Department of Archaeology
- Department of Archaeology
- People
- Postgraduate researchers
- Diana Unterhitzenberger
Diana Unterhitzenberger
Research project
Supervisor/s: Prof. Dr. John Schofield and Dr. Harald Fredheim (York), Prof. Dr. Axel Klausmeier and Dr. Susanne Muhle (Stiftung Berliner Mauer)
Funding : WRoCAH funded Collaborative Doctoral Award between the Department of Archaeology, University of York and the Stiftung Berliner Mauer (The Berlin Wall Foundation)
Checkpoint Charlie: The Changing Values of a Cold War Heritage Icon
In October 1961, it seemed as though the Cold War could turn hot when American and Soviet tanks faced off at ‘Checkpoint Charlie’, a crossing point of the Berlin Wall reserved for foreigners, diplomats and Allied military personnel. The site garnered worldwide fame and has been regarded as a Cold War heritage icon ever since. As Berlin became a single city again and Germany reunified, ‘Checkpoint Charlie’ was rendered obsolete as a border crossing, and most of its physical structures were removed. Nevertheless, the site continues to attract millions of visitors each year. The transformations the former border crossing has since undergone have sparked sometimes heated public debates over adequate approaches to and forms of remembrance at the site. Yet a thorough analysis of its evolving cultural (including local) significance has not been undertaken. This PhD project explores the values attached to ‘Checkpoint Charlie’ by different stakeholders with a focus on the post-1989 period. It further investigates the challenges faced and approaches taken in managing the site. The findings of this project aim to inform the decision-making for its future management as the Stiftung Berliner Mauer is preparing a new memorial site and museum on behalf of the State of Berlin.
Profile
Before joining the Archaeology department in York, I studied English and History at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, the University of Victoria (Canada) and the University of Glasgow. I also earned a teacher’s degree (‘Erstes Staatsexamen’) for secondary level teaching. My research focuses on cultural heritage management and cultures of remembrance in 20th- and 21st- century Germany.
During my time in Eichstätt, I was a student assistant at the Chair for Modern and Contemporary History under Prof. Dr. Friedrich Kießling and Prof. Dr. Vanessa Conze and at the Chair for Medieval History under Prof. Dr. Thomas Wetzstein. I also worked as academic administrator and coordinator at the KU Centre for Advanced Studies “Dialogical Cultures. Critical Reflection Spaces for Cultural Studies and Social Sciences”. Prior to starting my PhD, I also contributed to #DDRinnern, a project funded by the Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur (Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Germany). In cooperation with the museum of Mödlareuth, this project is creating an adaptive and interactive online platform aiming at encouraging young people to critically engage with the GDR past.
Apart from my academic studies, I care a lot about social justice and gender equality both within and outside academia. In 2019 and 2020, I co-organized the first-generation students’ conferences of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes (German Academic Scholarship Foundation). I also co-founded “Period.”, a student-led initiative that provides free period products at the Catholic-University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, in 2021.
I am currently part of the organising committee of the Oral History Collective, which aims to promote the making and use of oral histories by providing space and training opportunities for PGRs and ECRs to exchange ideas, knowledge and research. Furthermore, I am a Student Representative for WRoCAH’s Partnership Advisory Board.
