German History as Global History: The Case of Coffee in the 20th Century

Dorothee Wierling was the Deputy Director of the Forschungsstelle für Zeitgeschichte in Hamburg (FZH) and a Professor at the University of Hamburg from 2003 to 2015. Her research has focused on the intersection of social history and the history of mentalities in the late 19th and 20th centuries. In particular, she has explored the relationship between biography and history. Her first book Mädchen für Alles. Arbeitsalltag und Lebensgeschichte städtischer Dienstmädchen um die Jahrhundertwende (1987) looked at the everyday experience of housemaids. Her habilitation was an attempt at a collective biography of GDR citizens born in 1949. Prof. Wierling has also published a history of World War I through the lens of a single family's letters. Her current research project focuses on the role Hamburg merchants played in globalizing the coffee trade and coffee consumption.

The Gerald D. Feldman Memorial Lecture was established by the Friends of the German Historical Institute in 2010 to honor the legacy and achievements of Gerald D. Feldman (1937-2007). The lecture is generously supported by the many individual donations to the Friends of the German Historical Institute. 

The lecture will be preceded by a reception with refreshments from 6:00 to 6:30 pm.