“Hatred is something peculiar. You will always find it strongest and most violent where there is the lowest degree of culture.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Today I’ll be traveling to Weimar, Germany to participate in the Festival “Rendez-vous de l’histoire”.  The theme of the 3rd. Year of this “Rendez-vous with history” in Weimar is: Human Violence, Human Violence.

AS the website of the conference reads,

‘Violence’ is complex and disturbing. It is a historical, present and future threat. “Violence” in all its forms, including counter-violence and non-violence as a deliberate departure from the traditional and new power relationships will be discussed at the Weimar festival. Human societies as always dream of peace – but at the same time, violence is a constant and seemingly unavoidable part of our personal and political relationships.

Weimar’s international history festival will address not only the cruel dimensions of violence in history, but also ask for their anthropological origins and its liberating potential.

In about 20 panel discussions and lectures be at Weimar history festival tensions between freedom and violence, beauty and violence, explored “legitimate” and “illegitimate” violence – the relationship between media and violence, language, literature and violence, violence and reconciliation presented. The spectrum ranges from the Middle Ages to the year 2011, and is not geographically limited. But the focus is primarily on Europe – in particular the countries of the Weimar Triangle – and also to Weimar and Thuringia.
A film series and cultural evenings will complete the program.

Some of the lecturers are:

• Dr. Cathy Leblanc (Katholische Universität Lille),
  
• Dipl.-Psych. Johannes Pfäfflin (Erkrath),
  
• Dr. Michel Pierre (Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Déportation Paris),
  
• Dr. Tobias Ebbrecht (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar)
• Prof. Dr. Klaus Dicke (Rektor Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena)
• Klaus Dalski, Kriminaloberrat a.D. (Weimar)
• Steffi Marung (Universität Leipzig)
• Sylk Schneider (Weimar)
• Prof. Dr. Jörg Baberowski (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin),
• Prof. Dr. Gudrun Krämer (Freie Universität Berlin),
  
• Dr. Guillaume Lasconjarias (Paris),
  
• Dr. Daniel Schönpflug (Centre Marc Bloch Berlin)
• Bernd Karwen (Polnisches Institut Leipzig)
• Dr. Marc Buggeln (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin),
  
• Annemarie Franke (Stiftung Kreisau),
  
• Dr. Steffen Prauser (Deutsches Historisches Institut Paris),
  
• Dr. Jacek Andrzej Młynarczyk (Museum der Geschichte Polens, Warschau / Universität Thorn)
• Prof. Dr. Susanne Rau (Universität Erfurt)
• Patricia Bobak (Doktorandin, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen),
  
• Florian Grafl (Doktorand, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen),
  
• Sascha Reif (Doktorand, Universität Kassel),
  
• Daria Starcenko (Doktorandin, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen)
• Prof. Dr. Horst Carl (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen)
• PD Dr. Claire Gantet (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)

And many other wonderful lecturers!

I hope to share with you news and insights from this interesting event!