ABSTRACT
The academic theory of dark tourism has dominated the research into the phenomenon of rising visitor numbers to ‘dark’ sites. Whilst it has provided great insights into potential visitor motivations, it has neglected the experience of visitors once they are onsite. Based on the visitor research in this project, this chapter moves beyond the traditional focus on motivational factors and analyses the complexity of visits to German memorial sites. Visitors connect to the sites using their senses which are influenced by foreknowledge and previous visits to memorial sites. Thus, while memorial sites are designed to create a specific atmosphere, it is the visitors’ cultural backgrounds that determines the meaning of the site. Since the responses to memorial sites are therefore highly subjective, this chapter questions the frequent assumption of the memorial sites’ ability to encourage people ‘to learn the lessons’. At the same time, this chapter challenges the universal condemnation of photographs at memorial sites since German visitors seemed to experience a cultural barrier that prevented them from taking photographs at concentration camp memorials. In essence, this chapter highlights the strong link among collective memory, identity formation and tourism at German memorial sites.
