| Abstract [eng] |
Notorious removal of the „Bronze soldier“ monument in Estonia in 2007 and serious political tensions that followed warned the neighbouring states that cultural heritage issues may spontaneously become a cause for an international conflict. Those events inspired the main question of this research work – is Lithuanian heritage preservation service able to control tensions that heritage causes? The object of research: problems of policy, management, preservation and spread of dissonant heritage in Kaunas. The purpose of research: conceptualization of problems caused by dissonant heritage in Kaunas and setting forth practical recommendations. The goals of research: 1. Conceptualization of heritage preservation problems caused by Kaunas fortress, Jewish and soviet legacies; 2. Displaying social opinion on the issues of Kaunas dissonant heritage by means of the social research method; 3. Defining of Kaunas museums attitude towards the dissonant heritage; 4. Verification of the „time distance“ contribution role in the management of heritage-based conflicts; 5. Setting forth practical recommendations on the heritage–preservation policy. The thesis combines several integrated researches: case studies, social- and resource research. The analysis ellucidates the sharpest aspects of the dissonant heritage problem in Kaunas. Kaunas fortress, built by Russian empire, is a huge complex of defensive, administrative and household buildings and systems. After the I world war the complex lost its significance in defensive affairs but some parts of the complex were still in use for various purposes. After the restoration of state independence in 1990 Kaunas fortress lost almost any function. The cultural heritage status of the complex caused isolation and limited potential of revitalizing the fortress. Soon the remains of Kaunas fortress become ground for social and economic tensions. The research revealed that despite its Russian origin Kaunas fortress is not causing a political dissonance. Another huge problem of Kaunas heritage-preservation is soviet legacy. This type of legacy is unavoidably bound with politics and causes serious tensions between different groups of society. The notification of a cultural heritage status for a soviet legacy object is always followed by controversies. The research revealed that society has a very contradictory attitude towards the soviet heritage. The third complex of sharpest dissonant heritage problems is Jewish legacy issues. This type of dissonant is closely linked to complicated past of Jewish and Lithuanian relations, holocaust and anti-Semitism. The research revealed that Lithuanian society has a very negative attitude towards the Jewish cultural heritage-preservation. This fact implies that Kaunas’ heritage preservation service officials must work on the better integration of the Jewish past into common historic consciousness. The research conceptualized the dissonant heritage problem in Kaunas and defined its sharpest aspects. The most conflicts are deep and long-termed. In order to solve them a complex of policies should be used. At the end of the thesis the practical recommendations on the heritage–preservation policy were set. The main direction of heritage-preservation service should be moving towards the integration of different social, political and ethnical group heritages. The second policy - moving towards the better heritage communication. The third one – a use of sustainable development principles. |
