In his study, having briefly characterised his starting points the author deals with the possibilities of researching in Germany the places of memory - lieux de mémoire, which are under systematic research in France; he sums up the most common results of research dealing with 'German' memory - the central place of memory focused upon Nazism, yet also the richness of pre-Nazi 'memories'; a pluralism of memories, though mutually interconnected.
The article, as a combined theoretical-empirical undertaking, examines the ways collective memory is conceptualized in thematic areas of current theoretical thinking and how these theoretically designated and specified areas are reflected in the consciousness and memories of the common population. In particular it focuses on the popular memory and experience of history since the end of Second World War and the Communist takeover. In the first part, the long-term established theoretical approaches in view of collective memory research are presented. In the second, more empirically focused, part manifestations and expressions of these conceptualizations are registered in common acts and talk in the course of realized focus groups.
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