Place, Belonging, and ‘Firestick Wisdom’:Ullrich Kockel's contribution to European Ethnology

Abstract

It is not the intention of this editorial introduction to outline all the highlights of our colleague’s career. Instead, we wish to focus on Ulli’s quest for Heimatkunde and his explorations of place and belonging at different junctures. We will also briefly introduce the contributions that have been written especially for this volume. Any editorial process involves a sharpened focus as well as a pruning of a vast contribution. Our focus on Place and Belonging inevitably means neglect of some aspects of Ulli’s research, such as the cultural dimensions of economy and the environment, sustainable local and regional development, heritage and cultural resource planning and management of heritage, and heterodox economics. We begin with locating Ulli’s research in the field of European Ethnology – as well as with his inquiry on the concepts of ‘Europe’ itself as a place