Historical Reenactment Clubs in Lithuania

Abstract

In Lithuania, the phenomenon of historical reenactment emerged at the end of the twentieth century, around 1990, and coincided with the restoration of Lithuania’s independence. So far, it is unknown how many clubs we have in the historical reenactment field, what kind of clubs they are, and how these clubs interact. Do these activities involve several clubs or are they a part of the global historical reenactment movement? The complex methodology used to answer these questions included observation, participatory observation, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, media analysis, analysis of Facebook profiles and websites of the clubs, and data processing tool Onodo. The data received covers the period of 2015–2019. Since the beginning of the historical reenactment movement, the number of clubs engaged in historical reconstruction has expanded. Currently, there are 41 clubs, and 13 other organizations act in the field of historical reenactment. The results of the study show that two waves can be seen in the formation of historical reenactment clubs: the first one up to 2002 and the second since 2003. According to the study, historical reenactment clubs operating in Lithuania were divided into four groups: the Baltic period, the Middle Ages, the Napoleonic era, and the Twentieth century. Typologically, historical reenactment clubs can also be classified into activity-specific groups: military, military-craft, craft, entertainment, and other organizations. Taking into account the established social communication network of the clubs (and organizations), it can be concluded that in Lithuania, historical reenactment is a movement that is most noticeable among the reconstruction clubs of the Baltic and Medieval periods.