Above anything else, the 8. Kürassier is a social organization which serves its members by providing a means of sharing their common interest in the Great War era through research, discussion and living history interpretation.  Each member is recognized as being unique and possessing individual skills and talents.  These personal contributions are what make an organization strong and are always appreciated.

Living history interpretation is the accurate recreation of an event or era.  It can be a static display or an actor portraying an actual person.  Although there are many different ways of carrying out an interpretation (some casual, some not) the 8. Kürassier members have chosen an approach where a historical "persona" is created and used as a basis for first person portrayal.  In essence, you "become" a person of the era of the Great War.  Readers will find a persona creation sheet in the Living History Articles section of this website.

It is impossible to accurately recreate everything about the Great War.  In fact, it is doubtful whether anyone would wish to do so.  It was, after all, a terrible war.  Few people would seek to suffer to the extent the veterans (and other victims) of the war did.  We seek to recreate specific areas of their experience in an effort to understand more.  These areas include material culture, Great War era customs and practices, trench life, administrative routine, etc., etc.  The 8. Kürassier encourages its members to obtain the highest practical level of authenticity.

The 8. Kürassier actively supports the efforts of the VFW, various German Tradition organizations, and and other similar national and international organizations in their efforts to remember the veterans (of all nations) who served in the Great War.  Web sites of two organizations are of particular interest to the regiment, www.pzbtl144-344.de (a Bundeswehr era armor battalion that assumed the lineage of the 8. Kürassier) and www.volksbund.de (German War Graves Association.)