Germany – Memories of a Nation – Neil MacGregor

Germany: Memories of a Nation explores the complex and disjointed history of Europe's foremost power. MacGregor argues that "uniquely for any European country, no coherent, over-arching narrative of Germany's history can be constructed". He also points to the changing borders of the German state: Königsberg, home to the greatest German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, is now Kaliningrad, Russia; Strasbourg, in whose cathedral Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany's greatest writer, discovered the distinctiveness of his country's art and history, now lies within the borders of France.[1] MacGregor focuses on objects and ideas, people and places which still resonate in modern Germany such as Johannes Gutenberg's printing press, the fairytales of the Brothers Grimm and Meissen porcelain.