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THE DIVIDED CITY
AND THE GRASSROOTS
The (un)making of
ethnic divisions in Mostar

GIULIA CARABELLI
The Contemporary City

Series Editors
Ray Forrest
Lingnan University
Hong Kong

Richard Ronald
University of Amsterdam
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland
The Netherlands
In recent decades cities have been variously impacted by neoliberalism,
economic crises, climate change, industrialization and post-industrializa-
tion and widening inequalities. So what is it like to live in these contem-
porary cities? What are the key drivers shaping cities and neighborhoods?
To what extent are people being bound together or driven apart? How
do these factors vary cross-culturally and cross nationally? This book
series aims to explore the various aspects of the contemporary urban
experience from a firmly interdisciplinary and international perspective.
With editors based in Amsterdam and Hong Kong, the series is drawn
on an axis between old and new cities in the West and East.

More information about this series at

http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14446
 Giulia Carabelli

The Divided City and

the Grassroots
The (Un)making of Ethnic Divisions in Mostar
Giulia Carabelli
Max Planck Institute for the Study of
Ethnic and Religious Diversity
Göttingen, Germany

The Contemporary City

ISBN 978-981-10-7777-7 ISBN 978-981-10-7778-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7778-4

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 Preface

In 2015, Radio Slobodna Evropa (Radio Free Europe) introduced

several teenagers from Mostar as part of a documentary programme
(Perspektiva) discussing how young people understand the ‘division’.
When a young man stated candidly not only that he has never crossed
to the eastern side or visited the Old Bridge, but also that it was possible
to determine the ethnicity of people in Mostar because of their skin col-
our, the commentary section on the Radio’s webpage registered different
levels of surprise and stupor from throughout the region. Some thought
that the young people speaking were not representative of Mostar; some
blamed their parents for imprinting fear and hatred into their brains; oth-
ers refrained from commenting, arguing that (not being from Mostar)
one cannot fully understand the situation. Where is the truth about
Mostar? Which representation is more plausible?
This is a monograph about the city of Mostar, in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, a city that, in the eyes of many, became the epitome of eth-
nic divisions, religious violence and nationalist intolerance. It accounts
for how processes of violent partitioning, and counter-processes that
attempt to undo existing divisions, make, remake, and un-make urban
divides. This book reflects upon how approaching the study of deeply
divided societies means engaging with deeply divided narratives that are
never settled. Accordingly, the main aim of this project is to provide a
multifaceted and in-depth understanding of the social, political, and
mundane dynamics that keep this city polarised whilst considering the

v
vi    Preface

potential that moments of inter-ethnic collaboration hold in reimagining

Mostar as other than divided.
Nostalgically remembered as one of the most ‘mixed’ cities of
Yugoslavia, Mostar became an ethnically ‘divided city’ in the 1990s when,
following the violent dismantling of the Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia, it was formally partitioned between antagonistic communi-
ties—Croat and Bosniak—in order to bring hostilities to an end. In 2004,
the city’s administration was forcefully re-united by external actors and,
since then, scholars, peace-makers, and urban practitioners have amply
researched the misfiring of the (imposed) reunification, focusing on the
resulting Kafkaesque bureaucracy, the segregated educational system, and
the contested administration as a means to expose the national and inter-
national failure to re-create a tolerant, safe, and inclusive environment.
However, less attention has been paid to actors, initiatives, and events
that actually disrupt the encompassing logics of this ‘divided city’, which
would create the very possibility for narrating (and imagining) Mostar as
more than divided. Based on participatory research in Mostar, this book
aims to challenge and destabilise the representation of the city as merely a
site of ethnic divisions. Interview extracts, maps, photographs, vignettes,
anecdotes, and personal memories will immerse the reader into the every-
day of Mostar, as a means of exploring the inconsistencies, complexities,
and problems arising from living in a city that validates its citizens solely
through ethnicity. Against the backdrop of normalised practices of ethnic
partitioning, the book draws attention to both ‘planned’ and ‘unplanned’
moments of disruption; it looks at how supra-ethnic spaces come into
existence regardless of identity politics, as well as delving into the plans,
practice, and expectations of organised grassroots groups that attempt
to create more inclusive spaces in which the future of the city could be
reimagined. In doing so, the book reconstructs the uneven history of
re-building Mostar physically, socially, and politically.
Conceptually, the book elaborates on crucial questions about the
relationships between space, culture and social change. Inspired by the
work of Henri Lefebvre, and in dialogue with critical urban theories, the
book explores the becoming and un-becoming of Mostar as an ethni-
cally divided city. It discusses how space is imagined, designed, and built
at the level of political administration, and the various practices through
which the city is re-appropriated, experienced, and lived through pat-
terns of everyday life, thus emphasising the conjuncture and disjuncture
between the actual, the planned, and the possible. By investigating not
 Preface    vii

only how the city is administered, planned, and represented (in political
and academic discourses) but also the ways in which the city is lived and
used by its citizens, the book reveals the emancipatory possibilities that
are embedded within (yet simultaneously suppressed by) quotidian prac-
tices of inter-ethnic cooperation.
Drawing on the emblematic case of Mostar, the book promises to
make significant contributions to three broad fields of study: ethno-
nationally divided cities, urban conflict studies, and the politics of grass-
roots movements in the context of socio-cultural segregation. It explores
the discursive emergence of Mostar as an intolerant and hopeless place
of division and the impact this narrative has on the everyday life of the
city, the understandings of what the city can and cannot become, and
the very possibility of subverting such ethnic divisions. It then contrasts
the globalised production of Mostar as a place of ethnic hatred with the
practice of local initiatives that make visible moments of cooperation,
solidarity, and consensus building among supposedly antagonistic actors,
which thus challenges the very representation of Mostar as perennially
divided.
This book discusses critically the limits of mainstream representa-
tions of Mostar as simply a site of ethnic hatred, and in turn excavate
the struggles and expectations of activists and citizens who feel misrepre-
sented by the labels of ethnic rivalries, and who attest for the existence of
counter-movements that rarely become visible through academic or pol-
icy circles. What lessons can be learnt from these grassroots attempts to
change the status quo? How can we write about ‘divided cities’ in a more
complex fashion that situates the struggle for social change in a more vis-
ible light? How do we explore the everyday life of a divided city in such
a way as to lay bare the materialisation of its potentials and to become a
motor of social change? These are the ambitious questions that the book
aims to answer.
In offering novel explorations on divided cities, which critically
engages with urban spaces of resistance in order to account for the activ-
ities of those who are already producing change, this book will be of
interest to scholars, students, and urban practitioners studying ethnically
divided cities worldwide. It will appeal to urban researchers interested in
Lefebvrian studies, and peacekeepers working in deeply segregated envi-
ronments.
This book is largely based on the research conducted for my doctoral
project within the framework of the Conflict in Cities and the Contested
viii    Preface

State project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council of

the UK (RES-060-25-00150). I am also grateful to Queen’s University
Belfast who awarded me a DEL scholarship to complete this project in
the School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work. Some of the
material presented in the book was produced and gathered through
my collaboration with Abart, a platform for urban research and art
production, which I also thank for allowing the publication of maps that
were designed as part of the (Re)collecting Mostar project.
I cannot but thank all those who contributed—in various ways—
to the development of my research and book project. I am very grate-
ful to my supervisor, Liam O’Down and various colleagues at Queen’s
University Belfast—especially Martina McKnight, Milena Komarova, and
Katy Hayward for their feedback on early versions of my doctoral work.
For the many thought-provoking conversations around Queen’s library,
I am grateful to Conor Browne, Delyth Edwards, Monika Halkort,
Maylis Konnecke, and Merita Zeković. I am indebted to my research
partners in Mostar and Sarajevo, many of whom became dear friends:
Belma Arnautović, Đenan Bemen, Kristina Ćorić, Vlado Ćorić, Marina
Đapić, Senada Demirović Habibija, Srđan Gavrilović, Katie Hampton,
Goran Karanović, Đenita Kuštrić, Narcis Mehmedbašić, Muky, Claudia
and Stefania Muresu, and Giulia Pischianz. For the generous and contin-
uous support, I thank Anja Bogojević, Amila Puzić, and Mela Žuljević,
the brilliant women who founded Abart in Mostar. For many inspir-
ing conversations and for encouraging the writing of this book, I thank
Aline Cateux, Gruia Badescu, Camila Cociña, Paola Dalla Vecchia,
Aleksandra Djurasovic, Neil Galway, Liza Griffin, Zsofia Lorand, Dawn
Lyon, Catalina Ortiz, Diana Pedone, Giada Pieri, Renata Summa, and
Margherita Vezzosi. Special gratitude goes to my family, Marilena
Goracci, Alberto and Francesco Carabelli and Alba Foglia for support-
ing and encouraging my academic aspirations and to my colleagues at
the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Ethnic and Religious Diversity,
Jeremy Walton, Annika Kirbis, Miloš Jovanović, Piro Rexhepi, and
Marina Cziesielsky.
For the continuous support, advice, and for all the happy memories
related to the research and writing of this book, I am forever grateful to
Maria Andreana Deiana and Rowan Lubbock.

Göttingen, Germany Giulia Carabelli

 Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Imagining, Planning, and Building Mostar After the War 41

3 The Everyday Life of Mostar 83

4 Grassroots Movements and the Production of (Other)

Space(s) 123

5 Conclusion 171

Index 187

ix
 Abbreviations

BiH Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina)

DPA Dayton Peace Agreements
ECF European Cultural Fund
EU European Union
EUAM European Union Administration of Mostar
EUFOR European Union Force
FBiH Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
HDZ Croatian Democratic Union (Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica)
HR High Representative
HVO Croatian National Defence (Hrvatsko Vijeće Obrane)
ICG International Crisis Group
JNA Yugoslav People’s Army (Jugoslavenska narodna armija)
MDG-F Millennium Development Goals Fund
NGO Non-Governmental Organisation
OHR Office of the High Representative
OKC Youth Cultural Centre (Omladinski Kulturni Centar)
OSCE Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
RS Republika Srpska
SABNOR Council of antifascists and fighters of the popular liberation war
(Savez antifašista i boraca Narodnooslobodilačkog rata)
SDA Party of Social Action (Stranka demokratske akcije)
SDP Party of Democratic Action (Socijaldemokratska Partija)
SFRY Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
UN United Nations
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation

xi
 List of Figures

Fig. 4.1 Demis Sinancević (2009) 135

Fig. 4.2 Aluminium plaque left at the Piramida Shopping Centre 138
Fig. 4.3 Božidar Katić, OpSjene.ver.1.0—When people should be walking
upside down with their legs lifted up in the air, Spanish Square,
March 2011 147
Fig. 4.4 Boris Orenčuk—Individualna Radna Akcija 1—Bulevar,
June 2011 148
Fig. 4.5 Boris Orenčuk—Individualna Radna Akcija 1—Bulevar,
June 2011 149
Fig. 4.6 Gordana Anđelić-Galić—Ovo nje moj mir (This is not my peace).
Partisan Memorial/Cemetery, September 2011 150

xiii
 List of Maps and Picture

Map 3.1 Pre-war socialisation practices 87

Map 3.2 Post-war socialisation practices 92
Map 3.3 Pre-war spaces of fear 96
Map 3.4 Post-war spaces of fear 97

Picture 3.1 Spanish Square before renewal. February 2010 89

xv
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Since the end of the wars following the dissolution of the Socialist
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), Mostar has become known as
a divided city. After the wars, the two largest ethno-national communi-
ties, the Croat-Catholic and the Bosniak-Muslim, have resettled in two
separate parts (the east and west sides) divided by a four-lane street, the
Bulevar. Deeply divided societies such as Mostar are described as places
where ‘ethnic identity is strongly felt, behaviour based on ethnicity is
normatively sanctioned, and ethnicity is often accompanied by hostility
toward outgroups’ (Horowitz 1985, 7 quoted in Nagle 2016, 19–20).
In such environments, ‘strong ethnic allegiances infiltrate practically all
sectors of political and social life, imparting a pervasive quality to con-
flict between groups’ (Kaufmann 1996, 137). Much has been written
about Mostar as a divided city—a place of conflict, segregation, and
­ethno-nationalisms. This book proposes to re-engage with the analysis
of Mostar by considering practices and discourses that challenge these
entrenched divisions.
I visited Mostar for the first time in 2005 with the UN Urbanism
research project team.1 Although the war had officially ended a decade
prior to my visit, the conflict was far from settled. I was taken by how the
process of urban reconstruction had injected the violence of the conflict
into architectural projects, filling the landscape with religious symbols
mobilised as signs of irreconcilable difference between the two warring
sides. At the same time, illegal constructions mushrooming throughout
the city spoke loudly of the absence of coordination and monitoring at

© The Author(s) 2018 1

G. Carabelli, The Divided City and the Grassroots, The Contemporary
City, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7778-4_1
2 G. Carabelli

a centralised level. If the war had been about destroying the material-
ity of the city, the post-war scenario was still characterised by a fierce
­struggle over space. The (largely unregulated) process of rebuilding the
city inscribed the new understandings of identity and belonging into
the city’s landscape while reappropriating territories with the aim of
creating (more) space for one community at the expense of the others.
While Mostar was largely in ruin, many international organisations still
had offices in the central, ‘neutral’ zone. The multiple fractures charac-
terising the post-war city—the ethno-national divisions, the frustration
of/at the international organisations, the corruption, the uncertainty,
the war traumas—created a palpable sense of crisis that translated into
two opposite attitudes; the international community’s hypermobility and
the local community’s immobility. The foreign officials I met at that time
were always busy, and all the appointments with them were scheduled
for breakfast or lunch time in one of the two hotels close to the cen-
tral zone, Ero and Bristol. The internationals were constantly moving
from one meeting to another with an urgency one might expect in the
face of a looming crisis. As Coles writes (2007, 85–115), an important
part of their job was also to remain visible, which explains their perma-
nent state of hypermobility. Local politicians blamed the ‘internationals’
for anything that did not work and the international officials blamed the
local elites for irresponsibility and procrastination. The persistent crisis
created a pervasive sense of political immobility. Interviewing members
of civil society, one could feel the tensions produced by the unresolved
conflict but also a sense of diffidence, uncertainty, and secrecy that made
it difficult to decide, plan, or even try to move from the protection of
the not-saying, not-doing, and not-sharing. Not only was the process of
making decisions concerning the collective good rendered impossible; to
simply have an opinion, in Mostar, became almost equally problematic.
Attempting to access information from the Catholic and Muslim com-
munities, I faced the stark reality of a conflict that was far from settled.
There was reticence in commenting on how the city was being rebuilt
because this could have been manipulated. Or, as I was often reminded,
the information disclosed to me must have been kept confidential and
never reproduced. Aleksander Stuler, an urban planner who worked for
UN Habitat until 2007, reflecting on his experience poignantly summa-
rised, ‘Mostar was a very specific case that required attention at many dif-
ferent levels; a delicate status quo characterised by inertia, where a mixed
reaction to any move could be expected’ (Bittner et al. 2010, 162).
 1 INTRODUCTION 3

Inertia explains well the atmosphere I felt then in Mostar, the sense that
doing nothing was safer because it ensured that nothing could get worse.
And yet, this inertia translated into the understanding that change could
still happen, if only by an external force. In fact, the international organi­
sations that intervened to monitor the process of reconciliation and
post-war reconstruction had been busy drafting protocols and guidelines
suggesting the possibility for the two major communities at war to rec-
oncile. But these were often rejected by local leaders, articulating linger-
ing animosities. That is how, in 2004, the city had been reunified; after
long unproductive talks and negotiations, an international imposition
determined that it was time to move on and to reinstitute a unified city
council even though there was little agreement on how the city would be
managed.
When I returned to Mostar in December 2009, to conduct research
for my doctoral project,2 the city was dealing with the legacy of that
imposition. The sense of crisis was persistent. There were far fewer
international officials and organisations because the majority had left to
attend to other conflicts and wars. Those who remained had become
even more uncertain about the possibility for a different future. It
was cold, grey, and rainy; walking around the empty streets of Mostar
I had the clear impression of being in a ghost town. At the time of my
arrival, the city had been without an administration for over a year, with
all reconstruction projects halted in the absence of an approved budget.
Internationally authored statements, urging the local politicians to find a
solution to the persistent crisis, testified to the growing global frustration
and anger at the lack of progress in Mostar. If, with the ceasefire, Mostar
became the laboratory for peace-building practices, after more than a
decade it provided evidence for their failure. And the sense of living in
a failed city had become part and parcel of its everyday life. Many times,
confronted with the complicated bureaucratic system or the impossibility
of accessing services, I heard people commenting that only here could
this happen, the frustrated reminder of the impossibility of shaking away
the permanent crisis. Yet, living in Mostar for one year—until November
2010—gave me the opportunity to explore the city differently. I discov-
ered the existence of grassroots organisations resisting ethno-national
divisions that created pockets of unity in the divided city. By participating
in the rhythms of everyday life, I became more and more aware of the
difficulties involved in unravelling and making sense of e­thno-national
memberships, loyalties, and belongings, and the complex way such
4 G. Carabelli

categories fused with spatial claims to power, sovereignty, and justice. In

other words, living in Mostar made me realise that the representation of
the city as the contested territory among two groups that live separately
without engaging with each other is only one aspect of a much more
complex story, which also needs to be told.
In 1983, Manuel Castells published The City and the Grassroots where
he writes,

Urban history is a well-established discipline. … Yet there is a great

unknown in the historical record: citizens. We have, of course, descriptions
of people’s lives, analysis of their culture, studies of their participation in
the political conflicts that have characterized a particular city. But we know
very little about people’s efforts to alter the course of urban evolution.
There is some implicit assumption that technology, nature, economy, cul-
ture and power come together to form the city which is then imposed to
its dwellers as given. To be sure, this had been the general case. … [But] it
is in our view that … citizens have created cities. (Castells 1983, 3)

This statement conveys the motives that pushed me to write this book,
and whose title pays homage to Castell’s inspirational work. Whereas
many accounts of Mostar have been written to assess the progress made
in bringing peace, reconciliation, and democracy to the war-torn city,
this book enquires into the everyday of the city, to understand how
the urban space becomes divided and what it means for Mostar to be
a divided city. In other words, this book considers how the citizens of
Mostar navigate the city, make sense of it, and envision its future. In
doing so, this book aims to shed light on the existence of small yet radi-
cal pockets of inclusion where people mix, cooperate, and socialise across
ethno-national boundaries.
This book explores the formation of ethno-national identities spatially;
it will account for how people move within the city, how they socialise,
and how they use public space. As other scholars working in Mostar and,
more generally, BiH, I too share ‘the discomfort’ (Hromadžić 2015) in
categorising people in Mostar as ‘Muslim’, ‘Croat’, ‘Serb’ (or ‘mixed’)
because of the limits of these ethno-national categories and their power
to flatten complex dynamics into stereotypical representations of which
group lives where, or wants what. These ethnic categories are both
important and misleading. In Mostar, I have spoken to young, cosmo-
politan, well-travelled individuals concerned with racism globally but
 1 INTRODUCTION 5

adamant in refusing to befriend those not belonging to their own ethnic

group—proving the extent to which shifting contexts and coordinates
could change their perception of social justice and inclusion. I have met
older citizens who remember how, during the era of Yugoslav federal-
ism, their friends were from all ethnic backgrounds, suggesting that eth-
nic differences were known, but they were not, alone, a reason not to
be friends with someone. I sat silent, listening to one of the few remain-
ing partisans venting his frustration at the demise of the secular Yugoslav
dream where everybody was just a socialist and everything worked fine.
I mingled with many who were born right before or after the war; they
preserve childhood memories of ethnic-related abuse, refugee camps,
and foreign languages they acquired to attend new schools, but some
decided to believe that people are to be judged according to their actions
instead of their ethnicity and mobilise to create a more inclusive society.
I have girlfriends who have partners from ‘the other side’ and met
women who would never dare such a thing. I met parents of young chil-
dren who are vocally pro-ethnic division and segregation (especially in
schools) and others who teach their kids that ethno-national differences
are not a reason for conflict, embracing what they describe as the ‘spirit
of pre-war Mostar’ (see also Summa 2016, 196). More importantly, all
these narratives and stories of ethnic exclusion or inclusion are not con-
sistent. Rather, the like or dislike of the ‘ethnic other’, projects of inclu-
sivity and exclusivity, and internal mobility in the city often depend on
the context and the audience of the conversation. Stereotypes of the
‘ethnic other’ as the culprit of all evils are thus still present in daily con-
versations, especially when the need to place culpability for the many
dysfunctionalities of the city must be satisfied. But then someone will
most likely conclude that, all in all, we are all just people.
It is important to remember that ethnic groups have always existed
and they were not created by the secession wars. Accordingly, one should
avoid romanticising pre-war Mostar as the city of peace and tolerance
in stark contrast to the post-war city of hatred and division. Differences
based on ethnicity were always present, but what has changed is the
articulation of these differences as motives for outright segregation and
intolerance. In one of his latest articles, Stef Jansen (2016), author of
some of the most eye-opening portraits of post-war BiH, reflects criti-
cally on his scholarship (and legacy), arguing that ethnographers in the
region might have downplayed existing nationalist voices, or addressed
them as a direct product of brainwashing campaigns initiated during the
6 G. Carabelli

conflict—arguments that somehow proved that people are not fomented

by ancient, unsettled hatred, and thus rejecting essentialist/primordial-
ist approaches. I interpret this as Jansen’s call to account for post-war
BiH in all its complexities, by throwing light on both nationalist and
­antinationalist voices, which often coexist. This book was written with
the opposite goal, that of making visible anti-nationalist practices in the
city best-known for its nationalist voices. All in all, we both claim the
need to challenge existing representations of post-war BiH to find the
ways to portray complexities that often challenge entrenched binaries
of division/unity, nationalism/anti-nationalism, conflict/solidarity. Of
course, the book asks, in a country ruled by ethnic politics, is it possible
to escape the logics of ethno-nationalism? And if this is possible, where
do we search for resistance to entrenched patterns of division? If the
political impasse in Mostar has become consistent with normal everyday
life, how could movements countering the social injustice produced by
spatial segregation possibly take place, and what would they look like?
Jansen is addressing (mainly) ethnographers in this region to reflect on
whether they might have been too lenient with nationalisms and why.
This book embraces this call for a different reason. Mostar has been
extensively analysed in terms of how its nationalisms dictate urban poli­
tics, but few have asked whether there is more to nationalism in Mostar
than simply division and stasis. Indeed, existing processes of urban rebel-
lion and movements against nationalism have been downplayed—they
are too small, too short-lived, or too thinly populated to make them rel-
evant. This book wishes to further a debate into the politics of represent-
ing Mostar (and BiH) to critically rethink how we understand notions
of normalcy, identity, and ethnicity by embracing the very socio-political
nuances engendered by the rhythms of everyday life. In short, the books
aim to unsettle what we think we know about the city of Mostar.
If the city was taken as the exemplary case-study of how the imple-
mentation of peace, reconciliation, and democracy prove difficult in
deeply divided societies, this book proposes to re-examine Mostar once
again, but this time to explore the social excess and surplus of action
beyond ethnic divisions: the inconsistencies of ethno-national pro-
grammes, the moments of spontaneous solidarity, and the projects force-
fully countering ethnic segregation. Overall, this book suggests that the
division of Mostar, albeit real and present, is unstable, unsolved, and
changing. This book discusses the many ways in which Mostar remains
‘divided’; its infrastructures, political impasses, and contested imaginaries
 1 INTRODUCTION 7

account for the entrenched divisive practices that resign Mostar to one
of the most researched ‘divided cities’. But also, the book wants to make
visible the manifold ways in which divisive practices are resisted either
because of contingencies or as part of organised movements. I do not
intent to draw a picture of Mostar as devoid of conflict or to suggest
that the division has been solved. Rather, I wish to reflect on how ethno-­
nationalism and movements against it are relationally shaped in order to
assess how the perceived sense of immobility hides and holds very differ-
ent political projects.
In this introductory chapter, I begin by discussing the emergence of
the ‘divided city’ as a pressing urban phenomenon and I briefly review
the scholarship on ethno-nationally divided cities and to situate the case
of Mostar. I pay attention to the work of scholars who look at inter-­
ethnic movements, supra-nationalist groupings, and the everyday life of
ethnically polarised cities, and I explain how this book attempts to make
a critical intervention in this field of research. In the second part of this
chapter, I discuss the theoretical choices that underpin this research and I
explain how Lefebvre’s theory of space production not only inspired my
work but provides innovative tools for the study of divided cities more
generally. Lastly, I reflect on my place in Mostar—as a foreign researcher,
an activist, and an educator—to trace the different ways in which the
material for this book has been collected, analysed, and interpreted. In
doing so, I also wish to contribute to methodological discussions about
how to approach the study of divided cities.

Ethno-nationally Divided Cities and the Relevance

of Mostar as a Case Study

Urban scholars have long explored conflict and divisions in cities

(Marcuse 1993). If levels of division, segregation, and inequality are
traceable in many cities, they become extreme in the case of what goes
under the label of ‘divided cities’. These are places where segregation
materialises through the erection of walls, the existence of buffer zones,
internal checkpoints, and the production of material or immaterial bor-
ders that limit internal mobility and fuel (often) violent conflicts. Belfast,
Beirut, Jerusalem, Nicosia, or Mostar are among the most popular exam-
ples of this urban typology. Conflict, in these cities, is characterised by
ethno-national aspirations to exclusive sovereignty that manifests spa-
tially into the desire to acquire more territory for one community at
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 The Project Gutenberg eBook of Die
Entwicklungsgeschichte der Stile in der
bildenden Kunst. Erster Band.: Vom Altertum bis
zur Gotik
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Title: Die Entwicklungsgeschichte der Stile in der bildenden

Kunst. Erster Band.: Vom Altertum bis zur Gotik

Author: Ernst Cohn-Wiener

Release date: June 8, 2022 [eBook #68262]

Language: German

Original publication: Germany: B. G. Teubner, 1917

Credits: the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at

https://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DIE

ENTWICKLUNGSGESCHICHTE DER STILE IN DER BILDENDEN
KUNST. ERSTER BAND.: VOM ALTERTUM BIS ZUR GOTIK ***
 Anmerkungen zur Transkription
Der vorliegende Text wurde anhand der 1917 erschienenen Buchausgabe so weit wie
möglich originalgetreu wiedergegeben. Typographische Fehler wurden stillschweigend
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Die gedruckte Ausgabe wurde in Frakturschrift gesetzt; Passagen in Antiquaschrift
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installierten Schriftart können die im Original g e s p e r r t gedruckten Passagen gesperrt, in
serifenloser Schrift, oder aber sowohl serifenlos als auch gesperrt erscheinen.
 Aus Natur und Geisteswelt
Sammlung wissenschaftlich-gemeinverständlicher
Darstellungen
317. Bändchen

Die Entwicklungsgeschichte
der Stile in der bildenden Kunst
Von

Dr. phil. Ernst Cohn-Wiener

Dozent an der Humboldt-Akademie — Freie Hochschule Berlin

Erster Band:
Vom Altertum bis zur Gotik

Zweite Auflage
Mit 66 Abbildungen im Text
Verlag und Druck von B. G. Teubner in Leipzig und
Berlin 1917
 Schutzformel für die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika:
C o p y r i g h t 1 9 1 7 b y B . G . Te u b n e r i n L e i p z i g

Alle Rechte, einschließlich des Übersetzungsrechts, vorbehalten.

Frau Gemma

zugeeignet
 Vorwort zur zweiten Auflage.
Aus dem Bedürfnis des Unterrichtes und der eigenen Klärung ist
dieses Buch entstanden, mit der Absicht, einen konsequenten
Überblick über die Stile zu geben, der nicht nur, wie die allgemeinen
Kunstgeschichten, Tabelle von Namen und Zahlen oder, wie die
Stilkunde meist, Tabelle von Stilkennzeichen ist. Sie soll vom Wesen
des Stiles ausgehen und die Formen aus der Kultur seines
Geschmackes verstehen lassen. So mußte von einem Register nach
Stichworten abgesehen werden.
Für einzelne Epochen ist über diese Bewegungen bereits Klarheit
geschaffen. Für das Verständnis der Renaissance hat Heinrich
Wölfflin, der römischen Kunst Riegel und Wickhoff uns vieles
gewonnen, für das Verständnis der hellenischen Antike Furtwängler
das letzte Wort gesprochen. Für andere Stilgebiete aber, besonders
für das Mittelalter, fehlen die stilgeschichtlichen Untersuchungen
bisher fast vollkommen. Daran liegt es, daß Quellenangaben für das
Buch kaum möglich sind. Ich habe versucht, die historischen
Tatsachen bis auf die neusten Resultate fortzuführen, soweit die
große Erstreckung des Stoffgebietes das gestattet. So würde das
Zitieren auch nur der wichtigsten Werke Seiten füllen, während für
das, was in diesem Buch das Wesentliche sein soll, nur wenige
Vorarbeiten vorhanden sind.
Gegenüber der ersten Auflage ist diese zweite wesentlich
verändert und namentlich an Abbildungen bereichert worden.

Berlin, im März 1 9 1 7 .

Ernst Cohn-Wiener.
 Inhaltsverzeichnis.
Seite
Einleitung 1
Erstes Kapitel. Die ägyptische Kunst 3
Zweites Kapitel. Die prähistorische Kunst des Ägäischen
Meeres 14
Drittes Kapitel. Die hellenische Kunst 22
Viertes Kapitel. Die hellenistische und die römische Kunst 44
Fünftes Kapitel. Die frühchristliche Kunst 60
Sechstes Kapitel. Das frühe Mittelalter in Deutschland und
der sog. romanische Stil 70
Siebentes Kapitel. Die Anfänge der Gotik 87
Achtes Kapitel. Die hohe Gotik 97
Neuntes Kapitel. Die Spätgotik 112
 Einleitung.
Jedes Kunstwerk gibt dem Betrachter zwei Genußmöglichkeiten,
je nachdem man es an sich, absolut, oder nur als Glied im
künstlerischen Schaffen seiner Zeit empfindet. Bachs hohe Messe in
H-Moll erschüttert auch im Konzertsaal — aber lebendig ist sie erst
als Glied der Andacht in einer Kirche ihrer Barockzeit, in der das
prachtvolle Pathos ihrer großen Fugen eins wird mit der
pathetischen Bewegung der Pfeilerreihen zum Altar und wieder
zurück, der Jubel ihrer Bekenntnisse und Huldigungen mit dem Licht,
das durch ihre hohe Kuppel strömt, ihre Begleitungen mit den
Stuckranken, die jedes Glied des Baues an jedes andere heften. Ein
Schnitzwerk von Tilman Riemenschneider ist immer schön. Aber es
ist etwas anderes, es im Museum zu sehen, als bloßen
Schaugegenstand, oder in seiner zierlichen Rahmung, die sich in die
Sterngewölbe spätgotischer Kirchen auflösen soll.
Wenn wir daraus die Konsequenz ziehen, so ergibt sich als
Erstes, daß die Geschichte der bildenden Künste kein Recht hat,
den Stil unter Vernachlässigung aller anderen Kunstformen nur als
Baustil zu verstehen. Der Stil ist vielmehr in all seinen
Charakterzügen nur aus der Summe alles von ihm Geschaffenen zu
begreifen. Alle Ausdrucksformen des Zeitgeschmacks, Baukunst und
Kunstgewerbe, Malerei und Plastik, Mode und Theater, sind zugleich
Stilglieder. Und nur, indem man das ihnen Gemeinsame sucht, zeigt
sich jene Einheit, die man eigentlich Stil nennt. Aber selbst dann
erscheint sie nicht gleichbleibend, sondern als Bewegung, als
gemeinsames Streben nach demselben Schönheitsziel. Selbst diese
Einheit besteht nur für gleichzeitig, aber nicht für nacheinander
geschaffene Werke. Denn das ist das Zweite, daß in der Kunst kein
Stil konstant bleibt, daß langsam, aber mit Notwendigkeit, jeder sich
fortbildet, um ganz allmählich seine Kraft zu verlieren und einer
neuen Schönheit, einem neuen Stil Platz zu machen. Und diese
Entwicklung ist die Geschichte der Kunst.
Man hat in der Frühzeit der geologischen Wissenschaft geglaubt,
daß die ungeheure Geschichte der Erde, das Verdrängen jeder
Schicht durch eine andere, unmöglich ohne gewaltsame Prozesse
hätte vor sich gehen können. Heute wissen wir, daß diese
Entwicklungen sich allmählich und mit Notwendigkeit vollzogen. Aber
es ist Zeit, daß dieser Grundsatz der Entwicklungsgeschichte nicht
nur der Naturwissenschaft, sondern auch den anderen
Wissensgebieten die Richtung des Gedankens vorzeichnet. Man
weiß nichts von der Geschichte der Kunst, wenn man nichts als die
Merkmale der Stile kennt, die sich nur auf ganz wenigen
Kunstwerken gleichen, da sie mit dem Geschmack allmählich sich
verändern. Wir dürfen nicht nur diese Merkmale der vollendeten Stile
suchen, denn es liegt kein Grund vor, die feineren Übergänge
zwischen den Epochen, in denen sich die Entwicklungsgeschichte
der Kunst werdend ausspricht, geringer einzuschätzen. Es ist falsch,
von der Frührenaissance zu sprechen, als wäre die Kunst in Italien
von 1420 bis 1500 von einheitlichem Geschmack gewesen, während
doch die allmähliche Abkehr von gotischen Prinzipien und der
Übergang zur Hochrenaissance der eigentliche Inhalt der Epoche
war, an dem Kräfte verschiedener Richtung mitwirkten. Es gibt auch
keinen Begriff „die Antike“; zwischen den Anfängen der klassischen
griechischen Zeit und ihren Werken in der Zeit der Diadochen liegt
ein Weg wie vom Beginne christlicher Kunst bis zur reichsten Gotik.
Wie die schaffenden Kräfte des Volkslebens nicht still stehen, so ist
auch die Kunst nicht einen Augenblick ohne Fortentwicklung. Diese
Fortentwicklung ist das innere Leben des Stils, ist das Wollen und
Suchen aller Kräfte der Zeit. Das Werden des Stiles ist ihr Kampf
gegen den vorhergehenden Stil, den sie auflösen; sie schaffen ihren
eigenen Stil, den Stil ihrer Zeit, und seine Fortentwicklung ist ein
allmähliches Überwinden seines Schönheitsgefühles durch den
Geschmack eines neuen Wollens, eines neuen Stils. Ja, man hat
nicht einmal ein Recht, vom Aufstieg und der Entartung des Stiles zu
sprechen, sondern muß von der Entwicklung der bildenden Kunst
reden wie von einer Wellenbewegung.
Damit ist der Weg vorgezeichnet, den die Geschichte der Stile zu
gehen hat. Die beherrschende Aufgabe ist, die Wege zu zeigen, auf
denen die Kunstentwicklung, die Kunstgeschichte schreitet, von
einem Stil zum anderen, von einer Epoche zur anderen, und die
Fäden bloßzulegen, die die Geschichte über Zeit und Raum
hinwegspinnt, als Gesetze der Entwicklung. Vorbedingung dafür
aber ist die Erkenntnis des Stiles; nicht seiner Kennzeichen, deren
Summe man so oft als Stil bezeichnet, sondern seines schaffenden
Willens und der Einheit seiner künstlerischen Absichten. Es ist der
Unterschied, wie zwischen dem Linnéschen Benennungssystem der
Pflanzen und dem biologischen Studium ihres Lebens. Aus dem
Werden und der Gestalt des Erschaffenen hat man zu schließen auf
das Wesen des Schaffenden, auf das innere Wollen, auf den Geist
des Stiles.
Um aus den Erscheinungen jedesmal diesen „Stil an sich“ zu
erschließen, müssen alle Gebiete bildender Kunst in gleicher Weise
analysiert und beurteilt werden. Indessen sind — und das erleichtert
die Klarlegung — je zwei Kunstübungen den Bedingungen nach,
unter denen sie schaffen, parallel. Architektur und Kunstgewerbe
dienen dem Bedürfnis, sind Zweckkünste; Malerei und Plastik
dagegen sind freie Schöpfungen künstlerischer Phantasie. Wir
werden sehen, daß trotzdem diese freien Künste in stilstrengen
Perioden dem Zweck untergeordnet, die Zweckkünste in formfrohen
Zeiten Schöpfer freier Schönheit werden. Aber man wird von den
Zweckkünsten ausgehen müssen, weil der Grad, in dem ihre Werke
durch die Aufgabe bedingt sind, den annähernd sichersten Maßstab
für eine sachliche Untersuchung gibt. Nirgends aber sprechen die
Zeiten in so großen, klaren Worten zu uns, wie in den Werken der
Baukunst. Nicht nur um des größeren Maßstabes willen, der alles
dem Auge so deutlich entgegenträgt. Aber von allen
Musikinstrumenten ist die Orgel das einzige, das jede leiseste
Untermelodie herauszuführen fähig ist, doch auch den kleinsten
Fehler nicht verschweigt, eben weil ihr musikalischer Stil so gewaltig
ist. Mit derselben Empfindlichkeit prägt die Baukunst die leisesten
Entwicklungen aus und äußert schöpferische Kräfte in Wirkungen,
die den Kraftaufwand zu vervielfachen scheinen.
 Erstes Kapitel.
Die ägyptische Kunst.
Es ist die Stärke der ägyptischen Kunst, daß in ihr nichts um des
Menschen, alles um des Werkes willen geschieht. So schafft sie eine
Stileinheit, die keinen Abweg oder Umweg duldet, sondern nur die
vollkommenste Form. Des Königs Untertanen waren Knechte, die
ihm fronen mußten. So konnte er ungeheure Bauten errichten, alle
Künste ihnen dienstbar machen, aber außer den Bauten weniger
Großer sind sie die einzigen Kunstleistungen des Landes gewesen.
Die Lebensanschauung des Ägypters bedingte, daß diese Bauten
fast nur religiösen Zwecken dienten, dem Kult der Götter und dem
Kult der Toten, sogar von den Palästen der Könige ist uns wenig
erhalten. Tempel und Grabbauten waren die architektonischen
Hauptleistungen. Lange Zeit machte die Starrheit dieser Werke
jedes persönliche Verhältnis zu ihnen unmöglich. Man sprach von
ihnen als von rätselhaften Schöpfungen mit äußerster Bewunderung,
aber ohne innerliches Verstehen ihrer fremdartigen Formen. Und
erst unserer Zeit gelingt es, von ägyptischer Kunst allmählich eine
historische Anschauung zu gewinnen.
 Abb. 1. Totentempel des Königs Ne-user-re. Säulenhof
(Papyrussäulen mit geschlossenen Dolden). Rekonstruktion von
Borchardt.
Der künstlerische Eindruck beruhte in ihr auf der Einfachheit der
Linien und Formen, deren Steigerung ins ungeheuer Große sie zur
Monumentalität erhob. Eben diese Einfachheit aber erschwerte die
kunsthistorische Erkenntnis in einer Zeit, welche die einfachsten
Formen von vornherein für die frühesten hielt. In Ägypten aber —
und nicht nur hier — ist die Abfolge der Phasen genau umgekehrt.
Der Urmensch, der Wilde, besitzt eine Frische des Auges und ein so
unmittelbares Verhältnis zur Natur, daß die Höhlengemälde der
Steinzeitmenschen reine Impressionen sind, unmittelbar gesehene
und ebenso unmittelbar wiedergegebene Natureindrücke. Der
Gedanke, der den Begriff „Primitivität“ gebildet hat, als müsse jeder
Kunstbeginn unbehilflich sein, ist sicher falsch. Auch im alten Orient,
in Mesopotamien, von dessen Kunst wir uns aber noch kein klares
Stilbild machen können, ebenso wie in Ägypten ist die frühe Kunst
reicher als die Hauptperiode, aber doch durch eingewurzeltes
Stilgefühl so gebändigt, daß kein Impressionismus entsteht. Im alten
Reich Ägyptens (3. Jahrtausend v. Chr.) stehen die Grabanlagen, die
wichtigsten und fast einzigen künstlerischen Zeugnisse, nicht nur
technisch, sondern auch künstlerisch bereits auf einer hohen Stufe
der Entwicklung. Ihre Wurzeln greifen in prähistorische Zeiten
zurück. Es war ägyptischer Glaube, daß beim Tode eines Menschen
ein seelischer Rest von ihm zurückbleibe, der sich frei auf Erden
bewegte, solange sein Körper erhalten blieb, und für dessen
Nahrung und Bequemlichkeit durch wirkliche oder nachgebildete
Speisen und Gerätschaften gesorgt werden mußte. Damit waren die
Erfordernisse eines ägyptischen Grabes bedingt. Aber die Anlage,
die ursprünglich nur aus einem hügelförmigen Grabgebäude
(Mastaba), unter dem in der Erde der Sarkophag bestattet war, und
einem Kultplatz davor bestand, entwickelte sich beim
Königsbegräbnis zu einem reichen Organismus. Die Pyramide war
niemals ein monumentales Einzeldenkmal. Schon in der vierten und
fünften Dynastie des alten Reiches, etwa seit dem Jahr 2800 v. Chr.,
ist die Anlage harmonisch und reich durchgebildet. Von einem
Torbau im Tale des Niles führt ein überdachter Aufweg zum
Kultgebäude vor der Pyramide, in dem hintereinander Säulenhof,
Säulensaal und Kultraum liegen. Das Ganze ist eine
architektonische Anlage von vollkommener Einheitlichkeit, in der
jedes Gebäude für sich von demselben Schönheitswert ist wie als
Teil eines einheitlichen Ganzen. Borchardts Rekonstruktionen des
Grabdenkmals für den König Ne-user-re (Dynastie 5) zeigen, daß
hier eine künstlerische Absicht vollkommen klar durchgeführt wurde.
Für unser Auge, das gewohnt war, die ägyptische Architektur als
Massenwirkung zu empfinden, war die Entdeckung dieser
feingegliederten Anlagen eine erstaunliche Überraschung. Beim
Torbau im Tale ist noch nicht, wie später in ähnlichen Fällen, das
Mauerwerk das ästhetisch Bedingende, sondern dem Zweck
entsprechend die eigentliche Eingangshalle mit ihren logisch und
fein geformten Säulen. Totentempel und Pyramide sind ebenso gut
gegeneinander abgestimmt (Abb. 1). Denn die Zartheit erscheint
noch feiner neben dem Wuchtigen und das Wuchtige noch
energischer durch den Kontrast gegen das Zarte, da jedes dem
Auge als Maß für das andere gilt. Die einheitliche Tendenz des Stiles
aber, eindringliche Klarheit in der ruhenden Form zu finden, läßt
auch so verschiedene Bauformen im Organismus des Ganzen
aufgehen. Zwar ist jedes Formmotiv der lebenden Natur
entnommen. Aus dem Boden wächst eine pflanzenförmige Säule
gegen die als Himmel gedachte Decke empor. Im Säulenhof des Ne-
user-re-Tempels sind vier Papyrusstengel, die aus gemeißelten
Blättern emporsteigen und je in eine geschlossene Dolde auslaufen,
durch steinernen Bast zur Säule zusammengeknüpft. Daneben
kommen Papyrussäulen mit offener Dolde, Lotossäulen (Abb. 2) mit
offenen und geschlossenen Blüten und Palmensäulen vor. Aber das
Gefühl, daß die Säule Stütze ist, ordnet diese Naturformen der
Zweckform unter. Eine runde Basisplatte trennt sie vom Erdboden,
das allmähliche Emporsteigen der Stengel aus der Rundung zur
geraden Senkrechten führt den Säulenschaft der Last entgegen. Der
Bast wirkt als Zusammenschluß dieser Kraft, die gedrungene,
schnell ausbiegende Blüte, in allen Teilen eine Steigerung der
Schaftbewegung, als Kapitell. Eine viereckige Platte (abacus), schon
nicht mehr Natur-, sondern Bauform, ladet ihr die Last auf. Sie ist ein
einfacher Steinbalken, nur in ihrer naturgemäßen Linie entwickelt,
der wagerechten, die dem Erdboden parallel gehend die eigentliche
ruhende Linie ist. Das Kraftverhältnis zwischen Last und Träger ist
für das Auge bis zur völligen Ausgeglichenheit abgestimmt.
Dagegen ist die Pyramide eine bloße Steinmasse, zwischen
einfache Linien in großen Flächen geordnet, wuchtig und lastend.
Wohl war sie gebaut, um den Leichnam des Königs zu schützen,
den in dieser Steinmasse eine versteckte Kammer barg; ein enger
Gang führte zu ihr, durch den man den Sarg hineingeführt hatte, und
den man mit Steinen verstopfte und mit dem Material der
Außenbekleidung verschloß, um ihn unauffindbar zu machen. Aber
darüber hinaus hat sie die künstlerische Absicht, Denkmal zu sein,
sich sofort dem Beschauer einzuprägen in großen, herrschenden
Formen. Die Monumentalität ist vielleicht niemals wieder so
klassisch ausgedrückt worden wie in der Pyramide. Daß die Könige,
die wie alle anderen schon bei Lebzeiten für ihre Grabstätten
sorgten und zunächst einen kleinen Bau aufführten, dessen Art und
Anlage um so mehr ausgestalteten, je länger sie lebten, ist
beweisend dafür, daß hier mehr als nur ein Zweck, daß eine Wirkung
erreicht werden sollte.
Die Klarheit dieses Stilgefühls macht alle Künste der Architektur
untertan, als der eigentlichen Zweckkunst. Selbst die Freiplastik gibt
dem Körper keine Bewegung, sondern hält in den Würfelformen
dieser Räume gefesselt, und die Reliefplastik ist reine Dekoration
der Wand.

Abb. 2. Lotossäule des alten

Reiches. Kapitell in Form der
geschlossenen Blüte.