Recap: Bulwark against the East or Imperial Outpost? Baltic Germans in the Russian Empire
Baltic Germans were always a minority in the lands of what is now Latvia and Estonia, yet for centuries, they wielded disproportionate power as the dominant landed and urban elite. What role did this privileged community play in shaping the Baltic region, defining its mental geography for Imperial Russia’s officialdom, and serving as a bridge between East and West? How did they interact with the emerging national communities that would soon become nation-states of Estonia and Latvia in the aftermath of World War I? These and other questions were at the heart of the two-day conference “Bulwark Against the East or Imperial Outpost? Baltic Germans in the Russian Empire,” held on February 7–8 at Yale University.
Organized by Bradley Woodworth, Program Manager of Yale’s Baltic Studies Program and Professor of History at the University of New Haven, and Kristina Jõekalda, Associate Professor at the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn, the conference brought together scholars from Europe and the U.S. to explore the regional role and evolving narratives surrounding Baltic Germans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Reflecting on the event, Woodworth noted, “This symposium showcased the diversity of interpretive approaches with which scholars today are researching and writing about this immensely significant – though small – group which was so influential not only in the history of the Baltic region, but also in northeastern Europe beyond the Baltic.”
Kristina Jõekalda highlighted the nuanced nature of the symposium’s theme, explaining, “We were interested in the hybrid nature of Baltic German identity and experience. Many Baltic Germans studied and worked in the Russian empire, some raising to the highest ranks. Yet, in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the Baltic lands were often characterized as a fortification against Russia in the German-language circles, both as an intellectual and physical bulwark. In varying contexts, Baltic Germans can thus be seen as a bridge but also as a fortress – many did not want to associate themselves too closely with the East. And this is where their view overlapped even with that of the Estonians and Latvians (though the Baltic Germans maintained their separateness from non-Germans in the Baltic).”
The panels featured presentations by Karsten Brüggemann (Tallinn University), Patrick Monson (Brigham Young University-Idaho, Rexburg), Katja Wezel (University of Göttingen), Feliks Gornischeff (Estonian Maritime Museum, Tallinn), Judith Lissauer Cromwell (Independent Scholar), Bradley Woodworth (Yale University / University of New Haven), Tim Buchen (University of Wrocław), Ron Hellfritzsch (German Optical Museum, Jena), Klāvs Zariņš (Latvian War Museum / Institute of Latvian History, Riga), Jörg Hackmann (University of Szczecin / University of Greifswald), Mart Kuldkepp (University College London), Kristina Jõekalda (Estonian Academy of Arts), Baiba Vanaga (Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga), Ragne Soosalu (Estonian Academy of Arts), Heidi Rifk (Tallinn University), and Timo Aava (London School of Economics).
