!!!Heimat

Heimat, German for native place, native country, a place or area to 
which individuals have strong emotional ties on account of earliest 
experiences in childhood and youth, often with more or less political 
overtones. In former times (in Austria up to 1939) the "right of 
domicile" (Heimatrecht) was also the legal basis of a claim to welfare 
support in case of destitution. Excessive ties to the Heimat can, 
however, often result in patriotic-nationalistic feelings, with the 
concomitant lack of understanding for larger issues and in intolerance 
vis-à-vis other regions and peoples. The social upheavals of 
the late 19th century and well into the 1920s were accompanied by a 
strong wave of patriotic/nationalist ideology, which was exploited by 
the National Socialists. After 1945 the concept of Heimat fell into 
disrepute but has again been revived in the context of nature 
conservation and environmental protection as well as in reaction to 
new waves of immigration into Austria.

!Literature
H. Bausinger, Heimat heute, 1984; S. Poetscher, Das 
Phaenomen Heimat, 1990.


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