The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between tourism and regional identity in eastern Germany before and after reunification. This study examined how certain sites of tourism in eastern Germany have been promoted in order to create specific, idealized identities. The first chapter discussed theories of tourism and tourism’s role in the construction and reflection of identity. The subsequent chapters applied this general background information to the specific context of eastern Germany. This study outlined the practice of tourism in the GDR and analyzed pre- and post-unification travel guidebooks written in both English and German to show how this region’s identity has been represented and misrepresented in tourism-specific informative texts.
The study then continued in the form of three smaller case studies. These case studies examined historical information and promotional campaigns regarding three relatively different sites of tourism in eastern Germany: Saxon Switzerland, Leipzig, and Ferropolis. Saxon Switzerland is a national park; Leipzig was the second-largest city in the GDR and has experienced multiple makeovers since reunification; and Ferropolis is an open-air museum and event venue first established after reunification on the grounds of a former brown-coal mine.
My research revealed that tourist imagery, organizations, and promotional strategies in the GDR attempted to create an idealized adherence to the values of socialism and an idealized belief in the GDR. Several idealizations of identity have been noted in sites of tourism since reunification: idealization of achievements before the socialist era; idealization of the future; and idealization of certain aspects of transformations presently taking place in eastern Germany. This study focused on the portrayal and promotion of specific tourist destinations and can serve as a springboard for further research into tourist responses.