Nostalgia for the East

Since first being established, museums of folk culture havebeen intensive collectors of diverse instances of what isknown as' folk art'. On the basis of their form, colour, orna-ment and pattern, these' anonymous' artistic productionshave been categorised as' regional' or' national'. Ceramicsas objects of' folk art' have long been' staples' in the workof collecting and exhibiting, often with a new or differentmeanings attached to them. In the context of changing po-litical times, it was above all objects from east and southeastEurope, collected by the Museum of Folk Life and Folk Artfor the most part before 1918, that represented valuablematerial for academic, social and political purposes. Theseholdings allowed the museum to stake out its remit notonly in terms of content, but also in terms of its geographicaland geopolitical competence.

6| Objects: Research& Collecting

Cultural Work

In the 1930s, the museum acquired objects obtained bymembers of the youth and Heimat movements. Shaped bytheir experiences in organised, collective groups, whichwere often conservative to German- nationalist in orientation,a younger generation of ethnologists dedicated themselvesto gathering and researching' folk heritage. It was thoughtto be found in its especially original and' authentic' form inremote Alpine valleys, in the German- speaking enclaves ofsoutheast Europe, in the' Germanic' north and in children's