ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the renaissance of the hero cult in Central Europe after the fall of communism and seeks to explain why hero cult and, in a broader sense, symbolic politics are still such important issues in this region. It argues that hero cult in Central Europe has some specific features, which make it clearly different from its Western European counterparts. The key difference lies in history, as the Central European experience of nation building, state building, and totalitarian regimes are structurally different from the Western part of the continent. Central European societies are obviously no exception to the universal rules of hero cults. Nevertheless, due to this region's turbulent history in the past two centuries, they share some distinct characters that have a definite impact on the structure of their heroes and enemies. Central European societies have been traumatized at a level unimaginable for Western European observers.
