Presenting and Consuming the Past

Abstract

This article examines Old Berlin, part of the Berlin Industrial Exhibition of 1896. The exhibit presented a stylized vision of the city circa 1650 to almost 2 million visitors, making it Berlin’s largest public historical attraction during the period before World War I. Analysis of the exhibit shows the ways in which popular history helped to create and foster a sense of city pride. This local cosmopolitan identity ran parallel to and at times even supplanted the German national identity considered central to this period. In addition, amateur historians relied on modern technology to mount and market the exhibit, thereby making it a union of progressive means and nostalgic views of the past.