The term ‘homeland reunions’ refers to organised gatherings of refugees, displaced persons and repatriates from areas east of the Oder-Neisse line that were formerly (also) inhabited by Germans.

Homeland reunions usually follow a set programme, often comprising a church service, speeches, a wreath-laying ceremony, a remembrance of the dead, cultural performances (‘folklore evening’), a visit to the local heritage centre, and a cosy get-together. Lectures on historical and cultural topics, readings, etc., are also becoming increasingly common. The gatherings traditionally take place at the same venue (usually due to an existing twinning arrangement), and since 1989 have increasingly been held in the former home town as well. The character of the gatherings is emphasised by numerous visual symbols such as flags, coats of arms and traditional costumes, whose emblems bear historical and retrospective features and serve to foster a sense of community or to make a political statement regarding the homeland.

The largest homeland gatherings are Germany-wide events such as the Sudeten German Day or the Silesian Gathering; at such supra-regional homeland gatherings, meetings of local, district or county groups also take place, which often play a special role for participants due to the opportunity for personal interaction.

The flag delegation entering the Egerlandtag, ‘
’ in Marktredwitz, 2001. [Photo: E. Fendl, JKI, Freiburg im Breisgau,
Ref./ID Dx00240]

Organised, formalised ‘Heimat’ gatherings have existed in the Federal Republic of Germany amongst almost all groups of refugees, displaced persons and repatriates since the end of the ban on association in the Western Zones in 1948; unofficial gatherings had already been taking place since the summer of 1945. They are organised by ‘Heimat’ groups, ‘Heimat’ (or ‘Heimatort’) communities or ‘Heimatkreise’, as well as regional associations at local, district, state or federal level. Due to falling membership figures and the passing of the so-called ‘experience generation’, attendance figures have been declining for years; whilst, for example, the Sudeten German Association was able to attract hundreds of thousands of participants right up until the 1970s,^[1] in recent years the figure has fallen to just a few tens of thousands.^[2]

In theSoviet Occupation Zone/GDR, gatherings of displaced persons probably took place at the zoos in Leipzig and Halle from 1947/48 onwards; these had no fixed organisational structure but, in some cases, fixed dates, and were monitored by the Ministry for State Security at least until the end of the 1960s.^[3]

Meeting of the Heimatkreise at the Sudeten German ‘
’ Day, Augsburg 2009.
[Photo: E. Fendl, JKI, Freiburg im Breisgau, Ex. 00001]

In academic research, ‘Heimat’ gatherings are recognised as part of the culture of displaced persons. Early studies emphasised the nature of these gatherings as an attempt to reconnect with the social contexts of the place of origin (‘Heimat without a place’, cf. Hanika, Karasek-Langer), whilst more recent studies focus on symbols, stylistic elements and staging, which often represent a return to elements that emerged or became established during the interwar period. This shift in research perspectives also reflects the change in focus of the ‘Heimattreffen’ themselves, from serving as a temporary substitute for one’s homeland to events of a predominantly political, demonstrative or nostalgic nature.

The remarks made by high-ranking representatives of the Landsmannschaft and prominent politicians at the large rallies held during the Deutschlandtreffen have attracted controversial attention from the media in Germany and neighbouring countries, particularly in Poland and the Czech Republic. This applies above all to the hopes of return initially expressed (cf. Chancellor Adenauer at the Silesian Gathering in 1953)^[4] or calls for a border revision (in the context of German reunification), as well as demands made of neighbouring countries, such as those for compensation payments or the repeal of the so-called Beneš Decrees, which the Sudeten German Association continues to make of the Czech state to this day.

• Heike Amos: The SED’s Policy on Displaced Persons, 1949–1990. Munich 2009 (Series of the *Vierteljahreshefte für Zeitgeschichte*, special issue).
• Andrew Th. Demshuk: The Lost German East. Forced Migration and the Politics of Memory, 1945–1970. Cambridge 2012.
• Josef Hanika: Folkloric Changes Resulting from the Loss of Homeland and Forced Migration. A Methodological Guide to Research Using the Example of Contemporary German Society. Salzburg 1957 (Association of Folklore Societies, Commission for Folklore 1), pp. 126ff.
• Alfred Karasek-Langer: Folk Culture in Transition. In: Eugen Lemberg (ed.): The Displaced Persons in West Germany. Their Integration and their Influence on Society, the Economy, Politics and Intellectual Life. 3 vols. Kiel 1959, vol. 1, pp. 606–694.
• Matthias Stickler: “East German Means All-German”. Organisation, Self-Conception and the Objectives of German Displaced Persons’ Associations in Terms of Homeland Policy, 1949–1972. Düsseldorf 2004 (Research and Sources on Contemporary History 46).
• Michael Schwartz: Displaced Persons and ‘Resettlement Policy’. Integration Conflicts in Post-War German Societies and Assimilation Strategies in the Soviet Occupation Zone/GDR 1945–1961. Munich 2004 (Sources and Accounts of Contemporary History 61).

• deutschbentschek.de/heimattreffen/ (Homecoming gathering of the Deutschbentschek Local Community)
• www.kirchspiel-weigelsdorf.de/heimattreffen.htm (Homeland reunion of the Weigelsdorf parish)
• www.archiv-verschwundene-orte.de/de/verschwundene_orte/erinnerungsorte/erinnerungsstaette_fuer_gross_buckow/51183 (Venue for the homecoming gatherings of the Groß Buckow Local History Society)
• www.sudeten.de (Sudeten German Association)

[1] Stickler: East German, p. 157.

[2] e.g. 10,000 in 2010: www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/sudetendeutscher-tag-seehofer-kuendigt-besuch-in-prag-an-1653756.html.

[3] Amos: Vertriebenenpolitik, pp. 32–42.

[4] See: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhwsBsvbB8w (accessed 8 December 2011).

Heinke M. Kalinke: Homecoming. In: Online Encyclopaedia on the Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe, 2012. URL: ome-lexikon.uni-oldenburg.de/p32818 (accessed 10 August 2021).