Erinnerungsträger

Erinnerungsträger is a German term used in memory studies and cultural heritage to denote any agent, object, or institution that carries and transmits memory of past events. It encompasses both human bearers, such as witnesses, survivors, descendants, and communities who keep memories alive through storytelling, ritual, and education, and non-human carriers, including monuments, memorials, archives, diaries, photographs, films, and digital repositories. The concept emphasizes that memory is not only stored but actively transmitted across generations through practices, institutions, and artifacts.

In scholarly contexts, the distinction is sometimes made between mnemonic agents (human bearers) and mnemonic media (material carriers), though in practice they interact. The identification of certain memory carriers can be political, shaping collective memory and public remembrance; debates may arise over whose memories are preserved, how they are represented, and what constitutes authentic memory.

Examples include Holocaust survivors who testify about persecution, museums and memorial sites that curate exhibitions, archives that preserve documents, and cultural artifacts that symbolize traumatic events. In contemporary settings, digital memory platforms and online archives also function as Erinnerungsträger, expanding access while raising concerns about preservation, authenticity, and access.

The term underscores the responsibility of memory culture to select, present, and transmit memory in ways that respect victims, foster understanding, and avoid appropriation or distortion.