Esther Gajek

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Esther Gajek (* 1962 ) is a German folklorist and Germanist whose work focuses on researching the ideological penetration of Christmas , mainly during National Socialism , as well as on the creation of museum educational concepts, especially for senior citizens . Esther Gajek designed numerous exhibitions, including on the history of the Advent calendar and Christmas as well as on the topic of home .

Life

Esther Gajek studied Folklore , Social and Economic History and Modern German Literature at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich . In 1988 she completed her studies in German and Comparative Folklore, Social and Economic History and Modern German Literature with a Magister (MA) on the subject of Advent calendars from Munich templates . After completing her studies, she worked as a university assistant from 1989 to 1994. In the following period she mainly dealt with the ideologization of the Christmas festival, especially during the National Socialism. Among other things, works arose on the staging of the national community , on German studies , on the National Socialist celebration and on the secularization of the hymn in the Third Reich . In the period that followed, she designed over 100 art-historical exhibitions as a freelancer . In particular, the exhibition on the history of the Advent calendar was shown in numerous museums. At an auction she was able to acquire the estate of the pioneer of the Advent calendar, Gerhard Lang , with numerous designs, which forms an essential part of her extensive collection of over 3,000 Advent calendars.

Esther Gajek has been a lecturer at the Chair of Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Regensburg since 2001 . In 2008 she began doing a PhD on senior museum programs. Her dissertation was awarded the Arnold Vogt Prize for Museum Education in 2011 . Since 2011 she has been employed as a lecturer for special tasks at the Chair of Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Regensburg. Since September 2014, Esther Gajek has been a cooperation partner in the DFG project Precarer Retirement led by Irene Götz . Work and lifestyle of women in old age .

Esther Gajek is the spokeswoman for the Generation 60plus specialist group in the Federal Association for Museum Education and a member of the German Society for Folklore , the Regensburg Society for Folklore and the Regional Society for Homeland Care.

Exhibitions (selection)

Esther Gajek designed around 100 cultural and historical exhibitions, which were shown in the Regensburg Diocesan Museum , the Bavarian National Museum and the Halloren and Saline Museum in Halle :

  • From the senses: seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, smelling in the museum , with Brigitta Petschek-Sommer and Ulrike Schwarz
  • Support for the exhibition Christmas in Dark Times by Rita and Judith Breuer
    • 2003 Regensburg

Publications (selection)

  • Senior programs at museums: old patterns - new banks. Waxmann, Münster / New York / Munich / Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-8309-2596-5 (= Regensburger Schriften zur Volkskunde - Comparative Cultural Studies , Volume 25, also a dissertation at the University of Regensburg ).
  • Advent calendar: from the beginning to the present. Munich 1996.
  • Folklore at the universities in the Third Reich. A preliminary data collection . Munich 1986.
  • Advent calendar from Munich templates. On the past and present of a popular printmaking product. Master's thesis at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, 1988.
  • Political Christmas in antiquity and modernity: on the ideological penetration of the festival of festivals , with Richard Faber (ed.), Würzburg 1997.
  • Teddy bears: a colorful ABC. Deggendorf 1996.
  • A photo book about snowmen, women and animals , with Hermann Glombitza, Amberg 2007.
  • "Studentenfutter": what students buy and how they cook and eat (together) , with Irene Götz, Munich 1993.
  • “Celebration design” - on the development of a “new, species-specific customs born from the National Socialist worldview” at the “Rosenberg Office” . In: Stefanie v. Schnurbein, Justus H. Ulbricht (Hrsg.): Völkische Religion and Krisen der Moderne. Drafts of "native" belief systems since the turn of the century . Würzburg 2001, pp. 386-408.
  • Joseph Otto Plassmann . An academic career under National Socialism . In: Kai Detlev Sievers (ed.): Contributions to the history of science of folklore in the 19th and 20th centuries . Neumünster 1991, pp. 121-154.
  • Christmas in the Third Reich. The contribution of folklorists to the changes of Christmas . Ethnologia Europaea, Vol. XX, 1990, pp. 121-140.
  • Christmas under the Third Reich. Anthropology Today, Vol. 6, 1990, pp. 3-9.
  • Museum and department store. A broad field . In: Bärbel Kleindorfer-Marx, Klara Löffler (ed.): Museum and department store. Worlds of goods in comparison. Regensburger Schriften zur Volkskunde, Volume 15, Regensburg 2000, pp. 9-25.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ volkskunde.uni-muenchen.de: Master's theses 1987 to 1989 , accessed on December 18, 2014
  2. ^ Esther Gajek: The staging of "Volksgemeinschaft". On the ethnographic contribution to the National Socialist celebration. In: Folklore in the Third Reich. Discussions . Munich 1986, pp. 17-25.
  3. ^ Esther Gajek: Germanic Studies and National Socialism. On the interweaving of science and politics using the example of Otto Höfler . In: Richard Faber (Ed.): Political Religion - Religious Politics . Würzburg 1997, pp. 173-203.
  4. ↑ Esther Gajek: "Celebration Design" - On the development of a "new species-specific customs born out of the National Socialist worldview" at the "Rosenberg Office". Bavarian Yearbook for Folklore 2000, pp. 75–86.
  5. ^ Esther Gajek: "High Night of the Clear Stars" and other "Silent Night" of the National Socialists. In: Thomas Hochradner, Gerhard Walterskirchen (ed.): 175 years of “Silent Night! Holy Night! ”Symposium Report . Publications on the history of music in Salzburg, Volume 5, Salzburg 1994, pp. 200–220 as well as (revised and updated version in: Richard Faber (Ed.): Secularization and Resacralization. On the history of the church song and its reception . Würzburg 2001, pp. 145– 164.
  6. ↑ uni-regensburg: Vita Esther Gajek , accessed on December 18, 2014
  7. ↑ focus.de: Exhibition in Kaufbeuren shows the history of the Advent calendar , accessed on December 18, 2014
  8. ↑ arnold-vogt-preis.de: Prize Winner 2011 , accessed on December 18, 2014
  9. ↑ a b uni-regensburg: Vita Esther Gajek , accessed on December 18, 2014
  10. ↑ allgaeu-museum.de: Advent calendar - from the beginnings to the present , accessed on December 18, 2014
  11. ↑ museum-altomünster.de: Christmas exhibition , accessed on December 18, 2014
  12. ↑ schloesser-und-gaerten.de .: Advent calendar exhibition , accessed on December 18, 2014
  13. ↑ presse-augsburg.de: Secret behind little doors - On the history of the advent calendar ( Memento of the original from December 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 18, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / presse-augsburg.de
  14. ↑ Advent calendar - from the beginning to the present , accessed on December 18, 2014
  15. ↑ Freilichtmuseum.de: Home in a suitcase, home on your plate, home in the heart  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 18, 2014@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.freilichtmuseum.de  
  16. ↑ stadt-tirschenreuth.de: Special exhibition in the Museumsquartier ( Memento of the original from July 3, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 18, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.stadt-tirschenreuth.de
  17. ↑ freising-online.de: Double exhibition on the topic of “Heimat” , accessed on December 18, 2014
  18. ↑ augsburger-allgemeine.de: Teddy bears - a bear-like partner for all situations , accessed on December 18, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Gajek, Esther
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German folklorist and Germanist
DATE OF BIRTH 1962