Coming home to the Fatherland: The remasculinization of West Germany in the fifties

This article explores 'remasculinization' of West Germany in the 1950s. The focus of the analysis is the return of the last German POWs of the Second World War in 1955 and their presentation by the West German news media. When POWs returned from Soviet camps in 1955, they were portrayed as representatives of a variety of masculinity that was precisely what West Germany most needed. They were positioned as bearers of 'gentle power', able to offer sober reflections on Germany's past. As they were quoted in the daily press, illustrated, and newsreel footage, however, they also offered commentary on the 'economic miracle' and West German development since 1945.