Christoph Bernhardt – författare

Urban Authenticity and Heritage explores the contested notion of “urban authenticity” in European cities after 1945. It examines how buildings, neighbourhoods, and cultural practices are perceived as “authentic” — and why these claims matter.From post-war reconstruction to contemporary urban transformations, the book shows that authenticity is not fixed but a dynamic process shaped by social actors, political agendas, and collective memory. The contributors move beyond traditional heritage frameworks to analyse how authenticity is constructed through debates, representations, and practices of “authentification.” They reveal the role of citizens, institutions, media, and tourism in shaping places and traditions as symbols of identity and belonging. In doing so, the volume challenges essentialist understandings of heritage, presenting authenticity as relational, negotiated, and deeply embedded in changing urban contexts.Bridging urban history and critical heritage studies, the book offers new insights into the cultural, political, and emotional dimensions of cities. It demonstrates how claims to authenticity influence urban planning, identity formation, and the reimagining of Europe’s urban past and future. Its multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary approach will appeal to researchers in heritage, urban, historical, tourism, anthropological, sociological, and European studies, as well as heritage professionals

Until the end of the Cold War in 1990, building projects and architectural icons played an important role in the self-portrayal of the competing systems. However, as the current research shows, we also find a large variety of forms of cooperation between the East, the South, and the West, not to forget the manifold cross-border entanglements within the South or the East. This book explores the intersection of two strands of research. On the one hand, interaction in the field of architecture and construction between actors from socialist countries and from countries of the Global South have increasingly won interest amongst historians of architecture and planning. On the other hand, in the context of the strongly emerging Cold War Studies, scholars have explored cooperation and circulation across the Iron Curtain with a focus on economic and research planning. This book connects perspectives of planning, construction and architectural design with those on economic interests and conflicts in projects and networks. Furthermore, it opens the view to the hubs of communication and exchange, and on patterns of longterm transformation and appropriation of architecture.

Until the end of the Cold War in 1990, building projects and architectural icons played an important role in the self-portrayal of the competing systems. However, as the current research shows, we also find a large variety of forms of cooperation between the East, the South, and the West, not to forget the manifold cross-border entanglements within the South or the East. This book explores the intersection of two strands of research. On the one hand, interaction in the field of architecture and construction between actors from socialist countries and from countries of the Global South have increasingly won interest amongst historians of architecture and planning. On the other hand, in the context of the strongly emerging Cold War Studies, scholars have explored cooperation and circulation across the Iron Curtain with a focus on economic and research planning.

This book connects perspectives of planning, construction and architectural design with those on economic interests and conflicts in projects and networks. Furthermore, it opens the view to the hubs of communication and exchange, and on patterns of longterm transformation and appropriation of architecture.

Until the end of the Cold War in 1990, building projects and architectural icons played an important role in the self-portrayal of the competing systems. However, as the current research shows, we also find a large variety of forms of cooperation between the East, the South, and the West, not to forget the manifold cross-border entanglements within the South or the East. This book explores the intersection of two strands of research. On the one hand, interaction in the field of architecture and construction between actors from socialist countries and from countries of the Global South have increasingly won interest amongst historians of architecture and planning. On the other hand, in the context of the strongly emerging Cold War Studies, scholars have explored cooperation and circulation across the Iron Curtain with a focus on economic and research planning.

This book connects perspectives of planning, construction and architectural design with those on economic interests and conflicts in projects and networks. Furthermore, it opens the view to the hubs of communication and exchange, and on patterns of longterm transformation and appropriation of architecture.