Abstract

As a cultural institution for debate on European history, the House of European History in Brussels is a perfect example for the complementary relation between history and the present, since its main aim, as it is being claimed, “gives visitors the opportunity to learn about European history and to engage them in critical reflection about its meaning for the present day”. The main focus of the article is the analysis of the speeches of German and Austrian MPs presented in the plenary debates of the European Parliament in spring 2011 on the expenditures on the building, in which the House of the European History is to be established. The focus of the analysis lies on the lexical level in order to prove the typical aspect of the political language in the European Parliament, which is the special mixture of various specialist languages.