German Historical Institute Washington

Advancing Research, Supporting Scholars, Building Networks

German Historical Institute Washington

Research in German, European & Jewish History

German Historical Institute Washington

Research in the History of the Americas & Transatlantic History

German Historical Institute Washington

Research on Migration & Mobility

German Historical Institute Washington

Research on Empires & their Legacies

As a center for advanced historical research, the German Historical Institute Washington (GHI) has an international reputation that extends far beyond the disciplinary boundaries of history. From its two locations in Washington, DC, and Berkeley, CA, the Institute fosters innovative scholarship and dialogue that connect scholars across continents, disciplines, and generations. As a cultural ambassador, the GHI builds bridges between academic research and the public in Germany, the United States, and beyond.

Latest News

Alumni

Alumni News Roundup

Our alumni have shared several recent career updates and publications that grew out of their time at the GHI. From new academic appointments to…

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Opportunities

Two Research Fellow Positions in Modern and Contemporary History

We are hiring 2 full-time Research Fellows in modern/contemporary history starting June 1, 2026. Deadline to apply is January 11, 2026.

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New Publication

Fall 2025 Bulletin (76) issue published and available for download

The latest issue of the Bulletin is now available online for download.

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Interview with Doctoral Visiting Fellow Max Gaida

We recently sat down with Max Gaida, a doctoral student in American history at the University of Cologne, to learn more about his work and his…

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Events & Conferences

The GHI organizes international scholarly conferences, public programs and lectures on a wide variety of historical topics.

Mar 06, 2026

Eighth West Coast Germanists’ Workshop: German History at the Crossroads? New Narratives, Perspectives and Approaches

Workshop at University of Colorado Boulder | Conveners: David Ciarlo (University of Colorado Boulder), Thomas Pegelow Kaplan (University of Colorado Boulder), Isabel Richter (GHI Washington | Pacific Office, Berkeley) Raphael Rössel (GHI Washington)

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Mar 19, 2026

Listening to the Past: Digital Approaches to the History of Sound and Language

Workshop at the German Historical Institute Washington | Conveners: Hans C. Boas (University of Texas, Austin) and Atiba Pertilla (GHI Washington)

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Apr 23, 2026

Rebuild or Retreat? Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Climate Migration and Mobility in the Global North

Conference at GHI Washington | Conveners: Jana Dunz-Keck (GHI Washington) and Sarah Beringer (GHI Washington), Simon Richter (University of Pennsylvania), Andreas Hübner (Kiel University), Max Gruenig (POCACITO Network and Georgetown University, BMW Center for German and European Studies), and Brendan O’Donnell (POCACITO Network and Heinrich Böll Foundation)

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May 28, 2026

Imperial Legacies? (Dis)continuities and Comparisons between Colonialism and Nazi Rule

International Conference at the German Historical Institute Washington | Conveners: Ulrike von Hirschhausen (GHI Washington) and Robert Gerwarth (University College Dublin)

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Jun 16, 2026

31st Transatlantic Doctoral Seminar: German History from the 18th Century to the Present

Seminar at UC Berkeley | Conveners: Anna von der Goltz (Georgetown University) and Richard Wetzell (GHI Washington)

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Sep 17, 2026

The Moralization of Science

Conference at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna (Austria) | Conveners: Daniel Brewing, Moritz Fischer, Elke Seefried (RWTH Aachen), Alexander Bogner (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Axel Jansen (GHI Washington)

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Nov 16, 2026

Environments and Societies at the Crossroads: Socio-Environmental Justice in Europe and the Americas in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Workshop at UC Berkeley | Convener: Simone M. Müller (University of Augsburg), Isabel Richter (German Historical Institute Washington, Pacific Office)

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Latest Publications


Bulletin 75 (Spring 2025)

Forum: Concrete Dreams: The Built Environment and Human Behavior in Europe’s Twentieth Century

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Christina Brauner, Renate Dürr, Philip Hahn, Anne Sophie Overkamp, Simon Siemianowski, eds.

Encountering the Global in Early Modern Germany: Microhistories of Mobility, Materiality, and Belonging

Studies in German History. Vol. 30. New York: Berghahn Books, 2025.

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Bulletin 74 (Fall 2024)

Forum: European and Global Perspectives on Social Democracy and State Violence

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Latest Blogposts


Nov 28, 2025

Andreas Markus Schurr

Between Mirador and Washington: Carl Sartorius and His Collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution

Explores the life and scientific work of Carl Sartorius (1796–1872), a German émigré who transformed his Veracruz plantation, Hacienda Mirador, into a center of nineteenth-century transatlantic sc…

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Nov 06, 2025

katharina hering

The Citizen Archive Platform: Interview with Wolfram Dornik

Interview with the head of the Graz City Archives, Dr. Wolfram Dornik, about the Citizen Archive Platform (https://citizenarchive.eu/en/), a collaborative personal digital archiving platform spearhead…

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Nov 02, 2025

Lauren Rever

Hätte ich das mal eher gewusst …with Lauren Rever

Can you describe your project in three sentences and explain the digital component of your work? Each year, hundreds of thousands of American school children visit Washington, DC on overnight trips as…

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Oct 02, 2025

spiotrowski

Hätte ich das mal eher gewusst …mit Swantje Piotrowski

Kannst Du in drei Sätzen Dein Projekt vorstellen und sagen, was speziell der digitale Anteil daran war? Im Auftrag Herzogs Friedrich III. von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf reiste im November 1633 eine 3…

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Sep 15, 2025

kweickjoch

Hätte ich das mal eher gewusst …mit Katharina Weick-Joch

Kannst Du in drei Sätzen Dein Projekt vorstellen und sagen, was speziell der digitale Anteil daran war? Die Geschichte Gießens – eine bunte Universitätsstadt mitten in Hessen – wollten wir in u…

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Sep 12, 2025

Anna Derksen

Inside “Vipeholmsanstalten”: Podcasting about Institutionalization and Memory in Sweden’s Welfare State

Analyzes the effects of podcasting both on the (his)storytelling and in redressing old abuses, here specifically about Vipeholmsanstalten, a Swedish institution that housed and treated people with int…

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Aug 28, 2025

Philipp Strobl, Nikolaus Hagen

Displaced Knowledge: Migration, Memory, and Transformation: An Interview by Nikolaus Hagen with Philipp Strobl about His New Book

Philipp Strobl discusses his new book on displaced knowledge of Austrian refugees in Australia. The post Displaced Knowledge: Migration, Memory, and Transformation: An Interview by Nikolaus Hagen with…

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Aug 18, 2025

Caroline Mezger

Rumors of the Holocaust: Expressing an Unspeakable Knowledge

A contribution exploring the role of rumor in the development and articulation of knowledge on the Holocaust as it was unfolding. …

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Jul 17, 2025

Swen Steinberg

Shoes and Guns from Batawa: Refugees from Czechoslovakia, Knowledge Transfers, and Canadian Immigration from the late 1930s to the 1940s

Using the example of a group of refugees from Czechoslovakia in Canada during World War II, the author analyzes knowledge transfers through migration and their limitations in changing political and ec…

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Jun 20, 2025

Amelie Harbisch

Refugees’ Counter-Knowledge: Resisting Stereotypes, Becoming Political

Based on fieldwork for her recent book, Harbisch highlights refugees' strategies for changing the way receiving societies view them by asserting their own perspectives. The post Refugees’ Counter-Kn…

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Jun 16, 2025

Editors

Knowledge Notes

Occasional notes on calls, events, publications, and more that caught our attention. Please email us your own items. Job Opening Lund University: Associate Senior Lecturer in Global History of Know…

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Apr 10, 2025

Barnabas Balint

Knowledge and Organization of Guard Dogs in the Nazi Concentration Camps: The Hundestaffeln

In March 1943, six Russian prisoners of war escaped from a factory in Neustadt where they had been forced to work. To recapture them, the German authorities dispatched SS-Untersturmführer Koermann …

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