The Thirty Years' War and German Memory in the Nineteenth Century

"An important contribution on the centrality of religion to the historiography of nineteenth-century nation-building."—Katherine B. Aaslestad, International History Review

"Convincingly written and organized, the book lends interest and significance to the views of a subset of German scholars whose work was written off or, worse, rewritten after World War II and suggests views their readers might have imbibed."—Susan R. Boettcher, German Studies Review

"The precision of the book's focus allows Cramer to shed light on issues of far broader significance for the history of modern Germany: above all, the centrality of memories of warfare, in particular memories of violent victimization, for the construction of German national identity."—Matthew Levinger, Journal of Modern History

“For historians of modern Germany, [The Thirty Years’ War] provides a unique set of perspectives about a whole range of debates in the nineteenth century. In addition to the historiographic review, it includes an interesting analysis of the reputation of Emperor Ferdinand II, material concerning the cult of Gustavus Adolphus and its commemorative ceremonies, pamphlet emblemata about the tragedy in Magdeburg, and even references to Johannes Brahms.”—Brennan C. Pursell, American Historical Review

 

“In his provocative study of the historiographical and commemorative discourse, surrounding the Thirty Years’ War in nineteenth-century Germany, Kevin Cramer delves exhaustively into the contemporary literature on the subject and reveals it to have been a major venue of confessional and political conflict among Catholics and Protestants over the course of the century. . . . Cramer’s account of the history and memory (chiefly the former) of the Thirty Years’ War in nineteenth-century Germany offers a well-researched, often insightful window onto the period’s confessional and political conflicts.”—Brian Vick, H-Net Book Reviews