Alternative realities : utopian thought in times of political rupture The conference had a special focus on Germany the country that witnessed five regimes over the past one hundred plus years and experienced both the heights of national euphoria and the depths of physical and moral defeat and destruction in the twentieth century ... In our call for papers we asked the conference participants to address one or more of the following questions: 1. Utopian concepts and political identities ... 2. Utopian ideas traditions and contingency ... 3. The utopian century in comparative perspective ... 4. Utopia present and future ... For this volume we selected several of the most thought provoking contributions which taken together highlight the major themes and perspectives that ran through the conference presentations and discussions divided into sections on Countercultures Ideologies and Practices and Alternative Visions. Pages 9 10 A two day conference organized by The Max Kade Institute for Austrian German Swiss Studies (USC) and The Wende Museum. Co sponsored by the German Historical Institute and the Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF). Additional support provided by the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library USC Dornsife Dean’s Office and USC Dornsife Departments of Art History History and Slavic Languages and Literature. Modern history has been marked by periodic ruptures radical changes brought on by wars revolutionary upheaval or sudden political shifts that shattered existing social and political structures and belief systems. No country has experienced this more profoundly than Germany which has witnessed five regimes across the past 100 years and experienced both the heights of national euphoria and the depths of physical and moral defeat and destruction in the twentieth century. During times of fundamental change cultural ideas and expressions pave the way for the imagination of a new order. This conference focuses on the key role of utopian visions both artistic and intellectual that changed the world from the twentieth century to the present day.