most important, I offer heartfelt thanks to Deirdre for all her love and support over the years. In highly revised form, parts of chapters 1, 3, and 5 appeared in articles previously published. For chapter 1, material is reprinted from “East German Nature Tourism, 1949–1961: In Search of a Common Destination,” in Turizm: The Russian and East European Tourist under Capitalism and Socialism, edited by Anne E. Gorsuch and Diane Koenker. Copyright © 2006 by Cornell University . Used by permission of the publisher, Cornell University Press. For chapter 3, material is reprinted from “Camping in East Germany: Making ‘Rough’ Nature More Comfortable,” in Pleasures in Socialism: Leisure and Luxury in the Eastern Bloc, edited by David Crowley and Susan E. Reid. Copyright © 2010 by Northwestern University. Used by permission of the publisher, Northwestern University Press. For chapter 5, material is reprinted from “Nature as a Scarce Consumer Commodity: Vacationing in Communist East Germany,” in From Heimat to Umwelt: New Perspectives on German Environmental History, edited by Frank Zelko and Stephen J. Scala, GHI Bulletin Supplement 3. Copyright © 2006 by German Historical Institute. Used by permission of the publisher, German Historical Institute. ...