Almost seventy years after the end of the Second World War, the 1940-45 period is more popular than ever. This is apparent from doctoral research by historian Erik Somers. There are more and more war museums and they attract more and more visitors. But for a new generation, war museums have to reinvent themselves.
Historian Erik Somers, affiliated with the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation, numbered no fewer than 83 Dutch war museums. Not all of them meet the strict standards of the Dutch Museum Association. These are heritage institutions that present themselves as war museums. And it goes well with these settings. Together they received no less than 1,188,000 visitors in 2012. At the most popular museum, the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, only Dutch visitors were counted, otherwise this figure would have been twice as high.
Visits to Dutch war museums are on the rise. Based on the figures of ten iconic museums, Somers concludes that interest in the war has increased considerably. Visitor numbers almost doubled between 1996 and 2013. Also interesting:no less than forty percent of the war museums were founded after the year 2000. The war generation may be dying out, but the memory of it is more vivid than ever.
But all those Dutch war museums need to start orienting themselves on new approaches, concludes Somers. Because the generation that experienced the war is disappearing, the bond with the public is no longer as obvious as it used to be. The new generation no longer has a direct relationship with the war. The memory of the war will be transmitted in a different, indirect way.
Experience and experience
Erik Somers did his PhD research for the Fries Verzetsmuseum in Leeuwarden. That institution wanted to furnish its new museum on the basis of scientific research into how the story of the war can be passed on to future generations in an appealing way. The museum opened its new permanent exhibition in the fall of 2013 based on Somers' research.
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A war museum today should be much more than just a collection of historical objects, or a place of remembrance. In order to increase the involvement of a new generation with the war, since the second half of the 1990s, the emphasis in many museums has been placed on personal stories. In this way, museums try to bring the distant, 'actual' history closer to the visitor.
But in the current practice of war museums, the most important thing is the 'experience of authenticity'. Experience and experience is the motto. After all, the past is getting further and further away and eyewitnesses can no longer tell first-hand. More and more often, in addition to the experience of real objects and personal stories, it is about a visualization and reconstruction of the past. The visitor must get the feeling of being sucked into the past. And that is of course possible with all modern techniques.
But no matter how good such a reconstruction is, it remains a staging. According to Somers, museums must always make trade-offs. After all, 'experience of the past' does not always contribute to knowledge and insight into the past, warns Somers. He also concludes that museums are increasingly becoming a part of leisure activities. In addition to providing information and insight into the war past, a museum should also be relaxing and fun. How far can a museum go with that? Because in current museum practice there is a precarious balance between responsible education and information on the one hand and 'tension and sensation' on the other.
It is obvious that the period 1940-45 also appeals to the imagination of the younger generation. According to Somers, that will remain the case for the time being. Although the way we remember the war is constantly changing, the memory of the war – “never again” – remains a moral anchor. Even if it is passed on in museums for and by generations who did not experience the war themselves.