11. April 2018, 9–16 UHR
in Alfried Krupp School Laboratory - Humanities (SSC 2/218)

Historical films are the guiding medium of the culture of remembrance and at the same time a central subject of instruction in order to develop and promote the competence for “participation in the culture of history. ” As part of the student project “History in (Spiel-) Film”, both pupils and teachers are to deal with this subject and to raise awareness of how the cinematic implementation of history influences our view of history and at the same time can be seen as a reflection of the time of the respective context in which it was created.

History in Film: A German Hero?
In a first phase of funding, the project dealt with the handling of the Nazi past in the West German culture of remembrance by means of the filmic staging of the assassination of Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944 (“Operation Walküre”, directed by Bryan Singer, 2008, “Stauffenberg”, directed by Jo Baier, 2004). The project team developed a concept for the Alfried Krupp School Lab. In addition, on March 8, 2016, the advanced training course “History in Feature Film. “Operation Walküre” took place in history lessons for teachers and M. Ed. -Students” in the Alfried Krupp school laboratory.

Hermann the Cherusker – a German hero?
Since October 2016, the project is now in a second funding phase, in which a new focus is placed on the film adaptation and reception of the Arminius/Hermann myth. In this context, from the beginning of the school year, a new project will be offered in the school laboratory in which the students will investigate which Hermann image is conveyed in feature films and documentaries today and how it has influenced and continues to influence the search for national identities. To this end, the students analyse three film adaptations of the subject, which tell the story in very different ways: Leo König’s silent film “Die Hermannschlacht”, which was published in 1924 in the context of the French occupation of the Ruhr area, the ironic saliflage “Die Hermannsschlacht” from 1995 and the Varussian film “Die Hermannsschlacht” to mark the 2000th anniversary. “Kampf um Germanien” (2009) by Christian Twente. The aim is to sensitize the pupils to the present of history, to prepare them for active participation in the culture of history, and to provide them with methodological aids that enable them to critically question and de-construct cinematic representations of history.

As part of the project, an advanced training course for teachers and M. Ed will be held on 11. 04. 2018 from 09:00 to 16:00. -Students in the Alfried Krupp school laboratory.
The focus of the training is the practical work with the history films, in which experienced history teachers with M. Ed. -History students work together and discuss their results.
Inspiration will be given by the keynote lectures of Dirk Urbach (Didactics of History, RUB), APL. Prof. Dr. Helga Scholten (Old History, RUB) and Dr. Joseph Rottmann (Kalkriese Museum and Park).