Abstract
The reunification of Germany in 1990 has prompted far-reaching debates about
German identity, history and tradition. One framework for these debates is provided
by the extensive urban development and building activities which have commenced in
Eastern Germany since 1990. In a case study of the city of Dresden, this thesis explores
the complex symbolic meanings of these building processes through an analysis of the
social field of preservationism and urban planning. This field provides the setting for
status struggles between East and West German elites, and for power contests over the
symbolic control over competing identity narratives - local, East German and panGerman - attached to the Dresden built environment. These processes will be traced
from the time of the GDR when the communist state officials were challenged in their
absolute power by oppositional preservationists, through to the present time of
reunified Germany, when the same preservationists have to contend with the
representatives of the new political system. The thesis aims to contribute to the analysis
of the German reunification process, as well as more generally to a better sociological
understanding of the role of the built environment for identity construction and for
social power contests.