National Pantheons of Evrope

National Pantheons of Europe

Throughout the period of nation-building, especially in its later stages, many European cultural communities attempted to establish so-called national pantheons. This historically unique type of pantheon began its triumphal march during the long nineteenth century and spread beyond Europe in the early twentieth century. As new imagined communities, nations needed heroes whom they could ritually venerate in prestigious places. For this reason, the protagonists of national movements invented pantheons of so-called national greats that materialized as concrete spaces (temples, cemeteries, sculptural pantheons) in which the forces of nationalism, commemoration, and sacralization were intensely intertwined.Which European cultural communities have created the most interesting national pantheons? When did they do so? Who created them, and who was included in them? What types of pantheons were prevalent? To answer these questions, the map below provides short entries on individual cultural communities written by the project members.