Die Bedeutung einer Infrastrukturgeschichte Südosteuropas. Tendenzen und Desiderata in der aktuellen Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung

The Importance of a History of Infrastructure of Southeast Europe. Trends and Desiderata in Current Research on East and Southeast European The history of infrastructure is a relatively young research field. This paper intends to give an overview of current trends in East and Southeast European research regarding the history of infrastructure and to stress the importance of this young research field for the future study of the history of Southeast Europe. This new interdisciplinary approach, based on concepts of “spatial turn” and “mental map”, is currently popular among historians of Eastern Europe. However, there is still a lack of such studies about Southeast Europe. The importance of an interdisciplinary history of infrastructure is due to the importance of infrastructure for the process of national spatial integration. This process can be analysed on macro-, midand micro-level. Railways played a central role in the mental and material construction of the national space. However, they caused not only integrative but also disintegrative effects. Through such an approach to the nation-building processes in Southeast Europe, we can gain a new perspective on this topic and analyse the process of construction of national spaces after 1878, 1918 and 1991. This process still has not been finished in Southeast Europe.