"Heimat"

Roots of Belonging: a German perspective on home country!

Since I moved from Iran to Germany five years ago, I often have to introduce myself to people to tell where I am originally from, which is translated into German: "Mein Heimatland ist Iran". The word Heimat or Heimatland means home country. At first sight, it sounds understandable but do we really know what home country means? For a school project on the issue of how people feel about their home countries, I have informed myself about the German perspective on Heimat. 

The word definition in the dictionary 

In the German dictionary "DUDEN", a home country is explained as a country where you were born and raised or a place, which feels like home to you and gives you a sense of belonging. Although this word has not been used for a long time, it has become widespread these days. 

"Heimat" and politics

Two of the most populated states in Germany, Bayern and Nordrhein-Westfalen, already have two departments, which include Heimat in their names. It indicates that this word is becoming more important. However, due to historical events, the word home country is connected with the ideologies during the Second World War. Out of these reasons most Germans utilize this word consciously. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has also used the trendy word on " German Unity Day", which is on October 3, to remind people of the reunification of West and East Germany. He mentioned that the more our surroundings change, the more we long for a home country and he describes Heimat as a place of "Us". 

Why is the word Heimat relevant again?

Culture scientists believe that because of globalization and big cultural shifts such as changing gender roles, people long for their identity and tend to use this term more often. In the book "Heimat-Ein Phantomschmerz" written by Christian Schüle in 2017, is noted that people speak about Heimat when they lose it.  This trend also marked its beginning during the 2006 Soccer World Cup in Germany, where Germans started normalizing the sense of nation despite existing national-conservative longings. Consequently of the aspects mentioned above and also because of the growing numbers of refugees coming to Germany, Germans have developed a fear of losing their own culture. For these reasons, this word is now used more often.

All in all, I believe that Heimat means something more than just a place to each of us and after my research, I am truly convinced by this fact. In my opinion, it was absorbing to find a word's connection to different fields from politics and culture to social changes. I guess now we are quite familiar with what home country means to most Germans and why the term got popular these days.     

Looking forward to more shared insights and discussions. Thank you for reading my blog.

I would be glad to read your personal explanation for the word "Heimat" in the comments!

Written by Ayda Sharbafian