Of Mind and Matter: The Duality of National Identity in the German-Danish Borderlands (review)

Throughout its history, the region of Sleswig has been a contested area between Denmark and Germany. This border region has been home to many ethnic groups who at different times identified with political entities on either side of the border. Of Mind and Matter provides an analysis of national identity formation in Sleswig. Thaler’s purpose is to discuss the factors that shaped the national identities of the varied communities throughout this region and to place this discussion within the larger scholarly debate regarding identity formation in European borderlands.

The work begins with a historiographical discussion of identity formation in Sleswig. Thaler concludes that the current discussion shows that national identity is often fluid and based upon a multitude of factors. By examining identity formation in Sleswig, he proposes to analyze the objective and subjective factors that shaped individuals’ and communities’ decisions about their national identity.

The heart of the book analyzes how different communities and individuals made decisions about their national identity. Thaler first discusses three different minority communities in Sleswig to analyze the creation of national identities among particular groups. In particular, he investigates the Danish community in Prussian northern Sleswig during the nineteenth century, the German community in Danish-controlled northern Sleswig during the inter-war period, and the Danish community in German-controlled southern Sleswig after World War II. He complements this discussion by analyzing the lives of individuals who had ties to more than one cultural community in Sleswig. Through this discussion, he concludes that the co-existence and acceptance of varied communities in Sleswig is a unique feature of the region and that the competing factors shaping national identity often led to very individualistic choices among individuals and groups as to which cultural identity they supported.

To illustrate the uniqueness of Sleswig’s situation, Thaler provides a comparative discussion of identity formation in the borderlands between Germany and its eastern neighbors. Through analyzing the fate of minority groups in these regions during the early 1900s, Thaler illustrates the factors that led such groups to accept or reject the identity of the nation state, which governed them. With respect to the study of Sleswig, these regions show the uniqueness of the peaceful co-existence and acceptance of significant minority groups on both sides of the political border in Sleswig. In contrast, in Germany’s eastern border regions, twentieth-century warfare led to the removal of many minority populations.

The book provides a good overview of the history of identity formation in Sleswig. It is particularly effective in discussing the region’s political and cultural history as well as the changing nature of minority issues. Thaler also clearly explains the factors that shaped individuals’ decisions about their national identity and shows how such decisions sometimes were not based upon expected factors such as language or ethnic background. The discussion of minority issues in other German borderlands is also useful. However, the analysis of the comparisons between Sleswig and these regions could have been expanded. Overall this is a well-written book that will be useful to those seeking a discussion in English of the competing circumstances of identity formation in Sleswig.