GHI Fall Lecture Series 2011 Print
German Colonialism and the Concept of Transnational History
Organized by Hartmut Berghoff, Clelia Caruso and Uwe Spiekermann (GHI)

In 1897 Chancellor von Bülow claimed "einen Platz an der Sonne" (a place in the sun) attempting to justify the recent and, as it turned out, comparatively short-lived German imperial ambitions. By the end of World War I, Germans colonial endeavors were already a thing of the past. The former German colonies quickly merged into other European empires and German society was hardly influenced by the brief imperial episode - or so it seemed. Following the lead of recent scholarship on transnationalism the lecture series "The Aftermath of German Colonialism" reopens the case. Historians from Germany and the United States will explore whether and to what extent imperialism shaped Germany and its former colonies and possibly continues to do so.

All lectures begin at 6:30 pm (refreshments will be served from 6:00 to 6:30 pm) and will be held at the German Historical Institute, 1607 New Hampshire Avenue NW (Directions). Please RSVP (acceptances only) by Tel. 202.387.3355, Fax 202.387.6437 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

  • Modern Colonialisms and Agrarian Anxieties: How Did Industrialization Matter?
    October 20, 2011
    Speaker: Kenneth Pomeranz (University of California, Irvine)

  • Tensions of Empire and the Production of Silence: Colonial Scandals in the German Empire at 1900
    October 27, 2011
    Speaker: Rebekka Habermas (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)

  • Rethinking German Colonialism in a Global Age
    November 03, 2011
    Speaker: Sebastian Conrad (Freie Universität Berlin)

  • Love and War. Or: How to Make Use of Transnational History for German Colonialism?
    December 01, 2011
    Speaker: Birthe Kundrus (Universität Hamburg)

  • Germany and Genocide in Africa and Anatolia: Creating the Color Line and the National Line
    January 12, 2012
    Speaker: Eric Weitz (University of Minnesota)

  • Does the German Colonial Empire Strike Back? The Afterlives of German Colonialism
    January 26, 2012, Lecture and Panel Discussion
    Speaker: Andreas Eckert (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
    Panelists: Hartmut Berghoff (Chair, GHI), Martin Andjaba (Ambassador of Namibia, Washington, DC), and Cyprian Fisiy (World Bank)

In cooperation with the University of California, San Diego and University of California, Irvine, and Fritz Thyssen Foundation.

German Colonialism and the Concept of Transnational History lecture series at the University of California

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Panelists Andreas Eckert, Hartmut Berghoff, Ambassador Martin Andjaba, and Cyprian Fisiy