Dealing with difficult heritage: The case of Bückeberg, site of the Third Reich Harvest Festival

Abstract

From 1933 to 1937 the German National Socialist (Nazi) Party arranged an annual harvest festival at Bückeberg, close to the city of Hamelin. The festival was one of the symbolically most important celebrations in the Third Reich; at its height, more than one million people are reported to have gathered there. A special arena, designed by Albert Speer, was built to handle the large number of participants. Although extensive remains of this arena have survived, local feeling has prevented them from receiving official recognition as a historical monument. This article presents the Bückeberg siteand discusses the responsibilities of heritage professionals towards sites which may have significance as testimony to the past but which are not actively championed by the public.