Exhibitions in Postwar Rotterdam and Hamburg, 1946-1973
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Life in the Midst of Superlatives: Exhibitions in Postwar Rotterdam and Hamburg, 1946-1973 by Ruud Huyskamp A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Toronto © Copyright by Ruud Huyskamp 2017 Life in the Midst of Superlatives: Exhibitions in Postwar Rotterdam and Hamburg, 1946-1973 Ruud Huyskamp Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Toronto 2017 Abstract: Between 1946 and 1973 political authorities in the cities of Rotterdam and Hamburg, often in partnership with local business communities, organized and hosted no less than seven major national or international exhibitions, as well as a significant number of smaller events, activities, and expositions. This dissertation explores the context, purpose, and cultural significance of these exhibitions in order to reveal insight into the postwar period. In addition to encouraging tourism and increasing trade, the exhibitions promoted the host city’s recovery. Specifically, they highlighted progress that had been made since 1945 and casted a favourable light on the business and political elites under whose auspices these successes had been achieved. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of postwar development and reconstruction in western Europe. I argue that the exhibitions provided a framework through which the material and immaterial aspects of postwar recovery were presented to the outside world. They were the stage upon which the process of recovery was performed and imbued with meaning. An investigation of these exhibitions in two cities and over a period of thirty years shows that postwar understandings of “recovery” were not static, but instead shifted and were interpreted differently at different times. In the early 1950s, exhibitions highlighted collective overcoming and investment in large public infrastructure projects as the main aspects of recovery and as the foundation of future prosperity. By the mid- to late 1950s and into the 1960s, prosperity had arrived in both Hamburg and Rotterdam, and exhibitions stressed private prosperity and individual consumption ii as the key aspects of postwar rebuilding. After the mid-1960s this changed. Exhibitions in Rotterdam and Hamburg, rather than focusing on radical renewal or economic growth, began to pay more attention to lived experience and quality of life. When looked at over an extended period of time, the exhibitions demonstrate that the “postwar period” was neither static nor monolithic, but instead was fraught with tension, highly locally specific, and full with competing ideas of what was desirable. iii Acknowledgements: While the process of researching and writing history can be very solitary, this project would not exist without the help and support of the many people I met along this decade-long journey in post-secondary education. First, I would like to thank my supervisor, Jennifer L. Jenkins. It is difficult to overstate my gratitude for her enthusiasm and support throughout this project. She was always ready to discuss ideas, read drafts, or offer encouragement. She pushed me to think more critically, write more clearly, and argue more thoroughly, and her efforts have improved this project immeasurably. It is hard to imagine a better supervisor and I would have been lost without her support, guidance, and mentorship. I am also indebted to Robert Lewis and Steve Penfold for always encouraging me to think more critically about my topic, my assumptions, and my arguments and for exposing me to a whole new world of scholarship. Their varying expertise made for a tremendously enriching experience and I am grateful they were willing to join the committee. I would also like to thank Helmut Puff and Sean Mills for agreeing to join the committee in its final stages and for giving me wonderful feedback and suggestions that will help move this project forward. I would also like to thank James Hull and Maurice Williams for sparking my love for history when I was an undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. Their mentorship, encouragement, and insistence that I pursue graduate studies have led me here. Generous financial support from the University of Toronto Department of History, the University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies, the Joint Initiative in German and European Studies, and the Germany and Europe Fund allowed me to conduct the research necessary for the completion of this project. The staff, archivists, and librarians at the various institutions I visited were exceptionally helpful and accommodating. I’d like to especially thank Christoph Stupp at the Forschungsstelle für Zeitgeschichte in Hamburg for his support during my time in Hamburg. I would also like to thank my aunt and uncle, Heydi and Paul van der Leek for generously hosting me while I was in the Netherlands to conduct research. Finally, I would be remiss not to thank the staff at the Interlibrary Loan Office at Robarts Library at the University of Toronto for the countless interlibrary loans this project required. iv I owe a profound debt to my friends and colleagues at the University of Toronto, who variously helped me by offering encouragement, edits, suggestions, feedback, or just a listening ear. Caroline Cormier, Susie Colbourn, Sarah Keeshan, Benji Lukas, and Nisrine Rahal, I would have been lost without all of you. Jacqueline Kirkham and Tim Mueller also deserve a special mention. Jaqui, for reading countless draft, particularly in the early stages when we were both figuring out how best to approach our topics. Our dissertation “pow-wows” were among the highlights of my grad school experience and I thank you for your friendship, support, and encouragement. Tim Müller, for his friendship, unwavering faith that I could do this, and for showing me the exciting professional opportunities that exist outside of academia. A final thank-you to Mathew Kirkpatrick, my best friend and partner, who has stood by my side through the ups and down of graduate school, always ready to help and encourage when I needed it most. Also a shout-out also to Lars, our cat, for keeping me company throughout the process of researching and writing this project. Finally, to my sister, Hannah, and my parents, Herman and Irene, thank you for being there for me and for always believing I could do this. Words fail me (which as you know does not happen to me very often) when I try to explain how much your love and support means to me. It is thanks to you, and your years of support and hard work, that I am here today. For that I am immensely grateful, and it is to you that I dedicate this project. v Table of Contents: Abstract: .......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements: ....................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents: .......................................................................................................................... vi Abbreviations: ............................................................................................................................... vii Introduction: Performing the Postwar ............................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: The Promised Land: Visions of Recovery in the Early Postwar Period ..................... 35 Chapter 2: Manifestations of a New World: Public Prosperity in Hamburg and Rotterdam ...... 91 Chapter 3: Banishing Cinderella: Mass Prosperity and “Productive” Home Life ..................... 140 Chapter 4: Garden of Men and Machines: The Golden Present of the Early 1960s .................. 182 Chapter 5: The End of the Postwar Era: Reinterpreting Recovery ............................................. 226 Conclusion: Life in the Midst of Superlatives ............................................................................ 267 Bibliography: .............................................................................................................................. 275 Abbreviations: BR Bibliotheek Rotterdam FZH Forschungstelle für Zeitgeschichte in Hamburg GAR Stadsarchief Rotterdam (formely: Gemeente Archief Rotterdam) NA-NL Nationaal Archief Nederland (The Hague) NA-UK National Archives United Kingdom (Kew) Stabi Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg, Carl von Ossietzsky StaHH Staatsarchiv Hamburg AIPH Association Internationale des Producteurs de l’Horticulture (Internationale Association of Horticultural Producers) ARP Anti-Revolutionaire Partij (Anti-Revolutionary Party) ASRO Adviesbureau Stadsplan Rotterdam (City Plan Rotterdam Advisory Bureau) BIE Bureau of International Expositions CDU Christlich Demokratische Union (Christian Democratic Union) CIAM Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (International Congresses of Modern Architecture) DB Deutsche Bahn (German National Railways) DIWERO Dienst Wederopbouw Rotterdam (Service Reconstruction Rotterdam) ECSC European Coal and Steel Community EEC European Economic Community FDP Freie Demokratische Partei (Free Democratic Party) FO Foreign Office FRG Federal Republic of Germany GTD Gemeentelijke Technische Dienst (Municipal Technical Service) HHA Hamburger Hochbahn AG (Hamburg Public Transit Commission) IGA Internationale Gartenbauausstellung (International Horticultural Exhibition) ITAL Instituut voor de Toepassing van Atoomenergie in de