ABSTRACT
Memorialization is increasingly considered to be a means of offering reparation to the victims of historical injustice. However, heritage professionals and victims can clash over the appropriate form of representation that will be given to the suffering of the latter in memorial projects. This chapter examines the case of the development of the Berlin Wall Memorial Museum at the Bernauer Straße in Berlin in order to investigate the dynamics of conflicts between heritage organizations and victims’ organizations, drawing on the systems theory of Niklas Luhmann. Drawing on this case study, the chapter considers the extent to which such conflicts can be managed in the context of transitional justice, given their potential for politicization.
