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German, European & Jewish History

Research on German, European, and Jewish history has long been a core research field at the GHI, shaped by the early and enduring involvement of prominent German-Jewish émigré historians in the institute’s establishment. Today, this research field continues to evolve as scholars at the GHI increasingly explore the transnational and global dimensions of German, Central European, and Jewish history. Our digital history projects, such as German History in Documents and Images and German History Intersections, provide key resources that reflect this transnational approach and serve as fundamental, continually updated resources for scholars in the German and North American academic communities and beyond.

Photo Credit: E. Zimmermann, Satirical Map of Europe, ca. 1914, Library of Congress.

Team

Projects

Migrant Melodies: Jewish Refugee Songs as a Transnational Archive of Emotions

Viola Alianov-Rautenberg

Jewish Relics: A Transnational History of Jewish Ritual Objects after 1945

Anna-Carolin Augustin

West German Youth and Countercultures in the Global 1960s

Isabel Richter

The Politics of Punishment: Penal Reform in Modern Germany, 1870-1970

Richard F. Wetzell

Racial Science and Nazi Biopolitics

Richard F. Wetzell

Events & Conferences

Nov 17, 2025

Washington-Area German History Seminar

Seminar at GHI Washington | Speaker: Raphael Roessel's (German Historical Institute)

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Nov 20, 2025

The German Audience for the U.S. Declaration of Independence

Online Lecture on Zoom | Speaker: Emily Sneff

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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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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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all events

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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Michelle Lynn Kahn

Foreign in Two Homelands: Racism, Return Migration, and Turkish-German History

Publications of the German Historical Institute. Cambridge University Press, 2024.

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Bulletin 73 (Spring 2024)

Forum: Antisemitism and Sexualities

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Maximilian Klose

Why They Gave: CARE and American Aid for Germany after 1945

Transatlantische Historische Studien. Band 63. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2024.

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Jan C. Jansen & Kirsten McKenzie, eds.

Mobility and Coercion in an Age of Wars and Revolutions

Publications of the German Historical Institute. Cambridge University Press, 2024.

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Michael Weaver

Political Friendship: Liberal Notables, Networks, and the Pursuit of the German Nation State, 1848-1866

Studies in German History. Vol. 29. New York: Berghahn Books, 2024.

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all publications

Latest News

Call for Papers

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

Deadline: January 16, 2026 | Workshop at UC Berkeley | November 16-17, 2026

 

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West Coast Germanists' Workshop

German History at the Crossroads? New Narratives, Perspectives and Approaches

Deadline: November 30, 2025 (deadline extended) | Eighth West Coast Germanists’ Workshop at University of Colorado Boulder | March 6 – 7, 2026

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Prize

Fritz Stern Dissertation Prize

Deadline: March 1, 2026 | The Friends of the German Historical Institute are now accepting nominations for the annual Fritz Stern Dissertation Prize.…

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Fellowship

Visiting Fellowships at the GHI

Deadline: January 12, 2026 | The GHI is now accepting applications for its 2026-2027 visiting fellow program for European and North American scholars…

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Call for Papers

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

Deadline: December 31, 2025 | Seminar at UC Berkeley | June 16-18, 2026

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