Nation‐building in contemporary G ermany: the strange conversion of H itler's ‘word made of stone’

This article examines the contending redefinitions of national identity in contemporary G ermany's memorial culture, focusing particularly on the ensemble of monuments and parade fields known as the former N azi P arty rally grounds in N uremberg. In a detailed case study, I analyse the recent conversion of one of the physical remnants of N ational S ocialism – A lbert S peer's transformer station – into a fast‐food restaurant and interpret this conversion as a novel contribution to the discourse on G erman nationhood. I argue that the provocative commercial reutilisation of the former N azi monument gives expression to a renewed self‐confidence that G ermany has gained from displaying a willingness to face up to its past as perpetrator nation. While the intervention thus deviates from the self‐indicting spirit that had been characteristic for G ermany's memorial culture after W orld W ar II , an ironic note is conspicuous in this act of commemorative politics that indicates a way of dealing with the fascist legacy that is, surprisingly in some respects, superior to more conventional memory strategies.