Einleitung

This chapter is an attempt to identify the position and importance of football in the collective memory of the countries of the former Eastern Bloc in the years 1945-1991, based on the concept of the "sites of memory" developed by the French historian Pierre Nora. It consists of three integrally linked sections. The first section, which is theoretical and methodological in nature, describes the phenomenon of "sites of memory" as well as its various interpretations, origins and possible uses in football research. The author strives to define the notion of the "football site of memory" and proposes two levels of analysis (integrity of the community and attitude towards social reality) which he uses to distinguish four theoretical categories of the discussed phenomenon (integration and decomposition as well as adaption and resistance). The second section is analytical and reviews and analyses the sites of memory proposed by the author and linked to the football history of Eastern Bloc countries from 1945-1991. The third section, a summary, is an attempt to givea common denominator to the previous discussion by means of proposing a homogeneous "football site of memory" shared by the entire forer Eastern Bloc and symbolising one and the same phenomenon throughout the discussed societies - a specific football topos for "people's democracies" in the Cold War period. (gekürzt)