Vigoni Public History

Historical culture and historical contents are popular in today's society. However, it is unclear to what extent history helps to understand current events. What is its cultural and social role? 

The notion of "public history" aims to bring historical knowledge into society for an explicitly civil-enlightening and civic purpose. By making historical knowledge available, the democratic sovereign is to be provided with instruments for participation and community, and the ability to criticize beyond mere "likes".

Why is Villa Vigoni dedicated to "public history"?

Villa Vigoni is a living museum where the past is omnipresent. But it is an "active" past; from the history of the 19th and 20th centuries, for which Villa Vigoni is symbolic, a mission emerges: the mission to transmit knowledge and values that should help citizens today to actively and consciously shape their own present.

For this reason, Villa Vigoni will continue its activities in the field of public history in 2020 and 2021. With a series of initiatives, it is addressing the younger generations in particular. The thirtieth anniversary of German reunification is an occasion to discuss the development of the continent's political, economic and cultural balances and the current understanding of Europe.

2020

• SCHOOLS BEYOND THE BORDERS: Development and practical application of digital didactic material for history teachers in the neighbouring regions of Bavaria, Tyrol and South Tyrol
• Elaboration and presentation of a Berlin city guide especially for an Italian-speaking audience "Divided and reunited Germany: Places in Berlin that shaped German history after the Second World War".
• Participation of Villa Vigoni at the Annunal Conference of the Italian Association of Public History (29 May - 2 June, postponed to 2021)
• Participation of Villa Vigoni in the Euroscience Open Forum in Trieste, in collaboration with the Max Planck Society (July 2020, postponed to September 2020)
• Open day at Villa Vigoni (2 October 2020)
• "Round Tables" on new publications in the field of German-Italian-European relations

2021

• Meeting of German and Italian high school students at the sites of the massacres of the Italian civilian population by the SS and Wehrmacht during the Second World War
• "Round Tables" on new publications in the field of German-Italian-European relations