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"BOOKS AS MESSENGERS OF PEACE". JELLA LEPMAN'S TRAVELLING BOOK EXHIBITIONS IN POST-WAR GERMANY.

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Title: "BOOKS AS MESSENGERS OF PEACE". JELLA LEPMAN'S TRAVELLING BOOK EXHIBITIONS IN POST-WAR GERMANY.
Alternate Title: «Los libros como mensajeros de la paz». Las exposiciones itinerantes de libros de Jella Lepman en la Alemania de posguerra.
Authors: Gumirato, Cristina1 cristina.gumirato@unicatt.it
Source: Historia y Memoria de la Educación. ene-jun2026, Vol. 23, p277-310. 34p.
Subject Terms: *Children's literature, *Cultural education, *Textbooks, Peace, Traveling exhibitions, Exhibitions, Allied occupation of Germany, 1945-1955, Democracy
Geographic Terms: Munich (Germany), Western Europe, Germany, Europe
Abstract (English): In the aftermath of the second world conflict, the Allies' effort to liberate Western Europe from totalitarianisms relied on weaving a cultural fabric around democratic values and the promotion of reading amongst the wider public proved useful for such task, through the reconstruction of public libraries and the recognition of changes in the habits and needs of European readers. It is on these grounds that Jella Lepman (1891-1970), writer and journalist, set up in Germany her traveling exhibitions of international children's books, from 1946 to 1949. The propelling visionary force of her project lied in the ability to give concreteness to the effort of educating young Germans to the new democratic and pacifist values: through books as "messengers of peace", connections among very different cultural experiences could be built. The present research aims to reconstruct the history of Jella Lepman's exhibitions by analysing the quantitative and qualitative data regarding the works displayed as well as the available information on the impact these endeavours had on young visitors. The archival collection stored at Munich's Jugendbibliothek shows how extraordinarily modern the choices of the exhibiting materials and of the educational projects were, in order to invite children to engage with the books displayed, in spaces specifically tailored for them, making young readers protagonists in Europe's process of democratic renewal beyond nationalisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Abstract (Spanish): Tras la segunda guerra mundial, el esfuerzo de los Aliados por liberar a Europa Occidental de los totalitarismos pasaba por tejer un tejido cultural en torno a los valores democráticos, y la promoción de la lectura entre el gran público resultó útil para tal tarea, mediante la reconstrucción de las bibliotecas públicas y el reconocimiento de los cambios en los hábitos y necesidades de los lectores europeos. Sobre esta base, Jella Lepman (1891-1970), escritora y periodista, organizó en Alemania sus exposiciones itinerantes de libros infantiles internacionales, de 1946 a 1949. La fuerza visionaria impulsora de su proyecto residía en la capacidad de concretar el esfuerzo de educar a los jóvenes alemanes en los nuevos valores democráticos y pacifistas: a través de los libros como «mensajeros de la paz», podían establecerse conexiones entre experiencias culturales muy diferentes. La presente investigación pretende reconstruir la historia de las exposiciones de Jella Lepman analizando los datos cuantitativos y cualitativos relativos a las obras expuestas, así como la información disponible sobre el impacto que estos esfuerzos tuvieron en los jóvenes visitantes. La colección de archivos conservada en la Jugendbibliothek de Múnich muestra la extraordinaria modernidad de las elecciones de los materiales de exposición y de los proyectos pedagógicos, con el fin de invitar a los niños a comprometerse con los libros expuestos, en espacios específicamente adaptados a ellos, haciendo de los jóvenes lectores protagonistas del proceso europeo de renovación democrática más allá de los nacionalismos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Historia y Memoria de la Educación is the property of Historia y Memoria de la Educacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
Header DbId: ehh
DbLabel: Education Research Complete
An: 190599915
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: "BOOKS AS MESSENGERS OF PEACE". JELLA LEPMAN'S TRAVELLING BOOK EXHIBITIONS IN POST-WAR GERMANY.
– Name: TitleAlt
  Label: Alternate Title
  Group: TiAlt
  Data: «Los libros como mensajeros de la paz». Las exposiciones itinerantes de libros de Jella Lepman en la Alemania de posguerra.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Gumirato%2C+Cristina%22">Gumirato, Cristina</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> cristina.gumirato@unicatt.it</i>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Historia+y+Memoria+de+la+Educación%22">Historia y Memoria de la Educación</searchLink>. ene-jun2026, Vol. 23, p277-310. 34p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subject Terms
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Children's+literature%22">Children's literature</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cultural+education%22">Cultural education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Textbooks%22">Textbooks</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Peace%22">Peace</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Traveling+exhibitions%22">Traveling exhibitions</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Exhibitions%22">Exhibitions</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Allied+occupation+of+Germany%2C+1945-1955%22">Allied occupation of Germany, 1945-1955</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Democracy%22">Democracy</searchLink>
– Name: SubjectGeographic
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Munich+%28Germany%29%22">Munich (Germany)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Western+Europe%22">Western Europe</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Germany%22">Germany</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Europe%22">Europe</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract (English)
  Group: Ab
  Data: In the aftermath of the second world conflict, the Allies' effort to liberate Western Europe from totalitarianisms relied on weaving a cultural fabric around democratic values and the promotion of reading amongst the wider public proved useful for such task, through the reconstruction of public libraries and the recognition of changes in the habits and needs of European readers. It is on these grounds that Jella Lepman (1891-1970), writer and journalist, set up in Germany her traveling exhibitions of international children's books, from 1946 to 1949. The propelling visionary force of her project lied in the ability to give concreteness to the effort of educating young Germans to the new democratic and pacifist values: through books as "messengers of peace", connections among very different cultural experiences could be built. The present research aims to reconstruct the history of Jella Lepman's exhibitions by analysing the quantitative and qualitative data regarding the works displayed as well as the available information on the impact these endeavours had on young visitors. The archival collection stored at Munich's Jugendbibliothek shows how extraordinarily modern the choices of the exhibiting materials and of the educational projects were, in order to invite children to engage with the books displayed, in spaces specifically tailored for them, making young readers protagonists in Europe's process of democratic renewal beyond nationalisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract (Spanish)
  Group: Ab
  Data: Tras la segunda guerra mundial, el esfuerzo de los Aliados por liberar a Europa Occidental de los totalitarismos pasaba por tejer un tejido cultural en torno a los valores democráticos, y la promoción de la lectura entre el gran público resultó útil para tal tarea, mediante la reconstrucción de las bibliotecas públicas y el reconocimiento de los cambios en los hábitos y necesidades de los lectores europeos. Sobre esta base, Jella Lepman (1891-1970), escritora y periodista, organizó en Alemania sus exposiciones itinerantes de libros infantiles internacionales, de 1946 a 1949. La fuerza visionaria impulsora de su proyecto residía en la capacidad de concretar el esfuerzo de educar a los jóvenes alemanes en los nuevos valores democráticos y pacifistas: a través de los libros como «mensajeros de la paz», podían establecerse conexiones entre experiencias culturales muy diferentes. La presente investigación pretende reconstruir la historia de las exposiciones de Jella Lepman analizando los datos cuantitativos y cualitativos relativos a las obras expuestas, así como la información disponible sobre el impacto que estos esfuerzos tuvieron en los jóvenes visitantes. La colección de archivos conservada en la Jugendbibliothek de Múnich muestra la extraordinaria modernidad de las elecciones de los materiales de exposición y de los proyectos pedagógicos, con el fin de invitar a los niños a comprometerse con los libros expuestos, en espacios específicamente adaptados a ellos, haciendo de los jóvenes lectores protagonistas del proceso europeo de renovación democrática más allá de los nacionalismos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Historia y Memoria de la Educación is the property of Historia y Memoria de la Educacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=190599915
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.5944/hme.23.2026.39326
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 34
        StartPage: 277
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Children's literature
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Cultural education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Textbooks
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Peace
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Traveling exhibitions
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Exhibitions
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Allied occupation of Germany, 1945-1955
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Democracy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Munich (Germany)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Western Europe
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Germany
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Europe
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: "BOOKS AS MESSENGERS OF PEACE". JELLA LEPMAN'S TRAVELLING BOOK EXHIBITIONS IN POST-WAR GERMANY.
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          Name:
            NameFull: Gumirato, Cristina
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            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Text: ene-jun2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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            – TitleFull: Historia y Memoria de la Educación
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