Noreia (60′) 4K, color, stereo, 2024
Jan Peter Hammer’s film visits a small Styrian village that, in 1930, was renamed Noreia when state archaeologist Walter Schmid argued it was the site of a Celtic capital city and a famous battle between Romans and passing Teutons. At the time, Schmid’s discovery gathered much attention in Pan-Germanic circles. Enthusiastic villagers helped him with the excavations, eventually reconstructing the “royal house.” When it threatened to fall into disrepair in the 1980s, residents founded an association to preserve the site. Archaeologists had, however, long since refuted Schmid’s claim.
The film portrays the association’s president and features small reenactments staged with its members. It also shows experts commenting on the ancient province of Noricum, particularly its weapon production, and mysterious religion. Hammer focuses on how the myth of the lost city emerged in an atmosphere of Pan-Germanism and Styrian patriotism. He traces how its meaning shifted over time from the last Habsburg prime minister’s dream of a nonimperialist Noric Republic to more recent ultranationalist fantasies.