Central Europe: Mitteleuropa: Europe Centrale: An Analysis of a Geographical Term
Author(s): Karl A. Sinnhuber
Source: Transactions and Papers (Institute of British Geographers), No. 20 (1954), pp. 15-39
Published by: Wiley on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British
Geographers)
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/621131
Accessed: 16-07-2015 09:09 UTC
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CENTRAL
EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA
- EUROPE
CENTRALE
AN ANALYSISOF A GEOGRAPHICAL
TERM
By KARL A. SINNHUBER, D. PHIL.
(UniversityCollege, Universityof London)
IT is by no means the firsttime that the evasive term Central Europe or its
equivalents in other languages has been made the basis of a discussion by a
geographer. Looking at English writingsalone the paper by Hilda Ormsby of
almost twentyyears ago and R. E. Dickinson's The GermanLebensraum are
well known. A similarthemewas taken up by H. Cord Meyer in 1946.1 Con-
or
sideringthe attentionthistopic has alreadyreceived,is it not unnecessary
futileto struggleagain with this well-wornproblem of clarifyingthe meaning
of Central Europe or its synonyms? There appear to be two reasons, however,
for making yet another attempt.
Firstly,the authors mentionedpurposely based theirrespectivetreatments
of the subject almost exclusivelyon German publications,since theiraim was to
explain to the 'English' reader what was understood by this termamong German geographersand otherGerman writers.2 In the course of thispaper I hope
to contribute to that aim by adding some new points and correctinga few
statementsin the papers mentioned,but the major aim is different.By extending the literatureconsidered beyond the German sphere, an attempt will be
made to arrive at more general conclusions.
Secondly, in view of the great changes in the political boundaries and
cultural landscape of Europe which have taken place during the recent past,
we may need to modifyour ideas as to the extentof Central Europe. But we
can reach a decision only when we have re-examinedthe ways in which the term
has been used previously.
It is unfortunatethat many geographical termseitherlack or come to lack
precise meaning and consequentlygive rise to misunderstandingof geography
or evento its ill reputeamongscholarsof othersubjects.One extremecase in
this category is the term Central Europe (Middle Europe, I'Europe centrale,
Zentraleuropa, Mitteleuropa, I'Europa centrale,etc.)." Perusing the literature
eitherdevotedto a discussionof the termor givingsome attentionto it one
cannot help but be left with a feelingof absolute confusion. Since this is so
1 For fullbibliographicaldetails of these and otherpublications,and those quoted severaltimes,
see the bibliographyon pages 37-9. Referencesto these are givenby quoting thename of the author,
and whereappropriatethe year of publication,followedby the page reference.
2 'German' is to be understoodhere as to mean 'of German mothertongue'.
3 An indicationof the presentambiguityof its meaningis the statementunderthe entry'Central
Europe' in Webster'sgeographicaldictionary(1949), 211, where this termis called 'indefiniteand
occasional'.
c
15
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16
CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
wouldit notbe betterto cease usingthistermaltogether?This stepwas indeed
taken by a numberof geographers,
thoughnot necessarilyfor that reason.
Manyotherswill,however,agreewithP. M. Roxbywhowrote(1926,378) that
a majorregionwitha definite
CentralEuropeis a realentity,
personality;'and
thusthe termbecomesindispensable.
of
Beforeshowingby selectedexamplesthe greatvariationin definitions
CentralEurope, it seemsappropriateto quote some authorswho deniedits
or statedthatit ceasedto existat a certaintime. The
existencealtogether
Erwin
Austrianscholar,
Hanslik,statedemphatically
duringthe FirstWorld
and thatalong
WarthatCentralEuropewas onlya phantomoftheimagination
a line fromTriestevia Vienna,Prague,Breslauto Kinigsberg,theeast began
withoutany transition.?Using a somewhatmorewesterly
boundaryroughly
theElbe river,a similarprincipaldivisionintoeastand westwas used
following
by Sir HalfordMackindershortlyaftertheFirstWorldWar in his Democratic
ideals and realityand in his conceptagain therewas no space fora Central
theFrenchhistorian,
JosephAulneau,wrotein theinter-war
Europe." Similarly
periodthatCentralEurope was no entityand existed onlyin themindsof the
who are of the
conquerorsand writers.?As an exampleof thoseauthorities
ofH. G. Steersmay
opinionthatCentralEuropeno longerexists,thestatement
be quoted: ' "Mitteleuropa", that firstprincipleof German geographical
thought,has gone....'8
ofCentralEuropewefindthat
Amongthosewhodo believeintheexistence
thanis usuallyappreciated.An indication
ofopinionsis evengreater
theconflict
of thisis shownin Figure1 wheretheboundarylinesof maps of varioustypes
and ofmajorseriesoftopographic
maps,all bearingthename 'CentralEurope'
in thisor anotherform,areindicatedbydifferent
symbols.For obviousreasons
4 Cf. also E. DE MARTONNE (1930, 3): 'Ainsi l'Europe centralen'est pas un mot'.
5 'Es gibt kein "Mitteleuropa" als nattirlicheund kulturelleWirklichkeit.Bei Triest,Wien,
Briinn,Prag, Oderberg,Breslau, Posen und K6nigsberghbrtder Westen auf, setzt der Osten ohne
jeden tbergang ein.' (1917, 94).
6 Map 'The real Europe' (1919, 154). His 'heartland' (1919, Figure 24) is based on a worldwide concept and mightbe called 'Middle Eurasia'. W. G. East stated 'Sir Halford Mackinder too
found reason to distinguisha middle or transitionalarea in Europe, frontingthe inland Black and
Baltic seas, betweenthe maritimeEurope to the westand south and thepurelycontinentalarea which
stretcheseast of the Volga' (1948, 40). I have been unable to trace a publication by Sir Halford
Mackinderwhichmakes thisclear distinctionand I do not thinkthathis 'inneror marginalcrescent'
(1904, 435), which again is part of a world-wideconcept, should be interpretedin the sense of constitutinga Central Europe. In factthe onlyclear indicationthathe at one timerecognizedthe existence of a Central Europe seems to be the fact of his being the editor of the seriesThe regionsof the
to estimatenow
worldwhich includes the volume CentralEurope by Joseph Partsch. It is difficult
how much creditforthisparticularconcept of CentralEurope should go to the editorand how much
to the author,but in the firstinstanceit seems largelyto be due to Sir Halford Mackinder as is indicated by the followingremarkby Partschin the preface: '. .. he [theeditor]and I wereagreed that,
in orderto securethe unityof thewhole work,theplan and divisionof thematerialmustbe settledby
theeditorforthe guidance of his fellowworkers'(1903, ix).
ni un Etat ni un assemblage
7'Oi commenceet ofifinitl'Europe centrale?... Elle n'est en effet
d'Etats. Elle n'a vqu que dans l'imagination des conqu6rantsoi des 6crivains' (1926, 8).
8 (1948, 28); and on p. 31, 'Since Central Europe as conceived by modern geographershas
gone ....
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CENTRAL EUROPE- MITTELEUROPA- EUROPE CENTRALE
17
a map willusuallydepicta somewhatgreaterarea than.itstitlesuggests,butit
neverthelessconveys an idea, especially in comparison with other maps, of the
e3;Sr
...
- - 1< ! :.
Lgii
1~~I
Aut
ia3
200.000
.ii
.
Oxor
dvnedAta.14
MIDDLE
(
I
300.00
EUROPE
ITS EXTENT ON MAPS
soo 00o...m,
o
200
....
s,
,O0o
Central
G SG S
Europe.
SI 100.000
Central Europe. G.S
250.OOO
Generalkarte von Mitteleuropa
Ethnographico Map of Central Europe
Budapest 1942 IOOOOOO
-
Mitteleurop. Hoack wallmap 1750000
common to all maps
Ubersichtskarte
von Mitteleuropa.
t
roArea
r
Austra193
200.000
I 750.000
Austria. 1937
Standard
Central European States.
The Times Atlas 1922 13.000OO.0
rfmr d Cdc
Central
t
Austrian
SchoolAtlas
Mitteleuropa,
Mitteleuropa
Atlas.195
by Slanarl928
(Morphology)
Gen~ve.1937
Meridian
of mid-European
Geometrical
centre
G eometrical
centre
time
of Europe
of Europe
according
-3-000.O
14000000
15OOOOOO
Andrees
I
Handatlas.1937
3.500.000
Carte Ethniqueet Linguistiquede I Europe
Centrale.
.
p
Al asE
Europe.Oxford
..
I 2.000.000
.
.
L. Neumann
W Schjerning
(1908)
APenck
H.Lautensach
(1915)
(1926)
WLyde
NOTE
to*-
(1914)
(1931)
The pohtical
boundaries
refer to 19/4, /937and/946
FIGURE1-Middle Europe: its extenton maps.
The areascoveredby,and thearea commonto,twelvemapsand map series
all bearing
thenameCentralEurope(ortheequivalent
inFrenchandGerman),
and theirlocationwithrespectto thegeometrical
centreof Europeand the
standardmeridianofmid-European
time.
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18
CENTRAL EUROPE- MITTELEUROPA- EUROPE CENTRALE
approximateextentenvisagedforthearea to whichitstitlerefers.Littleagreementexists,and thearea commonto all maps,indicatedbyshading,is extremely
small;it includesthegreaterpartof Czechoslovakiaand extends intoAustria,
Germany,Hungaryand Poland. Two morethingsare indicatedon the map,
whichby theirverynames,shouldbear a close relationship
to CentralEurope:
thegeometrical
centreofEuropeand thestandardmeridianofso-calledCentral
at least as
EuropeanTime. One would expectthattherewould be agreement
centreof Europe,sincethisis a questionthatis to be
regardsthegeometrical
solved by measuring,but this is not the case." Acceptingthe conventional
easternboundariesof Europe,thegeometrical
centre,markedon Figure1 bya
crossedcircle,is near Warsaw. Otherplaces whichhave been statedas the
geometricalcentresof Europe are Grodno; the mouthof the Elbe river;the
Rokitnoswamps;and theTatramountains.1oEvenifwe accepttheselocations
save forthelast one, all are situatedoutsidethecommonarea.
as alternatives,
Thisappliesto an evengreaterdegreewhenwe considertheirlocationin relation
as shownin Figure2.
to thearea commonto a selectednumberof definitions
I suggestthattheterm'MiddleEurope' shouldbe usedinpreference
to 'Central
since
a
the
latter
creates
inevitably
misleadingimpressionabout the
Europe,
within
locationof thecentreof Europe and thusabout thespace relationships
disFor
also
and
cultural
this
but
the
reason,
Europe."
considering political
central
because
it
means
since
it
seems
that
the
case
for
1939,
using
integration
as Roxby wrote(1926, 379), is no longer
more than geometricalcentrality,
valid. Similarly,since the standard meridianof Central European Time
(150 east of Greenwich)is farto thewestof thecentreof Europe,and further
of the Continent
sincewe are facedwitha timebeltreachingthe extremities
northand south,whereasthewordcentralimpliesa compactarea approximI suggestthatthetermmid-EuropeanTime
fromall margins,
atelyequidistant
is to be preferred.
Britannica'")
(used forinstancein theEncyclopaedia
*In a strict
new
sensean irregular
surfacedoesnotpossessa centre.In Webster's
mathematical
international
(London, 1943),434, 'centre'is definedas 'orig.thepointroundwhicha
dictionary
circleis described;... a pointat theaveragedistancefromtheexterior
pointsof a bodyor figure'.
as thatpointwhichserves
Appliedto anylargepartoftheearth'ssurfacethismaybestbeinterpreted
as
as thecentreof thecirclewhichcan be drawnon thegloberoundthearea in questiontouching
as possible.
manypointsofitsperiphery
to theNorthCape andfromCape da Roca
o10
Grodno:
pointofthelinesfromGibraltar
crossing
to the Urals [sic] (L. NEUMANN,
1908, 447); Mouth of theElbe: equidistantfromthe entranceof the
WhiteSea, thesouthernmost
pointof Iceland
pointof Greece,Cape Tarifa,and thenorth-western
1914, 67); Rokitnoswamps:the longestdiagonals thatcan be drawn across Europe
(W. SCHJERNING,
ofthesediagonals.The pointofEuropeequidistant
crossthere,and nearbyare also themid-points
is nearthe
and parallels,whichcouldbe usedas an alternative
fromtheboundary
meridians
centre,
source of the Memel (Nyeman) (A. PENCK,1915, 16; also H. LAUTENSACH,
1926, 17); L. W. LYDE
300milesof
centreofEurope,is within
(1931,1),simplystates:'EventheTatramass,thegeometrical
threeseas.'
" Evensuchan experienced
as J.F. Unstead,whostatedthat'CentralEuropemay
geographer
newinteracrossthecentreofEurope',wasmisled(1927,51). Webster's
be thought
as lyingdirectly
containstheentryMid-Europe(1943,1556)butnotCentralEurope.
nationaldictionary
edn. (1929-32),vol. 22, 224. SectionTime,standard,
by Sir ArthurStanleyEd12Fourteenth
dington.
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19
CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
ofopinionas to theextentofMiddleEuropebecomeseven
The divergence
givenby variousauthors. A
greaterwhenwe comparethe actual definitions
map showingthe boundariesof an author'sparticularnotionis onlyin a few
to
cases provided,and thusin Figure2 I have,in theotherinstances,attempted
texts.Thismap aimsto give
plottheseboundarieson thebasis oftherespective
...
MIDDLE
EUROPE
AS A POSITIONAL. HISTORICAL,
CULTURAL AND
GEOGRAPHICAL CONCEPT
POLITICAL,
o
0
0o
200
I
//
300
200
40o0omis
600k
400
1
APPROXIMATE BOUNDARIES
ACCORDING TO
H. Hassinger
W.Schjerning
1917,23
..
.
1914 ------
W.Severs
1916
Th.Arldt
1917
H.Lautensach
1926
----
+-...
Unstead1927-.-J.F.
. ..+.+
M.Lheritier
1928
W.Schussler
1930
++++++
'++'++'+
1934
1939
-+-+-
M.R.Shackleton 1950
A. Siegfried
Chambers's
Encyclopaedia
J.Gottmann
--.+.-~-+J+~+
1950..........
1950.
1951
FIGURE 2-Middle
.;
t
-
F.Heiderich1926
R.Blanchard)
R.E Crist
o
I
**********7
F Machatschek 1925,31
DeMartonne
....
-+++-+
?/
/
:
+
Europe as a positional, historical,political, cultural and geographical concept:
of thedegreeof coincidence
of Middle
a gradedassessment
between
sixteen
definitions
existing
Europe.
Theshading
is directly
tothenumber
ofauthorities
whoincluded
a givenarea
density
proportional
within
MiddleEurope.Thevarious
oftheprocess
ofsuperareonlytheaccidental
result
patterns
For an explanation
oftheR. Blanchard
seefootnote
13.
andR. E. Cristboundary,
imposition.
a visualimpressionby gradedshadingof how frequently
partsof Europe are
includedwithinMiddle Europe: it is, in fact,sixteen maps superimposed.13
z13Althoughin most cases it would be possible to follow on the map the boundaries of the area
conceived as Middle Europe by one of the selected authors, the map aims at somethingdifferent.
The plottingof the boundaries was only a necessarystep in the constructionof the map. In cases
where boundaries coincided, however,only one could be marked; in the case of Blanchard- Crist
no separatesymbolappears, sincethereis a completecoincidencewithsectionsof boundaries of other
definitions. The individual maps are based on the followingsources: H. HASSINGER(1917, 478)
(1914, 67); W. SIEVERS, 1916, taken fromH. Hassinger (1917, 467-8); TH.
(map); W. SCHJERNING
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20
CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
Each ofthese'maps' givesone author'sconceptofMiddleEurope,and in each
case thearea thusnamedis shadedin thesame degreeof density.The dispositionofthelinesofshadingofeach successive'map' is chosenin sucha waythat
theyfallinto a gap leftby thepreviousone. The degreesof shadingdensity,
whichby thisprocessincreasein an arithmetical
are therefore
in a
progression,
directrelationship
to thenumberof authorswho includea certainpartwithin
Middle Europe; the variouspatterns,however,are onlyaccidentalresultsof
thisprocessof superimposition.
As can be seen,the areas in some cases included withinMiddle Europe extendsurprisingly
enoughbeyondthe part of
whichhas never
Europeshownon thismap,and theonlypartof thecontinent
been includedis theIberianPeninsula. On theotherhand,the area whichall
theseauthorsagree belongsto Middle Europe is no more thanAustriaand
Bohemia-Moravia.
The definitions
used hereare of a widerangeand includestrictly
speaking
ones. It is oftendifficult
to classifydefinitions
in orderto
non-geographical
arrangethemintogroups,butI believethatsucha groupingis thekeythatwill
the terminological
knotand lead to the desiredclarification.The
disentangle
classification
I have attemptedis fourfold:
(i) Middle Europe as a topographicalterm('topographical'hereused
in its originalmeaning,indicatingthepositionof an area).
(ii) MiddleEuropeas a physicalregion,based on a singlephysicalcriterion or a numberof them.
(iii) Middle Europe,a conceptwithan historicalor politicalbias.
(iv) MiddleEuropeas a geographicalregiondelimitedbymeansof both
physicalnatureand culturalelements.
MiddleEuropeas a Topographical
Term
thehistoryof moderngeography
and thearea conceived,it is
Considering
notsurprising
thatthetermappearsto havebeenfirstused in itsGermanform
To my knowledgeit appears forthe firsttimein 1808 in a
Mitteleuropa.14
14 H. Cord Meyerrightly
criticizedthe statement,whichhe incorrectly
attributedto Hilda Ormsby,thatit was firstused by Mendelssohnin 1836. He quotes (179, footnote4) as thefirstgeographical
use of the termPetermannsGeographischeMitteilungen,7 (1861). There, in a reporton new geographicalliterature,it appears as the titleof threedifferent
railwaymaps, two of which,however,are
quoted as alreadyin theirfourthand fiftheditionsrespectively.
(1917, 1-2). Arldtstatesthaton geographicalgroundsItalyshould be included,but on political
groundsexcluded,and on two maps (6, 9) he givesa numberof alternativesforthewesternand eastern
boundaries of Middle Europe. H. LAUTENSACH
(1926, 6) (map); F. MACHATSCHEK
(1925, 3-4, and
1931, 39-41) (map); F. HEIDERICH(1926, 3); J. F. UNSTEAD(1927, 50); M. LHtRITIER (1928, 51); E.
DE MARTONNE
E. CRIST(1934, 211); W. SCHOSSLER (1939, 8); M. R.
(1930, 2-3); R. BLANCHARD-R.
SHACKLETON
(1950, 240-3); A. SIEGFRIED(1950, 17-20); K. RISHBETH, section Europe, anthropology,
(1951, 334). Not plotted on
Chambers's encyclopaedia(London, 1950), vol. 5, 443; J. GOTTMANN
thismap but interesting
in thiscontextis F. Braun's concept of Middle Europe; accordingto him the
centreof the region is at Cologne and the region stretchesfor about a thousand kilometresin all
directions,thus even includingEngland. Cf. 'Europa als Erdteil', in Das Erdbild der Gegenwart,
ed. W. Gerbing(Leipzig, 1926), 8.
ARLDT
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CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
21
publicationby AugustZeune of Berlin.'" He definedMitteleuropaas comprisingKarpatenland(the lower Danube basin), Hercinialand(the traditional German lands includingthe entireRhine basin) and Sevennenland
(France). Althoughhe made attemptsin a laterpublicationto justifyhis subdivisionsof Europeas Naturabtheilungen
(1820,93-6),it is in factonlylocation
whichis the commondenominator,
the situationbetweenthe northernand
southernEuropean peninsulasand islands,forminga medianwest-eaststrip
throughwhat L. W. Lyde in 1931 termed'PeninsularEurope'. For that
reason,it seemsjustifiableto assignZeune's use of thetermto thefirstof the
fourgroupsin question.Also, merelybased on location,thetermMitteleuropa
was used by Hassel in 1819in a comprehensive
Germangeographical
reference
workto denotea medianstripacrossEurope,thistimein a north-south
direction and includedthe Germanstates,Austria-Hungary,
Switzerlandand the
Italian peninsula.16 Quotinga non-Germanauthor,the Frenchgeographer
Denaix in 1833used l'Europecentrale
verymuchas Zeunehad doneto describe
a west-eaststripfromthePyreneesto theriversVistulaand Tisza.17Laterthe
use ofthetermin a purelytopographical
sensegavewayto otherconceptsusing
thesame termbutattachingto it a specificcontentas a commondenominator.
Nevertheless
it maystillbe foundused in thisoriginalway now and then;for
instanceby KathleenRishbethin Chambers'sencyclopaedia
(vol. 5 (1950), 443)
whereit denotesthe entirepart of Europe betweenits northern
and southern
islandsand peninsulasand thusevenincludesRussia.
One mightthinka termdoingno morethanindicatinglocationwouldbe
butanotheraspectshouldalso be considered.
quitevaluelessto thegeographer,
Justbecauseof theabsenceof further
whichmakesit independent
implications
ofpoliticaleventsand historicalchanges,it maybe usefulas a termofreference
to any middlepartof Europe and as thename fora map or a seriesof topographicalmapscoveringsucha part. Sinceitslimitsmaytherefore
legitimately
varya greatdeal, it is suggestedthatthetermshouldnot be used as a proper
name,and 'middle'in thiscase shouldbe speltwitha small initialletterthus
midformingan equivalentto the German mittleres
Europa. Alternatively
Europe or median-Europecould be used. In cases of doubt, it should be
referred
to byitsfullname:middleEuropein a topographical
sense.
15 A. ZEUNE, Gea. Versucheiner wissenschaftlichen
(Berlin, 1808). Quoted from
Erdbeschreibung
E. MEYNEN(1935, 84).
16 A. C. GASPARI,
G. HASSEL and J. G. F. CANNABICH, Vollstiindiges
Handbuch der neuesten
(Weimar, 1819), I, viii; II, 38. Since this is the third though absolutely rewritten
Erdbeschreibung
edition of this work an attemptwas made to check whetherthis termhad been used already in the
earliereditions,the first,publishedin threeparts in 1797, 1799 and 1801, and the second, 1802, both
of which were nevercompleted. When eventuallycopies of these earliereditionswere traced,it was
found that the termdoes not appear in any of them. The generalplan of the work,as set out in the
prefaceof the second edition,suggeststhatthe termDeutschlandwas used in place of what was later
referredto as Mitteleuropa,since it is statedby Gaspari that thefirstand second volumeswereto contain the generalintroductionas well as Deutschland,the thirdvolume,westernand southern,and the
fourthvolume, northernand easternEurope. (For a discussion of the termDeutschland,see p. 22.)
17 M. A. DENAIX, Etude de geographienaturellesur l'Europe centrale. Quoted fromM. Lh~ritier
(1928, 44, footnote2).
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22
CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
Middle Europe as a Physical Region
Similarlybeyond historicalchangesis Middle Europe as a physicalregion.18
Once thecriteriaare agreedupon,the extentof the area to whichtheyapply
can be found quite objectivelyby observation,measuringand plottingthe
resultson a map. Surprisingly
since
thisconceptis almostas old as theformer
it resultedfromAugustZeune's Naturabtheilungen
alreadymentioned,and
for the delimitationof
especiallyfromCarl Ritter'sideas on Naturgebiete,
which he considered relief to be the most important criterion.1" Thus in a
Germangeographicaltext-bookof 1839,Mitteleuropa
was definedas a region
formedbytheAlps,together
and lowlandsattached
withthemountainsystems
to them.2? This concept covered much the same area as found by Zeune. This
notion,whichincludedFrancewithinMiddleEurope,prevaileduntilthe 1870s
and evenlater. It was,forinstance,used by FriedrichRatzelwho,at theend of
the century,
called it 'Middle Europe in its widestsense',21 and laterstillin
1904by WilhelmGitz in his book Historische
whichformspart19
Geographie
of the collectionDie Erdkunde.He dividedMitteleuropainto threeparts,
and stated(p. 223) thaton
Gaul-France,theAlpineregionsand Deutschland,
sinceonlya small
accountofspace relationsFranceis also partofMitteleuropa
shores. Usually,howsectionof thatcountryis linkedto the Mediterranean
ever,by thattimethistermhad cometo be used fora smallerarea, one which
as thelattertermwas being
beencalled Deutschland,
had commonly
previously
name,Das
appliedmoreand moreto theGermanEmpirein spiteofitsofficial
to an ethnical22
had obviouslyreferred
DeutscheReich. AlthoughDeutschland
thisregionwas nevertheand historicalquality,whenreplacedby Mitteleuropa
of this
less definedon the basis of physicalcriteria.A numberof definitions
kindcould be given,23
but one standsout,thepaperby AlbrechtPenck.24
s18Since thereis no generalagreementas to whethertheuse of theword 'natural' should be limited
to regions definedexclusivelyon a physicalbasis, as suggestedby Unstead, or whetherit should be
used to describethe largersyntheticentitieswhich are based on both physicaland human criteriaas
advanced by Roxby, this term had betterbe avoided (cf. ROXBY,1926, 381). The corresponding
German termto physicalregion is Naturraum.
zur Natur undzur Geschichtedes Menschen(Berlin, 1817).
19 Die Erdkundein ihremVerhiiltnis
20 C. E. MEINECKE, Lehrbuchder Geographie
Lehranstalten(Prenzfiirdie oberenClassen hdherer
lau, 1839).
21 'Between the Alps and the North and Baltic Seas, betweenthe AtlanticOcean and the Black
Sea, lies a part of Europe to whichAlps, Carpathians and Balkans, vast lowlands,and riverslike the
Rhine and Danube give a similarityto the major landforms,a region whose climate is of a similar
type and whose plant cover fromone end to the otherspreads the same carpet of forests,meadows,
heathlands,bogs and pastures.This is Middle Europe in its widestsense.... To this Middle Europe
belong all neighboursof Germany except Russia... That part of the Balkan Peninsula situated
towards the Danube is also drawn into its embrace by thismightyriver' (1898, 7-8).
22 deutschfromdiutisc,laterdiutisch'of the people' (popularis), cf. J. and W. GRIMM, Deutsches
Wdrterbuch
(Leipzig, 1860), vol. 2, 1043.
cf. H. HASSINGER
23 For references,
(1917, 450-1).
24 1887, 91-113. It is only fair to add that this is not the only and final definitionof Middle
Europe by A. Penck as is sometimesimplied. Later he revisedit to include the lower Danube basin
and wrote: 'Durch zwanzig Jahrein Wien lebend,habe ich mehrund mehrempfunden,dass ich vor
dreissigJahrenMitteleuropaviel zu enge Grenzengesetztund seine Sildostgrenzegeradedorthinverlegt habe, wo die geographischeGliederungEuropas eine Stellevorzeichnet,um die sich durch JahrhunderteLhinderkristallisiert
haben' (1915, 17).
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CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
23
Since Deutschland
as contrastedto DeutschesReichhas beenmentioned,
a
it. Deutschland
is a veryvagueterm;little
fewwordsshouldbe said regarding
existed amongGermanwriters
about thearea thatit was meantto
agreement
coverand it has oftenbeen deliberately
misused. It is, however,too greata
whenHilda Ormsbywritesthat'To thepre-warwriters
theterm
generalization
state...' and that the
the Germanadministrative
"Deutschland" signified
of politicalboundaries
applicationof thistermfora largerarea independent
was a 'deliberate movementto establish this new use of the term...'
(1935,
whichno doubtexisted,aimedto use thetermin its
340,342). This movement,
had
persistedthroughthe centuriessince its first
originalmeaningwhich
in theformDiutischemi
in
the
lande.25Dickinson
eleventh
century
appearance
statedcorrectly(1943, 32-3) thatDeutschland'has been used forcenturiesto
peoples,and of alienpeoples
designatethewiderarea of theGerman-speaking
who in thepast have beengreatlyinfluenced
German
culture'and H. Cord
by
to
admitted
that
1871
'Deutschland
was an accepted
(1946, 179)
Meyer
up
It
a
historical
that
thefirstpolitical
irony
ethnic-geographic
term...'26
is truly
titleis theFederalGermanRepublic,
uniteverto bear thisname as its official
the Bundesrepublik
Deutschlandwhichdoes not even coverthe entirearea of
whatremainedof the GermanstateaftertheSecondWorldWar.
Althoughfor the reason outlinedabove Middle Europe was mostly
at the turnof the centuryin a narrowsenseamongGermangeointerpreted
a workwas publishedthatmade a well-argued
case fora widercongraphers,
cept of Middle Europe. This was Joseph Partsch's CentralEurope which
appearedin its Englisheditionin 1903 and one yearlaterin the unabridged
forthiswiderinterpretation,
Germanoriginal.At firstmuchcriticized
notonly
abroadbutalso in Germany,27it eventually
ofa
broughtagainwiderecognition
Middle Europe extendingbeyondthe boundariesof the area formerly
called
Deutschland.Since Partsch,to indicatethe area dealt with,encloseda map
for
showinga groupofstates,itis notalwaysfullyappreciatedthathis criterion
delimitingthis regionwas the physical nature,in particularrelief.28 His famous
sentencewherehe sumsup thecharacterof Middle Europe provesthispoint:
'The triadofAlps,hillsand plainis thegoverning
chordofthesymphony
ofthe
Middle Europeanlandscape. Whereone ofthesenotesceasesto soundMiddle
Europe ends.'29
In lateryearsthe delimitation
of regionsand thusof Middle Europe was
done more and more on the basis of both physicaland culturalelements,
but nevertheless
some geographersretainedthe principleof delimiting
excluIn
the
former.
3
four
others
are
besides
Penck's
and
sivelyby
Figure
plotted,
For referencecf. E. MEYNEN (1935, 6 and 135).
The whole question of the originand lateruses of the termwas discussedfullyby Emil Meynen
in his well-documentedbook, Deutschlandund DeutschesReich.
27 G. G. CHISHOLM (1904, 242-4); A. KIRCHHOFF (1905, 28-9); TH. FISCHER (1905, 48-53).
28
The boundaries of the region are plottedin Figure 3 on the basis of the text(1903, 1-3).
29 Quoted in my own translationfrom the German edition (p. 4) since in the English edition
(p. 2) much of the originalflavouris lost.
25
26
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24
CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
Partsch'sconceptsalreadymentioned.As is broughtoutbytheshading,which
is done by usingthe same cartographic
techniqueas in Figure2, thecommon
area is muchmoreextensive
thanon thepreviousmap wheredifferent
typesof
definitions
wererepresented,
and consistsof Germanywithinits 1937boundaries, Austria,Switzerlandand Bohemia-Moravia.AlfredHettnerstated his
MIDDLE
EUROPE
AS DELIMITED
ONPHYSICAL,
GROUNDS
100
200
100
400
S00
APPROXIMATE
BOUNDARIES
ACCORDING
TO
APenck
1887
J. Partsch
1903
A.Hettner
1923
O.Maull
1933
G.D.Hubbard
1937
W.G.Kendlew
1937
400 mil.
600 Itmr.
I
1
I
~t~F~SW?
U
B
GPjti"B
f
/3
FIGURE 3-Middle Europe as delimitedon physicalgrounds:the amount of agreementexistingabout
the concept of Middle Europe as a physicalregion.
The shading densityis directlyproportionalto the numberof authoritieswho included a given area
withinMiddle Europe. The various patternsare only the accidental resultof the process of superimposition.
definition
firstin 1907 and retainedit in the latereditionsof his book (1932,
withPartschis overthe south-eastern
136). His major pointof disagreement
partwhichhe added to theBalkan Peninsula,namingthewholeregionSoutheasternEurope thoughhe did not go back to the earliernarrowdefinitions
of
Middle Europe but statedthatMitteleuropaand Deutschlandshould not be
equated(1923, 132). In contrastto Hettnerwho held thatculturalcriteriaare
unsuitablefor delimitationof regionsin geography(1908, 106; 1927, 296),
OttoMaull recognizedthemas important
forthatpurposebut employedthem
onlyat whatonemightcall the'lowerpartofthescale' oftheregionalhierarchy.
Middle Europe, as a regionto be placed approximately
in the middleof the
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CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
25
scale, was delimitedexclusivelyon the basis of physicalcriteriawhereasthe
fromMiddle Europe by its
next smallerregionDeutschlandis distinguished
and characterized
distinctculturalproperties,
by a culturallandscapeof German character(1933, 8). This Middle Europe is almostthesame as Hettner's
space reexceptfor Denmarkwhichis excludedon account of the different
indicatedon thismap are based on a
definitions
lationships.0 The remaining
climate.W. G. Kendrew'sdefinition
aimsto be onlya
singlephysicalcriterion,
climaticdivisionofEuropeand nota generally
applicableregion.3' G. D. Hubbard, on the otherhand, uses climateas the criterionto delimitthe major
regionsof Europe but thengroupsa numberof statestogetherwhichfitbest
into the regionsthusestablished(1937, 4; map). I am not aware of a British
publicationwherethesubdivisionof Europeintomajorregionsis based solely
on physicalfactors,thoughthe followingremarkof W. G. East (1948, 40)
pointedin thisdirection:'Centralor MiddleEuroperemainsand mustremain
as a permanentfact because it rests on the physical structureof the
continent.....'3
Summingup thissectionwe may say thatthe conceptof Middle Europe
as a physicalregionis veryusefulbecause of its objectivebasis and its perwould agreethatit is not our ultimate
manency,althoughmanygeographers
aim whenwe wishto establisha subdivisionof Europe intoits majorregions.
But again I wishto pointout thatwe shouldmake ourselvesquite clearand,
wheneverwe use Middle Europe in thisparticularsense,giveit its fullname:
'Middle Europeas a physicalregion.'
When we turn to conceptsof Middle Europe with an historicaland
ground
politicalbias or as a geographicalregion,we entermuchmoredifficult
humanelementsthatare liableto quickchanges.Anydefinition
byintroducing
be relatedto a certaintimeso thatmanydefinitions,
givenmust,therefore,
be correct. Furthermore,
herewe enterthe
thoughdifferent,
maynevertheless
fieldof the humanitieswherethe subjectiveelementinevitably
plays a greater
of Europe as a
part. The fundamental
problemis that the verydefinition
continentis onlypossibleby takingthe humanfactorinto accountand that,
its easternboundaryhas been subjectto changesduringhistory."*
therefore,
Thus we mayconcludethatMiddle Europe,historically
and geographically
an
area withcertainculturalqualities,is notfixedin space,and once it had come
Basis for plottingthe boundaries (MAULL, 1933, 3-5).
be foundin all editionsof his book The climatesof thecontinents
(1922 and 1927,
211; 1937 and 1941,241; 1953,312). This map, withsome alterations,was reproducedby L. D. STAMP,
Europe and the Mediterranean(1932, 26), and this in turn with furtheralterationsreproduced by
N. G. J. POUNDSin An historicaland political geographyof Europe (1947, 18).
32 Cf. WILHELM BRtjNGER (1951) who attempteda geomorphologicalclassificationof Europe in
Eastern, Middle and WesternEurope without,however,making this the basis of the geographical
regions of Europe.
33 For a short discussion of the concept of Europe as a continentand its changing eastern
boundary,cf. O. MAULL(1951, 667-8). Ibid., 670, he states: ' "Europa" ist eben kein geographischer
Begriff,der sich in die Reihe der Erdteilbegriffe
einfiigenliesse.'
30
31 This map can
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26
CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
into beingit tendedto expand and move eastwardparallelwiththe gradual
eastwardexpansionof Europe.
Middle Europeas an Historicaland PoliticalRegion
The firstquestionwhichpresentsitselfis: 'At whatmomentin thehistory
of Europe did Middle Europe emerge?' This questionhas been answeredin
variousways. Oskar Kossmannin his book, WarumistEuropaso?,wherehe
interprets
Europeanhistoryon a basis oftimeand space,cameto thefollowing
conclusion:back in prehistory,
when,in the generalmovementof civilization
fromtheNear East via Greeceand Rome,thefirst
raysofthisadvancebeganto
to
the
northern
of
there
was one sectionwhichon
penetrate
parts Europe,
accountof itsphysicalnaturewas particularly
favouredto becomethenucleus
of a separatedevelopment.This was the Cimbrianregion,the Danish islands
and peninsulas,and theydid in factbecomethecradleof theTeutonicpeoples
and' of Middle Europe. Far enoughremovedfromthe Mediterranean
world,
whichfirstadvancedintothecontinent
the
and
sheltered
through Liguriangate,
fromthe forcesof the steppecomingfromthe east,it was possiblethathere
whicheventuallyresultedin expansion,for
enoughenergycould concentrate
variousreasons,in the onlypossibledirection,
namelysouth. It interposeda
separateMiddle European worldbetweeneast and west,bringingabout the
ofthegreatnorthern
into
principaltripartition
slope oftheEuropeancontinent
a Celto-Roman,a Teutonicand a Slav section. The westernboundaryof this
middle part was determinedby Caesar's defenceline which dammed the
Teutonicflood and forcedit to fillthe space east of the Rhine betweenthe
northern
seas and theAlps. Its easternboundary,whichpersistedthroughthe
earlyMiddleAges,was inturndetermined
bythedefencelinefromthemouthof
the Elbe to the BohemianForest,whichoffereditselfto the Teutonictribes
fromthe east (1950, 89 and 110).
againsttheforcesthrusting
The Frenchhistorian,Michel Lh6ritier,
answerto this
gave a different
(1928,46). He is of the opinionthatin the
questionin his Rdgionshistoriques
MiddleAges therewas no space fora MiddleEuropesincethearea meantbyit
was theeasternmarchof thecontinent
as expressedby thenameof Austriai.e. the easternmarch. It emergedin historyfromthe sixteenth
Osterreich,
onwardsas a resultofthegrowthofAustriaand theadvanceof German
century
civilizationto thecountries
whichare nowmeantbyit,althoughthenameused
thenwas not Middle Europebut Germany.Towardstheend of theeighteenth
century,
EmperorJosephII was thefirstto attemptits politicalorganization,
butstillthenameMiddleEuropewas notused. The conceptofMiddleEurope
as suchappearsat thetimeoftheAustro-Prussian
in themiddleof
antagonism
thenineteenth
and whenthequestionarose as to whether
Austriawith
century
itsdifferent
is an articlein the
wouldbe able to survive.Significant
components
officialWienerZeitungin 1849 expressingthe opinion that, in a politicoeconomicunionof MiddleEurope,Austriawouldinevitably
becomethecentre
of gravityon accountof itscentralposition. Exponentsof thisidea of Middle
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CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
27
centurywerethe Germaneconomist,List, the
Europe duringthe nineteenth
AustrianMinisterof Commerce,Bruck, and the German writer,Paul de
Lagarde.
theproblemremainedan academicone untiltheFirstWorld
Nevertheless,
oftheMiddlePowers. It was then
War broughtabout an economicunification
possibleto see how it mightworkin peace time,and theidea of MiddleEurope
unitwas revived. Many writingson this themewere
as a politico-economic
published;"3 the most important one is undoubtedly Friedrich Naumann's
intoEnglishand French,and thus
(1915). It was soon translated
Mitteleuropa
becamefairlywellknownelsewhere,
thoughit seemsthatin manycases it was
not studiedverythoroughly.AlthoughNaumann onlyexpressedhis private
receivedmuchcritiopinion,whichevenwithinGermanyand Austria-Hungary
Germanpolicy. It was
cism," outsideGermanyit was oftentakento be official
as 'the Germanaim for dominationof the middle part of the
interpreted
in Englishand Frenchusage often
Continent'and theverywordMitteleuropa
came to meanthat. It is truethatNaumannenvisageda MiddleEuropewhich
should be Germanat its core and that Germanshould be its linguafranca
(1915, 101),butthis,lookingat thearea he had in mind,was onlynatural.He
spoke bitterlyof the tendenciesof Germanization(73-5) and anti-Semitism
(70-1; 114) and thecreationthathe wishedto resultfromthewarexperiences
was nota new stateorganizedon Germanlines,notevena federalstate,but a
as equal partnerson the
ofsovereign
countries
thatjoinedvoluntarily
federation
basis of mutualtreatiesfortheircommoninterest(232)."? Only two matters
economicplanningand defence
wereto be dealtwithby a commonauthority;
(249). Thus, by increasingproductionand producingmorecheaplyas a large
the livingstandardof themassescould be raised(118-19),and by
enterprise,
havingtrenchesroundthisgroupof statesand a commondefenceforceready,
war could be averted(257)." Of thisbook G. G. Chisholmwrotea
further
valuable review,"3 and in the same year furtherelaborated the subject: '...
one
may evenfindin Naumann's book muchthatis consonantwiththeproposals
ofa League ofNations' (1917(b),
thathavebeenputforwardfortheformation
129). Of present-day
experienceone mightadd 'muchthatis consonantwith
the idea of a LittleEurope'.
34A numberof thesepublicationsare quoted by H. HASSINGER (1917, 438-9) and H. CORD MEYER
(1946, 185-7).
Zeitung (November 27th, 1915). 'To sacrificethe individualityof
35 Cf. RheinischWestfdilische
Prusso-Germanyto the idea of a fictitiousMiddle Europe would mean to cut away the ground from
underneathour feet.' Quoted fromM. LHIRITIER(1928, 47, footnote2). A summaryof the reactions
is a magyar
in Hungary is given by Tamis Lengyel A vildghdcborih
idejdnfelmeriiltkdzepeurdpatervek
kdzvdleminy(The Mitteleuropaschemes of the Great War and the Magyarianpublic opinion) publishedin Az Orszdg Utja 4 (1940), No. 7 (July).In Germantranslation(duplicated) bythePublikationsstelle Wien(1940), No. 98.
36 Not as stated by R. E. DICKINSON (1943, 24): 'There would thus be formeda federal state
under German tutelage....'
7 Cf. also p. 263, 'Mitteleuropaist Kriegsfurcht'.
38He wrote about Naumann's book: '... it is writtenthroughoutin the heat, not of passion,
but of imaginativethoughtbased on wide and intimateknowledge' (1917(a), 83).
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28
CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
The end ofthewardid notbringa politicalorderliketheone conceivedby
Naumann but the creationof a numberof smallerstates. As regardsthem
made the statement:'Le Mitteleuropaest mort,mais l'Europe cenLh6ritier
tralen'en existepas moins...' (1928,47). To himl'Europecentraleconsisted
essentiallyof the successorstatesof the Austro-Hungarian
Empire:Austria,
Czechoslovakiaand Hungary.His definition,
or a modified
formofit,cameto
be widelyacceptednot so muchin Austriabut in theotherDanube statesand
also in Franceand England,wherethetermCentralEuropecan stillbe found
usedin thissense." In Germanythisdefinition
was neveraccepted.The whole
regionfromFinlandto Greece,ofwhichLh6ritier's
l'Europecentraleformsthe
continental
downof
part,was termedZwischeneuropa."oThis was a narrowing
a termoriginally
coinedbyAlbrechtPenckin 1915(Figure4). DividingEurope
undertheprincipleofnearnessto theopensea and the 'maritime'attitudeofits
peoples, he establishedthreemajor regions- Vordereuropa,
Zwischeneuropa
and Hintereuropa."His idea was thatcommonspace relationships
wouldlead
thepeoplestogether
and thata closelyunitedZwischeneuropa
wouldprovidefor
is
Europe a strongbackbone. He continued:'Once a strongZwischeneuropa
establishedthenit willno longerbe Utopianto speak of the UnitedStatesof
Europe' (1915,40). Comingback to Lh6ritier's
concept,thoughit is a political
one, it has also a well-argued
geographicalbasis. He stated:Europecentraleis
as regardslanguage,cultural
thecontinental
diversity
part ofa zone of greatest
fromtheNorthCape to Cyrenaicaand
influences
and religion,whichstretches
Egypt(1928,49-50); 'its raisond'etreis to be a crossroad,a bridge,a turn-plate'
ofEurope,and each stateagainas a
(50). Europecentrale
appearsas a synthesis
a littleEuropecentraleand at the same timea whole
of a synthesis,
synthesis
whichmustbe added is
(52). The geographicalcriticism
Europe in miniature
one of comparativescale. Althoughhe thoughtthatthisEuropecentralecould
its size is too smallto be put sideby sidewiththeother
be graduallyextended,
majorregionsof Europe.
Situatedbetweenthe two powersof Russia and Germany,thisEurope
theidea of Middle
centraledid not last verylong."4 HitlerGermany,reviving
9 As an example cf. The Times in the leading article 'Europeans in exile' (January21st, 1952).
Generally,however,it has become more and more customaryin the press to referto all countries
behind the 'Iron Curtain' as Eastern Europe. Cf. the article 'Eastern Europe' in the Manchester
Guardian(May 7th, 1953).
40 Indicativeof thisis a wall map withthistitleby H. Haack, publishedby JustusPerthes,Gotha,
whichcoversthefollowingarea: fromthe VenerLake and themouthof theOder riverin thewest,to a
linejust east of the Volkhov river,Kiev and the Danube delta in the east. In thenorthitjust includes
Helsinki and Leningrad,in the south it goes a littlebeyond the southernmostpart of the Danube.
,1 The map appears in thispublicationon the cover and as Figure 3 in the text. It is reproduced
to renderthesetermsinto English.
in H. LAUTENSACH
(1926, Figure 44, 191). It is extremelydifficult
Since Europe is a word of Greek origin, a combination with the appropriateGreek prefixespro,
meso,meta,whichare also used in biologyfordenotinga sequence of sections,would recommenditself
on linguisticgrounds.The resultingtermswould thusbe Pro-Europe,Meso-Europe and Meta-Europe.
42 Doubts about its lastingpowers were expressedby the Austrianhistorian,H. STEINACKER,
in
his paper 'Osterreich-Ungarnund Osteuropa' in HistorischeZeitschrift,128 (1923), 377-414,especially 413-14.
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29
CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
Europe as a political concept, now not in Naumann's sense but as propagated
by the exponents of geopolitics in the sense of a German-ruledpolitical unit,'
fora timeseemednearto puttingit intoeffect.The Anschluss,
theannexation
of Bohemia-Moravia and attemptsto establish political control in the other
states of Danubian Middle Europe were contributingcauses of war. But,
I
""
THE TRlPARTITION
EUROPE
-P~- @"OF
ACCORDING
A.PENCK
0
t -
200
400
400
TO
1915
600 800
C? ,200
600
,1
Ioo0,,..
FIGURE 4--The tripartition
of Europe on the basis of space relationships
into Vordereuropa,
and Hintereuropa
as suggestedby AlbrechtPenckin 1915. The zone between
Zwischeneuropa
Kareliaand theAsov Sea he termedthe 'VarangianFringe'.
although liberationof these states was one of the aims the Allied armies fought
for, the outcome of the war did not bring the re-emergenceof this Europe
centrale. In 1945, unlike 1920, therewas only one power as its neighbour; the
states concerned were unable to preservetheirindependenceand soon became
Soviet Satellite Europe. Besides Finland and Yugoslavia, whichare rathermarginally situated, the only state left of these political concepts of Mitteleuropa,
Zwischeneuropa and Europe centrale alike is Austria, its furtherexistence
depending on an understandingbetween West and East. Will it on account of
its particularlyadvantageous geographical location once again functionas a
core round which a Europe centralemay develop?
nAs an example, see KARL HAUSHOFER (1937).
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30
CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
Middle Europe as a GeographicalRegion
Withthebeginning
of thetwentieth
century
increasing
weightcame to be
attributed
to humangeographiccriteriaforregionalclassification.Although
thereweresome forerunners
who attempted
a definition
of Middle Europe on
the basis of bothphysicaland culturalelements,
as F. Heiderich(1909,263-4)
?
~Q?
_---'-
soTHE
,oR
H. HASSINGER
O
00ooo60
600
00
0
000
EUROPE
ACCORDING
Qoo
o oo
MAJOR REGIONS
OF
FRONTERS
TO
1917
...........
1937
n,-
-
FIGURE5-The majorregionsof Europe accordingto Hugo Hassinger,
delimitedon the basis of
landscapecharacter.
and G. Braun(1916,1), I thinkthatit is no overstatement
to saythatone paper
standsforemostand had the greatestinfluence
on thefurther
of
development
the geographicalconceptof Middle Europe: Hugo Hassinger'sessay, Das
WesenMitteleuropas,
geographische
publishedin 1917. H. Cord Meyercalledit
one of themilestones
in thedevelopment
of theMitteleuropa
idea (1946, 188),
and Dickinsonalso paid tributeto its importance
as 'a masterly
essay' (1943,
25). Hassinger'smap has been redrawnwithoutalteration,apart fromthe
translation
of the namesand theadditionsof the 1937 frontiers
(Figure5)."
ithas beensaid thatHassingerbased his
Beingmisledby the termNaturgebiet
44 Themapis to be foundon p. 478 ofHassinger's
paper. It wasreproduced
byR. E. Dickinson
(1943,Figure2, 25), butas a roughsketchonly.
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CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA- EUROPE CENTRALE
31
definition
whichhe
onlyon physicalfacts""but he used thetermNaturgebiet,
inthesamesenseas Roxbyusedtheterm'naturalregion'.
tookfromCarlRitter,
find
their
inthelandscape,
allgeographical
factors
Sinceinhisopinion
expression
he
based
hisdelimitation
on
which
the
is
the
criterion
thecharacter
of landscape
the
ofMiddleEurope."4We arefacingthreegroupsofgeographical
factors,
andin
thehumanwhicharechanging
whicharerelatively
permanent,
physical
turnresultin changeswithinthethirdgroup,thespacerelationships.
Paying
an easternpartof theregion
termed
due regardto thesechanges,
Hassinger
MiddleEurope),
werdendes,
maturing
(emerging,
Mitteleuropa
heranreifendes
(477, 483).
of
of Hassinger'scharacterization
It is impossibleto givea shortsummary
MiddleEuropewhichdoesjusticeto thisessay;onlya fewmajorpointscan be
mentioned.MiddleEurope,situatedbetweenthemonotonousvastmass ofthe
in theeastand themaritime
westwithitsindentedcoastlineand many
continent
nor as diversified
as thelatter.
islands,is neitheras monotonousas theformer
seas in thenorth
Thoughnot reachingtheopen ocean it has accessto tributary
are considerable,
and south; thus maritimeinfluences
thoughweakerthan in
WesternEurope. Climateand vegetation,
populationand economy,and finally
the entireculturaland politicallife owe much to this distinctgeographical
lies in itsnodalityat thecrossing
location. MiddleEurope's potentialstrength
of thenorth-south
and east-westlinesof communication.
In varietyof structure
and geologyMiddleEuropetakesfirstplace among
the European regions. The mountains,providedwithfrequentpasses, are
The diverse
is notdifficult.
separatedbylowlands:thuscrossinginanydirection
soilsand rocksare an important
its
economic
itsfertility,
to
wealth,
prerequisite
its industry,
and its highlydevelopeddivisionof labour and social structure.
Sincethe riversdrainto thenorth-west
on one hand and to thesouth-easton
theother,a firstglanceat thedrainagepatternmightlead to theerroneousconclusionthat it consistsof two independent
partswiththeirpeoples standing
back to back to each other,the westernones lookingout to the ocean, the
easternones lookingtowardsthecontinental
interior.'Middle Europeindeed
has a head like Januslookingout to westand east,but it mostcertainly
has
tendto separateare closelylinked
onlyonebody. Its twohalvesthatseemingly
by naturethroughtheircommonlinesof communications.'Justbecause the
twohalvesare differently
endowedwithnaturalwealth- mineralsin thenorth- theyare interwest,fertilesoils and a favourableclimatein the south-east
"5 'Since he bases his ideas on natural or physicalfacts,these are used to definehis regions...'
R. E. DICKINSON(1943, 26). But Hassingerhad statedquite clearly(473) 'The physicaland thehuman
as expressionsof the local endowmentof areas on the earth's surfaceare so closely interwovenin
the landscape that the geographermust not take one out in order to make it the criterionof consideration,judgment and classificationof the whole'. Not only did Hassinger deplore the use of a
selectedcriterionor group of criteriaas unsuitableforestablishingmajor regionsbut he also stated
that the independentuse of all criteriais impossible since the courses of theirboundaries differso
greatly(471).
as the productof the interactingand mutuallyinterrelated
4 '. .. the landscape (Landschaftsbild)
geographical factors...' (472).
D
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32
CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
dependentand more closelylinked. Culturallyit is the Germaninfluence
whichhas actedon thespaceforcenturies,
givingunityto thewhole. Nevertheis verygreat. Whereasnational
less, its culturaland ethnographic
diversity
statesare the naturalformof politicalorganizationin otherpartsof Europe
wherea nationcould expandintophysicallysimplerareas, Middle Europe is
and politically
byitsverynaturedestinedto be a 'mediatorEurope', culturally
(477-88). This brieflyis, accordingto Hassinger,the characterof Middle
as faras we findthischaracterrepresented.
Europe and thisregionstretches
zonesratherthanlinesand itis onlyfor
As he states,itsboundariesare therefore
suchas mapping,
whichare
thatcertainnaturalfeatures
practicalconsiderations,
visiblein thelandscapehave to be selectedfora demarcation
of itsboundaries.
It canjustlybe said thatno othergeographer
to this
paid as muchattention
in
this
and
and
contributed
to
it
as
much
as
particularproblem
Hassinger
of
as
for
in
his
the
instance
book,
introductory
chapter
subsequentpublications,
" Thisstatement
Die Tschechoslowakei.
towardsother
is byno meansderogatory
valuablecontributions
likethosemadeby Roxby,de Martonne,Dickinsonand
morerecently
JeanGottmannand G. Hoffmann.But,with
Andr6Siegfried,
theexceptionof Dickinson'sbook,it was nota centralthemeto thoseauthors
as it was to Hassinger,who,bornin Vienna,and occupyingthechairofhuman
foralmosttwentyyears,was quite naturally
geographyat ViennaUniversity
concernedwiththeproblemof Mitteleuropa.
Conclusion
Takingup a basic principleexpressedby Hassingerin hispaper(476) that
'boundariesof regionsare therefore
[sincethelandscapechangescontinuously
throughhumanaction]not stablebut changeableand mobilein thecourseof
into geographicalregionsare thusalwaysonly of
history,and classifications
value forthe present...', it mightappear to be logical to concludewithan
- to whatextenttheconattemptto answerthequestionput at thebeginning
regionneedsto be revisedin orderto
ceptof MiddleEuropeas a geographical
fortwo
be applicableto thepresentday? I was temptedto do thisbutrefrained
reasons. Firstly,this questionis ratheroutsidethe scope of the paper, and
space would not permita reasonedpresentation.Secondly,since so many
factslikethefutureof Germanyand Austriaare stillundecided,and
important
of
so muchis stillin a stateof flux,it wouldbe too soon to giveanydefinition
Middle Europe as a geographicalregiontodaywhichwould be of morethan
it seemsappropriateto indicatethe general
ephemeralvalidity.Nevertheless,
ofMiddleEuropehas takensinceHassinger's
whichthedevelopment
direction
paperwas publishedin 1917.
to states,
once givenin geography
As a reactionagainsttheover-emphasis
theircapitals,and similarsubject matter,political boundariescame to be
in thisfield,see the bibliography.Cf. also the obituaryof
47 For some of his othercontributions
97 (1953), 36-9,witha selective
H. Hassinger by H. BOBEKin PetermannsGeographischeMitteilungen,
bibliography.
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CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
33
consideredas outside the scope of regional geography."8During recentdecades
the pendulum has swung back and it has been shown in many examples, as for
instancein Hassinger'sinaugurallecturein Viennain 1931,thatthestateis one
ofthemostpowerful
culturalfactorsand thatitsboundaries,thoughin varying
forcesupon theculturallandscape." Changesof
degree,act as differentiating
stateboundariesare alwayssucceededbylandscapechanges,whichmayoccur
rapidlyor graduallyand may or may not be striking,
dependingon circumstances. As regardsMiddle Europe as a whole,thefrontier
changesafterthe
FirstWorld War made no modification
of the boundariesof Middle Europe
withinthe new states,whereareas of moreadnecessary. On the contrary,
vancedcivilization
werelinkedwithmorebackwardones farther
east,theproof the 'emerging
cess of integration
MiddleEurope' to partsof equal standing
was accelerated.The consequencesoftheSecondWorldWararequitedifferent.
Since 1939,whenvariousgroupsof ethnicGermansbeganto maketheirway
intotheReich,we havewitnessed
a continuousdisintegration
ofMiddleEurope
as a geographicalregion. Togetherwiththe retreating
Germanarmieson the
easternand south-eastern
frontwentmanythousandsofGermansettlers,
leaving
thelandthattheirforefathers
had cultivated.In 1939approximately
tenmillion
Germannationalslivedin thelosteasternprovinces,and about elevenmillion
ethnicGermans in the states of easternand south-easternMiddle Europe. Out
of this total of over twentymillion Germans, about thirteenmillion arrived
eventuallyin Potsdam Germany,and almost 400,000 founda refugein Austria. 0o
We are here not concerned with this greatestfolk migrationin historyas such,
but with its effectson the cultural landscape and thus on Middle Europe as a
geographical region. Nevertheless,the actual figuresof this population movement give an indication of the degree of the landscape changes and Figures 6
and 7 are intendedto servethispurpose. The expulsionof the Germans createda
population vacuum which so far has only partiallybeen filled,on the whole by
peoples taken mainly fromthe easternparts of the states affectedand thus of a
considerably lower standard of civilization. In some cases people were even
taken fromAsia so that we now findan appreciable numberof Mongols work-
Cf. H. HETTNER (1927, 295).
Earlier, but not dealt with in such a systematicway as by Hassinger, the geographical importance of the political factorswas emphasized by L. W. LYDE: 'It is almost always the political
controlthat givesthe dominantnote in the most importantareas; and, as themethodof treatingsuch
areas should in each case, as far as possible, be appropriateto the dominantnote, the political unit
cannot be made subordinatewithoutmore being lost than is gained' (1913, iv).
50 There is already an extensiveliteratureon the refugeeproblem. For examples in English see
CHAUNCYD. HARRISand G. WULKER, 'The refugeeproblem of Germany', Economic Geography,
29 (1953), 10-25 and the relevantchaptersin J. VERNANT, The refugeein thepost-warworld(1953).
Important is the publication containingthe nine maps by W. ESSEN (1952), of which No. 1 and
No. 7 wereused forthe preparationof Figures 6 and 7, supplementedwithstatisticaldata publishedin
theGeographisches
Taschenbuch(1950), 147-54,and in thecase of South Tyrol bythe paper byF. DiORRENHAUS(1953), 191. An officialworkon the expulsionof the Germans,of whichthefirstvolume has
der
appeared, is being preparedby the Federal German Government(Dokumentationder Vertreibung
Deutschen aus Ost-Mitteleuropabearbeitetvon TheodorSchieder, herausgegebenvom BundesminisBand I [1953]. (cf. The Times,September17th, 1953).
teriumfiirVertriebene,
48
49
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34
CENTRAL EUROPE- MITTELEUROPA- EUROPE CENTRALE
ing in the industrialregionof Upper Silesia.s' In theseareas wherethe new
cultural
settlers
shapethelandscapein a waycongenialto them,a verydifferent
landscapeis emerging,
especiallyin theruralpartsand in thosetownswherewar
destruction
was greatest.Apartfromthisit is alreadythe dichotomyof low
densityofruralpopulationwithintheseareas and increasedpopulationdensity
o
Kms
300
,
\
c/
/
aa "
",
, r-,-.
er
tMi/nions
Boundaries of provinces and other
administrative units
PO PU L AT ION
ES
CH ANG
INC REA^
2070o
S20i
or country
BLACK sector, the proportion
in 1946 are:
pou
1939 and 29th October,
DECREASE
17th May,
Germa
d peahing
the
Austriade
SeiarReulic,
of the population
The exact percentages
PrAreaofPotsdamGermany
American Occupation Zone
Soviet
Occupation
Zone
+10.7%
+20.7%
+14.3%
WHITE secdornh
vi
ma
which
e
thoor
proorio
for
is unaccounted
remained,or
changes between the censuses of
British Occupation Zone
-o
Zone
French Occupation
Greater
Berlin
+ 12.7%
3.6%
-26.2%
Adapted fromW. Essen and E. Meyen
FIGURE6-The German Lebensraum,itscontractionfrom1939 to 1946 and the overall
and ethnic
of Germannationals(Reichsdeutsche)
effectof the westwardmigration
of each occupationzone.
on the populationdistribution
Germans(Volksdeutsche)
of the landscape
withinthe 'two Germanies'whichmake for differentiation
frontier.On the
the
Czech-German
line
and
of
the
Oder-Neisse
east and west
up on
forest
is
and
been
deserted
have
and
springing
one hand,farms
villages
untilledfields:it is estimatedthatin thelostprovincesalone threemillionacres
51E. LENDL(1951, 39); The Times(April 1st,1954). H. G. voN ESEBECKin 'VertriebeneDeutsche
5 (1954),20-7,statesthatthetotalpopulationin thelostprovinces
und Exilpolen',Aussenpolitik,
now administered
by Polandamountsto fivemillionpeopleat themost,as faras can be gathered
statistics.
fromofficial
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35
CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
aa
POPULATION
CHANGES
INCREASE
soo
40O
0.
SAAR
DECREASE
6of
-
-
Frontiers of Potsdam Germany and boundaries of its occupation zones
Boundaries of the German Lander
of provinces and other administrative units
SBoundaries
0
Kms.
200
Adapted
fromW. Essen
I
II
I
FIGURE7-The effectof the influxof refugeesand expelleeson the populationdistributionof Potsdam
Germany.
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36
CENTRAL EUROPE
-
MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
of farmingland have revertedto waste52and it was officially
statedthatin
6
Czechoslovakia250 of the formerGermanvillageshave not been resettled.
On theotherhand thereare populationincreasesin partsof over100percent,
witha consequentincreasein thenumberofdwellings
and intensity
oflanduse.
This contrastis emphasizedbythedifference
in ideologywhichbringswithit a
certaineconomicattitudeand policyand thusagaingivesthelandscapebehind
the 'Iron Curtain'a new and different
imprint.One need onlypointat the
effect
thatthe land reformhas had on thefieldand settlement
patternwhere
formerly
largeestates,withhugefieldsunderthe same crop,weresubdivided
intosmallholdings,thoughthisis onlya firststage.54 Despitethefailuresexperiencedso far,as long as theideologyremainsthesame,it is onlya matter
of timeuntilthe second stage will come and thosenewly-created
farms,tothe
with
with
their
often
minute
field
gether
originalpeasantholdings
parcels,
willbe supersededbysovkhozand kolkhoz(stateand co-operative)
farmsgiving
the rurallandscapeyet anotherappearance. This influenceof ideologycan
evenbe feltin the Sovietzone of Germany,which,as theeventsin June1953
showed,cannot be considereda properSoviet satellitelike the otherstates
withinthe Russiansphere. A particularly
striking
exampleof thisis foundin
Berlinand attentionhas been drawnto it in a numberof publications.* One
sentencein The Timesof April 11th,1952,bringsthisout particularly
clearly:
'The prospectis thattwo distinctfaces of Berlinwould emergefroma prolongeddivisionof thecity.Justas thewesthas its Clay Allee and theeastits
StalinAlleeso thereis a markeddifference
in architectural
formswhichsomehow contrivesto transmutethe ideological conflictinto stone.'56
In spiteof thevariouschangestakingplace whichgivetheSovietzone of
one cannotseparatethisarea from
Germanycertaineast Europeanimprints,
MiddleEuropeifthisregionis to be retainedat all. On theone hand,seenon a
European scale, Middle Europe would thenbe too smallto be considereda
major regionin its own right. On the otherhand, thereis at least not yet
sufficient
cause forsuch a major separation.AlthoughCommunist-ruled,
the
traditional
culturallandscapehas notalteredas greatly
as someinstancesmight
suggest,and thelandscapeoftheSovietzone is stillmuchmoreakinto Western
Germanythanitis to Russia,theEast Europeanstatepar excellence.Similarly,
but to a lesserdegree,whathas been said about the SovietZone of Germany
east, overwhichGermanculturalinappliesalso to the marchesstillfarther
fluenceonce extended,
formanytracespointingto thatheritageare stillvisible.
52 TERENCE PRITTIE (1953, 207).
53 E. LENDL (1951, 45). For a more detailed discussion of the population changes in north-west
Bohemia see the paper by A. HAMMERSCHMIDT
where,in two maps and a table of the population
figuresfor ten towns,he compares the population distributionof 1949 with that of 1930.
54 Cf. A. E. MOODIE (1954).
56 Articles in The Times, the ManchesterGuardian,and a paper by P. SCHiLLER in Erdkunde.
For details cf. bibliography.
56 Only a few examples of the recentgeographicalchanges withinMiddle Europe as conceived
by Hassinger can be given here. The topic has been dealt withmore fullyby E. LENDL, Dozent at
the Universityof Vienna.
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CENTRAL EUROPE - MITTELEUROPA - EUROPE CENTRALE
37
to gauge,butto changethe
For howlongthesetraceswillbe retainedis difficult
is alwaysa processto be measuredat least
characterof a landscapecompletely
in decadesratherthanyears.
It is possibleto use the 'vague' termMiddle Europe in a clear and unwhichkindofMiddleEurope
mannerprovidedwe expressprecisely
mistakeable
term'and 'Middle Europe in a
we mean. 'Middle Europe as a topographical
physicalsense' remainunchangedby historicalevents. 'Middle Europe in a
politicalsense' dependson thepoliticalsituationat a giventime,and at least
forthemomenthas ceased to exist. 'Middle Europeas a geographical
region'
is stillwithus, thoughsmaller,but stilla geographicalentityworthyof being
studiednot as a meregroupof states,but as a geographicalsubjectof more
lastingcharacter:a geographicalregion.
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