The Institute of Contemporary History (''Institut für Zeitgeschichte'') in Munich was conceived in 1947 under the name ''Deutsches Institut für Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Zeit'' ("German Institute of the History of the National Socialist Era"). Founded by the German government and the State of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

at the suggestion of the Allied Forces, it was established in 1949 and renamed in 1952. Its purpose is the analysis of contemporary

German history The Germani tribes i.e. Germanic tribes are now considered to be related to the Jastorf culture before expanding and interacting with the other peoples. The concept of a region for Germanic tribes is traced to time of Julius Caesar, a Roman gen ...

History

The institute is funded by the

German government The Federal Cabinet or Federal Government (german: link=no, Bundeskabinett or ') is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and cabinet ministers. The fundamentals of the cabinet's or ...

, and the German states of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

and

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

. The first director of the institute was

Hans Rothfels Hans Rothfels (12 April 1891 – 22 June 1976) was a German nationalist conservative historian. He supported an idea of authoritarian German state, dominance of Germany over Europe and was hostile to Germany's eastern neighbours. After his appli ...

, the second director was

Martin Broszat Martin Broszat (14 August 1926 – 14 October 1989) was a German historian specializing in modern German social history. As director of the Institut für Zeitgeschichte (Institute for Contemporary History) in Munich from 1972 until his death ...

. Representatives of the supporting states are also members of the institute's board. Dokumentationszentrum Obersalzberg

Since 1953, the institute has been publishing the journal ' (''Contemporary History Quarterly''), which is regarded as one of the most important publications of German historical research. The institute has also published extensive editions of contemporary historical documents, such as ''The Foreign Policy Files of the

Bundesrepublik Deutschland Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

'' and ''

Goebbels Diaries The Goebbels Diaries are a collection of writings by Joseph Goebbels, a leading member of the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) and the Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in Adolf Hitler's government from 1933 ...

''. In 1994, the institute founded a branch in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, which has been based near the

German Federal Archives The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv (BArch) (german: Bundesarchiv) are the National Archives of Germany. They were established at the current location in Koblenz in 1952. They are subordinated to the Federal Commissioner for Culture and t ...

since 1996. The focus of research at the Berlin branch of the institute is the history of the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

(GDR). The branch ''Abteilung des IfZ im Auswärtigen Amt'' (IfZ Department in the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

), founded in 1990 (first situated in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

; in Berlin, since 2000), publishes documents from the

German Foreign Office , logo = DEgov-AA-Logo en.svg , logo_width = 260 px , image = Auswaertiges Amt Berlin Eingang.jpg , picture_width = 300px , image_caption = Entrance to the Foreign Office building , headquarters = Werderscher Mark ...

. In 1999, the institute conceived the ''

Dokumentationszentrum Obersalzberg Dokumentation Obersalzberg is a museum in the Obersalzberg resort near Berchtesgaden, providing information on the use of the mountainside retreat by Nazi leaders, especially Adolf Hitler who regularly spent time in this area beginning in 1928. Th ...

'' museum on the

Obersalzberg Obersalzberg is a mountainside retreat situated above the market town of Berchtesgaden in Bavaria, Germany. Located about south-east of Munich, close to the border with Austria, it is best known as the site of Adolf Hitler's former mountain resi ...

near

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps, south of Berchtesgaden; the ...

at the request of the

Bavarian government The politics of Bavaria takes place within a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic, where the Federal Government of Germany exercises sovereign rights with certain powers reserved to the states of Germany inclu ...

. This exhibition documents the construction of the Obersalzberg into a showy residence for

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

leadership circles. Visitors can tour the bunker complex. Access to the bunkers was closed for construction in September 2017 and remained closed in July 2018 "until further notice".

Bibliography

* Hellmuth Auerbach, “Die Gründung des Instituts für Zeitgeschichte,” ''Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte'' 18 (1970): 529–554. * John Gimbel, "The Origins of the "Institut fuer Zeitgeschichte." Scholarship, Politics and the American Occupation of Germany, 1945–1949," ''American Historical Review'' 70 (1965), 714-731. * Hermann Graml, Hans Woller, "Fuenfzig Jahre Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte 1953-2003," ''Vierteljahrshefte fuer Zeitgeschichte'' 51 (2003), pp. 51–87. *

Horst Möller Horst Möller (born 12 January 1943 in Breslau) is a German contemporary historian. He is Professor of Modern History at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) and, from 1992 to 2011, Director of the Institut für Zeitgeschichte. Edu ...

, Udo Wengst (Eds.): ''50 Jahre Institut für Zeitgeschichte. Eine Bilanz''. München 1999,

References

External links

*
Institut für Zeitgeschichte
' Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Institut Fur Zeitgeschichte History institutes Research institutes in Germany Research institutes established in 1949 History organisations based in Germany

History

See also

Bibliography

References

External links