Industriestädte – Krisen, Krisenwahrnehmungen und Entwicklungsalternativen in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts

Abstract

This article elaborates on the results of a research project conducted at Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg and Saarland University Saarbrücken between 2015-2018. The project aimed to investigate the course, character and consequences of crises of medium-sized industrial cities since the 1960s in order to develop a more theoretically and globally oriented industrial city research. It touched on aspects such as demographic shrinkage, municipal debt, increased unemployment and strike movements. With a focus on local debates, the history of the political public sphere as well as the relationship between political actors, in particular dominant companies, municipal decision-makers and trade unions, was retraced. Special attention was also paid to the perception of crisis by the local public and media, including pictorial representations of the cities, to document changes in attitude. The project contributed to the discussion of the model of “development paths” and specifically asked why crisis trajectories were regularly only recognised belatedly.