Castle Studies and the Idea of Europe: Medievalism in German-Speaking Europe between Politics and Scientific Research, 1918–1945

This paper explores the history of castle studies in German-speaking Europe, and the related transformations of castle researchers’ idea of Europe from 1918 to 1945. The study of castles was particularly popular in German-speaking regions at that time, and many castle researchers advocated nationalist and pan-Germanic ideas of Europe. After World War I, these ideas were radicalized, and scholars collaborated with Nazi organizations on the ethnic reordering of Europe. After the end of World War II castle researchers transformed their Germanocentric ideas into a more liberal concept of Europe, reflecting the establishment of a European scientific community of medieval archaeologists.