The future of history?

The local historical society organized a day trip to the town of Volkach and invited me along. But are its days numbered? What does the future hold, and how relevant is it these days?
Music:
"Style Funk" and "Hot Swing"
by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com/
Creative Commons Attribution licence
"Earle's Bar Room Locker"
by Midnight North
KZbin Audio Library
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[@HalfEye79]

Dein letzter Satz spiegelt meine Meinung wieder: Heutzutage kann man über die exotischsten Orte alles Erfahren, was man möchte. Darüber vergisst man, die Schönheit direkt um einen herum zu sehen. Außerdem ist die eigene Umgebung für die meisten Leute so gewöhnlich. Wenn die im Urlaub sind, können sie viel mehr erleben. Dabei übersieht man gerne, dass die Tatsache, dass es Urlaub ist, schon einiges vorweg nimmt.

[@Catwoman1464]

I'm 23 and studying civil engineering, I'm also a member of the archeological society in my living area. At meetings there are many seniors but also young students and middle aged people. I think most people get interested history once they get older and are looking to connect with their ancestors or experience nostalgia in some ways.

[@namewarvergeben]

I would be one of the "young faces", but honestly, I prefer to explore places like this on my own or with a friend or two, without a guide or a group to lead the way.

[@markjohnston7172]

I think this has always been the case. When many historical societies in the US were organized in the late 19th century they were done so by older people. The pioneer generation became aware that their lives were coming to a close and they wanted their achievements to be remembered. Many younger people living today will become more retrospective as they age and they will find history more interesting and relevant They will find it interesting and relevant in different ways, but I think it will happen.

[@jonnypechstein]

Very good video. The question at the end is exactly the one that I have been asking myself for a few years now... I work as a tourguide in Nuremberg, by the way.

[@Shusui350]

There are some societies where I live, but their youngest members are in their sixties. It is not very attractive for me to be the only young person and to be 30 years younger than the rest. One society even had its activities during the week at daytime, because all members have already retired from work. Many societies are not attractive for younger people because there are only old people there. A vicious circle.

[@redsimonDE]

Germans simply do not have enough children. It is no surprise, though, as having children is propagated as a bad thing in German media and the societal structures are punishing people for creating a family and having children.

[@NajwaLaylah]

Advanced age isn't really catching, you know. It's just a condition that develops over time. o.O

[@HaploidCell]

I think we have a chicken-and-the-egg kind of problem here. The future is digitalisation of all information, but since only retirees and older generations are interested in the minutia of local historisation we run into the problem that none of them are able/willing to undertake the momentous task of scanning a whole lot of documents. The digitalised information we do have is sometimes more than dubious - like scrolling down wikipedia to the sources section and finding mostly "popular science" books written by amateurs or greatly simplified and narrowed down for amateurs. Hell, I could go on to a wikipedia page right now, about a topic I know something about, and enter correct-yet-outdated information that would stand the test of scrutiny because I have real, academic sources to back it up. Maybe it will take another 20-30 years for a natural changeover in these societies to a more tech-savvy generation of retirees that such projects are going to get off the ground. Because right now, it seems like these societies are just some kind of coffee and tee parlor for a bunch of 60+ year old history nerds, and that is not very attractive for younger people.

[@barvdw]

Many organisations have a similar problem, even organisations with a more 'modern' topic, like the environment, or heck, even 'youth' organisations. Not because younger people are not interested, but let's face it, having to juggle with kids, a job, ie 'life', takes a lot of time. That's why so many organisations depend on (young) retired people to run the daily operations of said organisation. As you said, there's also the vastly superior choice of activities, nowadays, especially as a young adult, there's more than just the local annual Fest and heading to the pub on Saturday night to play cards, or something. There are festivals around the globe you can go to, concerts in the next big town, more sports activities than joining the local football club, etc, and many want it all. So even the more engaged young people tend to choose different occupations, they're just as busy, but not always with the same things. Especially the more 'responsible' roles are often left to the elder members.

[@CharlineLikesC]

Münster bei Dieburg has a similar museum open once a month only, supported by a local registered society, but they serve homemade cake on opening days to attract mote visitors and the museum taught me that "Platz des Friedens" used to be "Adolf Hitler Platz" in town which they renamed for obvious reasons.

[@downhilltwofour0082]

I appreciate your channel!

[@JakobFischer60]

Go to see the world, then come back and see how beautifull it is at home.

[@lhall9697]

I really appreciate this and this gave me inspiration to go to my local historical society instead of genealogy sites thank you

[@MK-rc3pq]

For me personally a tough one. I am interested in history and I do agree with other comments made here already, that we tend to overlook what is directly in front of us. The sun always shines brighter somewhere else :) However I do seperate culture and history and to a degree say it is normal for culture/tradition to get lost along the way. Humanity is evolving, it has to. As long as some people, even the smallest amount deem it worth remebering it wont be lost (also I think goes for political views or religion for which there are good examples already present) and they deserve support to make it possible. If nobody is there to follow a tradition or culture anymore, I dont think it is necessarily a bad thing. In its stead there may have simply developed others or they are just not fitting for the Society present anymore :) Histories lessons however are a different story and should be taught and collectively remembered to prevent us from repeating the mistakes of our past, get an idea where a path might lead us or to prevent negative side effects in an action we are forced to do. And of course help us understand where each of us and our way of thinking comes from.

[@frankhooper7871]

Unfortunately, the younger generations seem less and less interested in anything that can't be done online. I currently run an American Square Dance club in the UK, but will probably be calling it a day at the end of this year. When I started dancing in 1978 there were 4 separate clubs in my town, each with a membership of 30-40. That rose to 6 clubs by the mid '90s, one of which had an average attendance of 60-70 dancers every week. Post COVID, we are down to only 2 remaining clubs with only 10-20 dancers; average age probably ~65.

[@ThePixel1983]

Hey, nice, that's near where I come from! Although that wasn't THE Volkacher Weinfest, that's down in the park.

[@jensgoerke3819]

I think I might explore the local museums - thanks for the reminder.

[@Xnhl]

Maybe it has to do with not wanting to appear "provinziell". The Club/society structure, as you said, adds to this. Can't do anything, esp. in smalltown or countryside Germany without at some point entering a club. Younger people often also want to explore, leave their smalltown etc. Only a few come back. Maybe with Family into one of those soulless Neubaugebiete. Well, I personally am a little interested in the local history, but wouldn't enter the society either.

[@3gunslingers]

I don't think that those societies having mostly older members is a modern or current problem. There is only so much time you can spend and if you are younger you want to do some more exiting things like hiking and traveling. Once you get older you settle down and now you have more time for your local societies and clubs.

[@weinhainde2550]

Hach, endlich mal ein Ort in dem ich schon war ... sogar 2019! Sooo empfehlenswert vor allem im Herbst! Eschernbach, alte Mainschleife, ein Ortsteil von Volkach. Die wissen dort zu leben, lecker Wein und lecker Essen :-): Gerupfter etc mmmh!

[@finnjons3792]

Für mich nicht nachvollziehbar warum die keine Nachfolger finden. Bin im Geschichts LK und find lokal Geschichte spannend

[@ralfjansen9118]

Geschichte IST spannend, aber man denkt dabei oft nur an Schlachten und Imperien, nicht an die Linde auf dem Marktplatz.

[@varana]

@@ralfjansen9118 Selbst die Linde auf dem Marktplatz kann interessant sein. Aber sich dafür interessieren und etwas über die lokale Geschichte wissen wollen, ist das eine. Tatsächlich in einen Verein eintreten, mit all den Strukturen, langjährigen "das hammer schon immer so gemacht"-Traditionen, Beziehungen - und der entsprechenden Verbindlichkeit, ist nochmal eine andere Hürde.

[@Baccatube79]

Did you bother asking how many of the participants of the trip to Volkach/Münsterschwarzach happened to be teachers?

[@ultimathule3834]

Demel auch am staaaart hahaha

[@pega17pl]

History gibt's in Deutschland, wie auch in den anderen euopäischen Ländern wenn nicht überhaupt überall in der Welt, mehr als genug. Und nicht jeder alte Stein ist es weder wert mit seiner Geschichte in Erinnerung zu bleiben, noch Anlaß für "Events". Daß sich die Jugend nicht interessiert und ihr Umwerben selten Früchte trägt muß akzeptiert werden und sollte uns daran erinnern, daß das Leben nur eine Richtung kennt und das Schwelgen in der Vergangenheit nur l'art pour l'art ist. - Heinz

[@typxxilps]

If someone searches roots check the archives of the local bishop cause the catholic church has all the books of birth + death (certificates) at least of catholic areas and back to 1648 or earlier when the 30 year war was over. Write a letter and they will tell you what books they have and how and where you can look at them or get copies. Many are saved on micro fiche - so no online or text research possible except you're famous like Trump and some one starts researching and forund the reasons why his grandpa had lost citizenship and was not allowed to get it back, even money was not enough to convince the Bavarian King in 1905 for a very good reason. Mr. Trump had emigrated in 1885 without a permission every male needed ... especially all drafted without having done their duties like military service. Had he asked, he would not got a permission. Trump emigrated as desterteur ... where he had luck to in 1904 to return to bavaria cause in Prussia he would have been thrown in prison. Therefore all american Trump have a problem with their heritage and do not like to hear about it ... since docs were found. All the letters of Trump, the local major and the King still exist.

[@FlashheadX]

Globalisation. People strive for freedom, they meet people living in other parts of the country and in other countries, it's easier to travel from one place to another, we're consuming media all the time where dialects don't exist. Local history loses its meaning, small towns and villages have become even smaller in the past years. I grew up in a fairly small town at the Lake Constance, I like its history and I miss the beautiful region a lot. But as soon as I finished school, I left for a bigger place, because I felt disconnected from the rest of the world. I'm questioning this decision a lot lately.

[@ccityplanner1217]

Perhaps elderly history buffs should consider gen. X & millennials to be lost generations, & get their grandchildren interested in history.