Key members of GD 2nd Kompanie PanzerGrenadier Regiment have been German re-enactors now for between 8-10 years, and came into the hobby during a period of great chaos and turmoil. It was around the year 2001, with the creation of film and television series such as Band of Brothers, that re-enactment as a whole began to see an influx of new members to the hobby. The professionalization of the hobby had not yet occurred, and some traditionalist re-enactors clashed with the advances in historical accuracy (primarily uniform related) and standards the new generation of re-enactor wished to introduce. Nevertheless, with the increase in interest, vendor sales began to increase and subsequently more authentic kit and equipment became available - roughly standardising the historical aesthetics of the hobby. Nevertheless re-enactors during this period conducted their hobby under multiple social motivations - and rarely connected with the external benefits of the hobby (except for the odd paid documentary program or school visit). However, in 2005 the Violent Crimes Reduction Bill was initialised which in specific terms to re-enactment - tightened restrictions on the trading and possession of replica, live firing and deactivated fire-arms. The VCR Bill therefore posed an immediate threat to re-enactment, and the hobby required a professional response to this. In 2006 GD 2nd Kompanie members, with their avid interest in the past, sought to remove themselves from the "old ways", expanding upon the termonology of "Living History", which had begun to appear in private 48 hour "living history" events. These events forced the re-enactor to live, eat, sleep and adopt the tactics used by those of whom they portrayed. Subsequently by 2007, GD 2nd Kompanie began to incorporate "living history" elements into their displays - most notably of which was a display of two opposing trench systems at the Cosby Victory Show, with GD Fusiliers and 2nd Guards (Russian) re-enactment groups working alongside.
In 2009 it was decided that GD 2nd Kompanie would officially label itself as a "Living History" group, and stand in stark contrast to traditional re-enactment, by embodying education and living-history as its primary function. What we do as re-enactors suggests we learn very little because we are acting out what has already been or something close to that. However, "living history" makes close links and connections with experimental archaeology and the experiential learning processes such as Kolb (1984). "Living History" highlights us as active agents within our hobby, showing a transition from the enactment, to the thinking, feeling, and connecting with the experiences of those who have gone before us. It may all sound like mumbo-jumbo PC gobbeldygook - but if you think about it in relation to the VCR bill, by engaging with the term "Living History", it helps to legitimise the professional and educational side of re-enactment. It shows that the hobby benefits people outside of it, and that we are a good investment resource for TV businesses, educational departments and so on.