Bebilderte Politik

How did you make a state with this state? In addition to the German politicians of the Bonn Republic, this study shows a large number of actors: from the "high" state guests to the "simple" citizens on the street. After the end of the Second World War, state visits enjoyed an international boom and from the outset the West Germans recognized the acting potential that lay in these events. They were able to organize the trips of the foreign heads of state in such a way that the facets of the Federal Republic were expressed in a differentiated manner or even designed in the first place. This study illuminates the image repertoire of West German self-portrayal from a cultural-historical perspective and shows the range between the planned staging and the incalculable dynamics of the implementation. A look at the exclusive societies of the ballrooms and the spectators at the roadside grants deep insights into the structural change in the relationship between state and society in the age of the mass media. The study shows how the visual mass media developed into a dispositive for the perception of state and politics.