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David J Zell

University of Birmingham, Institute for German Studies, Post-Doc

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David J. Zell is affiliated to the Institute for German Studies at the University of Birmingham as Associate Research Fellow. In January 2018 he was awarded a PhD by the University of Birmingham. His doctoral thesis, supervised by Professor Sara Jones and Dr Joanne Sayner, was entitled: ‘Major cultural commemorations and the construction of cultural and political identity in the GDR, 1959-1983’.
He previously earned an MA with Distinction in Modern European History at Kingston University (2012), and a BA in Politics from the University of Nottingham (1969). Before returning to continue his academic work, David had a 39 year career in international finance.
In 2015, David was the keynote speaker at a seminar on ‘The Problem of the Tradition and Meaning of Anniversaries as well as their Research Value for History in the Public Sphere’ at the Centre for Historical Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CBH PAN) in Berlin. In 2018 and 2019, David was selected on behalf of the University of Birmingham to present papers on his research to the DAAD funded worldwide Centres for German Studies conferences in Berlin and Jerusalem respectively.
Together with Dr Stefan Ehrig (Dublin) and Dr Marcel Thomas (Oxford), David has co-edited a volume entitled ‘The GDR Today’, published by Peter Lang in 2018.
An article on ‘Commemorations & National Identity: The 1967 Centenary of Käthe Kollwitz in the GDR’ was published in German Life and Letters in 2020.
An article on 'The 1970 Beethoven Bicentenary in the GDR and the creation of National Identity' is due to be published by the Beethoven-Archiv Research Center within an edited volume in late 2024. This is based on a paper presented to the Beethoven-Perspectives: International Conference held in Bonn in 2020 to mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth.
Supervisors: Prof. Sara Jones (Birmingham) and Dr. Joanne Sayner (Newcastle)
Phone: +44 (0)7702506406

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Papers by David J Zell

The GDR Today: New Interdisciplinary Approaches to East German History, Memory and Culture

Commemorations and National Identity: The 1967 Centenary of Käthe Kollwitz in the GDR

German Life and Letters, Jul 1, 2020

Link to publication on Research at Birmingham portal General rights Unless a licence is specified... more Link to publication on Research at Birmingham portal General rights Unless a licence is specified above, all rights (including copyright and moral rights) in this document are retained by the authors and/or the copyright holders. The express permission of the copyright holder must be obtained for any use of this material other than for purposes permitted by law. • Users may freely distribute the URL that is used to identify this publication. • Users may download and/or print one copy of the publication from the University of Birmingham research portal for the purpose of private study or non-commercial research. • User may use extracts from the document in line with the concept of 'fair dealing' under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (?) • Users may not further distribute the material nor use it for the purposes of commercial gain. Where a licence is displayed above, please note the terms and conditions of the licence govern your use of this document. When citing, please reference the published version. Take down policy While the University of Birmingham exercises care and attention in making items available there are rare occasions when an item has been uploaded in error or has been deemed to be commercially or otherwise sensitive.

Major cultural commemorations and the construction of national identity in the GDR, 1959-1983

My thesis asks whether cultural commemorations helped the GDR to build a distinct national identi... more My thesis asks whether cultural commemorations helped the GDR to build a distinct national identity, and examines the role of political and cultural actors involved in them. Covering different strands of German cultural heritage, the aims, implementations and outcomes of anniversary commemorations are investigated as a longitudinal series of case-studies: Schiller (1959); Kollwitz (1967); Beethoven (1970); and Luther (1983). I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr Joanne Sayner and Dr Sara Jones, for their patient guidance, encouragement and advice throughout my time as their postgraduate research student. I have been extremely lucky to have a close-knit team of supervisors who cared so much about my work and my welfare, and who responded to my questions so promptly. A special thanks go to everyone at the Institute for German Studies at the University of Birmingham, led by Dr Nick Martin for their warm support and collegial interest in my work. I must express my gratitude to my wife Noemi, my daughter Linda, son Daniel and son-in-law Christian for their unflagging love, support and patience as I experienced all the challenges of my research and writing. A particular thanks and admiration for Daniel's masterful proofreading and formatting skills. Completing this work would have been all the more difficult were it not for the encouragement and friendship of several individuals who have accompanied me during my project: first and foremost, Professor John Davis, my MA supervisor at Kingston University, for inspiring me to pursue my ultimate academic ambition after a 39 year sabbatical; my oldest school friend, Dr Dieter Schumann (with thanks for his German proofreading and many suggestions),

The GDR Today: New Interdisciplinary Approaches to the History, Memory and Culture of the German Democratic Republic

The GDR Today: New Interdisciplinary Approaches to East German History, Memory and Culture ed. by Stephen Ehrig, Marcel Thomas, and David Zell

German Studies Review, 2019

Major cultural commemorations and the construction of national identity in the GDR, 1959-1983

My thesis asks whether cultural commemorations helped the GDR to build a distinct national identi... more My thesis asks whether cultural commemorations helped the GDR to build a distinct national identity, and examines the role of political and cultural actors involved in them. Covering different strands of German cultural heritage, the aims, implementations and outcomes of anniversary commemorations are investigated as a longitudinal series of case-studies: Schiller (1959); Kollwitz (1967); Beethoven (1970); and Luther (1983). Substantial evidence from largely unpublished sources exposes recurring gaps between the theory and practice of these commemorations, essentially attributable to manifest examples of agency by commemoration stakeholders. Each commemoration produced some positive legacies. But driven mainly by demarcation motives versus West Germany, the appropriation of these German cultural icons as socialist role-models to promote national identity was mostly unsuccessful in three commemorations. Kollwitz was the exception as the GDRˈs claimed linkage to her political life was...

Commemorations and National Identity: The 1967 Centenary of Käthe Kollwitz in the GDR

German Life and Letters

Major Cultural Commemorations and the Construction of National Identity in the GDR

My thesis asks whether cultural commemorations helped the GDR to build a distinct national identi... more My thesis asks whether cultural commemorations helped the GDR to build a distinct national identity, and examines the role of political and cultural actors involved in them. Covering different strands of German cultural heritage, the aims, implementations and outcomes of anniversary commemorations are investigated as a longitudinal series of case-studies: Schiller (1959); Kollwitz (1967); Beethoven (1970); and Luther (1983). Substantial evidence from largely unpublished sources exposes recurring gaps between the theory and practice of these commemorations, essentially attributable to manifest examples of agency by commemoration stakeholders. Each commemoration produced some positive legacies. But driven mainly by demarcation motives versus West Germany, the appropriation of these German cultural icons as socialist role-models to promote national identity was mostly unsuccessful in three commemorations. Kollwitz was the exception as the GDRˈs claimed linkage to her political life was already undisputed in both German states. These research results are both new and important. They address a gap in both memory studies and GDR history scholarship regarding the relationship between commemorations and national identity. Furthermore, the findings of agency offer an original contribution to historiographical debates, by enhancing a ˈconsensusˈ-/ˈparticipatoryˈ dictatorship model of the GDR in preference to a top-down totalitarian system.

'THE GDR TODAY' 2014 conference report

Books by David J Zell

The GDR Today: New Interdisciplinary Approaches to East German History, Memory and Culture

Commemorations and National Identity: The 1967 Centenary of Käthe Kollwitz in the GDR

German Life and Letters, Jul 1, 2020

Link to publication on Research at Birmingham portal General rights Unless a licence is specified... more Link to publication on Research at Birmingham portal General rights Unless a licence is specified above, all rights (including copyright and moral rights) in this document are retained by the authors and/or the copyright holders. The express permission of the copyright holder must be obtained for any use of this material other than for purposes permitted by law. • Users may freely distribute the URL that is used to identify this publication. • Users may download and/or print one copy of the publication from the University of Birmingham research portal for the purpose of private study or non-commercial research. • User may use extracts from the document in line with the concept of 'fair dealing' under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (?) • Users may not further distribute the material nor use it for the purposes of commercial gain. Where a licence is displayed above, please note the terms and conditions of the licence govern your use of this document. When citing, please reference the published version. Take down policy While the University of Birmingham exercises care and attention in making items available there are rare occasions when an item has been uploaded in error or has been deemed to be commercially or otherwise sensitive.

Major cultural commemorations and the construction of national identity in the GDR, 1959-1983

My thesis asks whether cultural commemorations helped the GDR to build a distinct national identi... more My thesis asks whether cultural commemorations helped the GDR to build a distinct national identity, and examines the role of political and cultural actors involved in them. Covering different strands of German cultural heritage, the aims, implementations and outcomes of anniversary commemorations are investigated as a longitudinal series of case-studies: Schiller (1959); Kollwitz (1967); Beethoven (1970); and Luther (1983). I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr Joanne Sayner and Dr Sara Jones, for their patient guidance, encouragement and advice throughout my time as their postgraduate research student. I have been extremely lucky to have a close-knit team of supervisors who cared so much about my work and my welfare, and who responded to my questions so promptly. A special thanks go to everyone at the Institute for German Studies at the University of Birmingham, led by Dr Nick Martin for their warm support and collegial interest in my work. I must express my gratitude to my wife Noemi, my daughter Linda, son Daniel and son-in-law Christian for their unflagging love, support and patience as I experienced all the challenges of my research and writing. A particular thanks and admiration for Daniel's masterful proofreading and formatting skills. Completing this work would have been all the more difficult were it not for the encouragement and friendship of several individuals who have accompanied me during my project: first and foremost, Professor John Davis, my MA supervisor at Kingston University, for inspiring me to pursue my ultimate academic ambition after a 39 year sabbatical; my oldest school friend, Dr Dieter Schumann (with thanks for his German proofreading and many suggestions),

The GDR Today: New Interdisciplinary Approaches to the History, Memory and Culture of the German Democratic Republic

The GDR Today: New Interdisciplinary Approaches to East German History, Memory and Culture ed. by Stephen Ehrig, Marcel Thomas, and David Zell

German Studies Review, 2019

Major cultural commemorations and the construction of national identity in the GDR, 1959-1983

My thesis asks whether cultural commemorations helped the GDR to build a distinct national identi... more My thesis asks whether cultural commemorations helped the GDR to build a distinct national identity, and examines the role of political and cultural actors involved in them. Covering different strands of German cultural heritage, the aims, implementations and outcomes of anniversary commemorations are investigated as a longitudinal series of case-studies: Schiller (1959); Kollwitz (1967); Beethoven (1970); and Luther (1983). Substantial evidence from largely unpublished sources exposes recurring gaps between the theory and practice of these commemorations, essentially attributable to manifest examples of agency by commemoration stakeholders. Each commemoration produced some positive legacies. But driven mainly by demarcation motives versus West Germany, the appropriation of these German cultural icons as socialist role-models to promote national identity was mostly unsuccessful in three commemorations. Kollwitz was the exception as the GDRˈs claimed linkage to her political life was...

Commemorations and National Identity: The 1967 Centenary of Käthe Kollwitz in the GDR

German Life and Letters

Major Cultural Commemorations and the Construction of National Identity in the GDR

My thesis asks whether cultural commemorations helped the GDR to build a distinct national identi... more My thesis asks whether cultural commemorations helped the GDR to build a distinct national identity, and examines the role of political and cultural actors involved in them. Covering different strands of German cultural heritage, the aims, implementations and outcomes of anniversary commemorations are investigated as a longitudinal series of case-studies: Schiller (1959); Kollwitz (1967); Beethoven (1970); and Luther (1983). Substantial evidence from largely unpublished sources exposes recurring gaps between the theory and practice of these commemorations, essentially attributable to manifest examples of agency by commemoration stakeholders. Each commemoration produced some positive legacies. But driven mainly by demarcation motives versus West Germany, the appropriation of these German cultural icons as socialist role-models to promote national identity was mostly unsuccessful in three commemorations. Kollwitz was the exception as the GDRˈs claimed linkage to her political life was already undisputed in both German states. These research results are both new and important. They address a gap in both memory studies and GDR history scholarship regarding the relationship between commemorations and national identity. Furthermore, the findings of agency offer an original contribution to historiographical debates, by enhancing a ˈconsensusˈ-/ˈparticipatoryˈ dictatorship model of the GDR in preference to a top-down totalitarian system.

'THE GDR TODAY' 2014 conference report