Jülich - Jülich History Society
On July 4, 1923, the Jülich History Society was founded in the meeting room of the town hall. The mayor of Jülich, Johannes Kintzen, had invited people to this founding meeting. The driving force behind the foundation was the Jülich publisher and councilor Adolf Fischer, who was elected deputy chairman. The chairmanship was taken over by the director of the state-run Jülich grammar school, Dr. Anton Kreuser. This constellation of people alone shows that the society had an almost official character as an administrator of regional history.
The foundation took place in a turbulent time and is to be understood above all as a reaction to the oppression to which the city was exposed as a city occupied by French and Belgian troops. The return to the supposed or actual great past of the city, for example as a ducal residence, can therefore be seen as an act of self-assertion.
After the National Socialists seized power in 1933, the History Society also joined in without resistance. With the outbreak of the Second World War, the club’s activities ceased for the time being.
Keywords: Besatzung, 1923, Vereinswesen, Geschichtskultur, Erinnerungskultur
Occupation, 1923, Associations, historical culture, culture of remembrance
Bibliography
Guido von Büren/Heinz Spelthahn/Klaus Strobel, Die Geschichte der Geschichte – Der Jülicher Geschichtsverein 1923–1998, in: Jülicher Geschichtsblätter, Bd. 67/68 (1999/2000), S. 15–48.
Credits: Text, Regie: Guido von Büren; Film, Technik: i-frame media GmbH, Markus Uhlenbruck.