Pandaemonium Germanicum: Revista de Estudos Germanísticos (Dec 2013)

Theodor Fontane's representation of monuments in the Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg

  • Kathrin Maurer

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1982-88372013000200007
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 22
pp. 122 – 137

Abstract

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Theodor Fontane was a passionate visitor of historical monuments, and his text Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg entail many references to sculptures, obelisks, churches, and museums. Fontane's description of monuments represents a specific view on history, which undermines a teleological perspective on the past. The article shows that Fontane's monuments embody eschatological, allegorical, and arabesque interpretations of the past, which in turn poetizes and de-historizes history.