Katja Hoyer (born 1985) is a German-British historian, journalist and writer.

Life and career

Hoyer was born in

Guben Guben (Polish and Sorbian: ''Gubin'') is a town on the Lusatian Neisse river in Lower Lusatia, in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. Located in the Spree-Neiße district, Guben has a population of 20,049. Along with Frankfurt (Oder) and Görlitz ...

, East Germany, where her mother was a teacher and her father an East German military officer. She received a Master's degree from the University of Jena and moved to the United Kingdom in about 2010. Hoyer is a visiting research fellow at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

and has published two books about the

history of Germany 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 gene ...

. She is also a journalist for '' The Spectator'', '' The Washington Post,'' ''Times Literary Supplement'', '' UnHerd'', and '' Die Welt''. Her first book, ''Blood and Iron'', about the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

from 1871 to 1918, was well reviewed, even though some reviewers suggested that she had played down the negative aspects of the period and of

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

's legacy. Her second book, '' Beyond the Wall'', about the history of East Germany from 1949 to 1990, was well reviewed in the United Kingdom, but less well received in Germany. Hoyer is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Works

Books

* ''Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire 1871–1918'' (The History Press, 2021) * '' Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949–1990'' (Random House, 2023)

Articles

* "Life in East Germany: the cultural evolution behind the Iron Curtain" * "What's 'wrong' with east Germany? Look to its long neglect by the wealthy west" * "There's only one way to keep Germany's far-right AfD at bay. Address the concerns it exploits."

Film

* Hoyer is acting as Lead Historical Adviser and Technical Consultant for upcoming Cold War biopic ''Whispers of Freedom''. Based on the true story of

Chris Gueffroy Chris Gueffroy (21 June 1968 – 6 February 1989) was the last person to be shot and the second-last to die in an escape attempt while trying to escape from East Berlin to West Berlin across the Berlin Wall. Biography Chris Gueffroy was bo ...

, the film stars Cameron Ashplant as Gueffroy,

Wendy Makkena Wendy Rosenberg Makkena (born October 4, 1958) is an American actress best known for playing Sister Mary Robert in the film ''Sister Act'' (1992) and its sequel '' Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit'' (1993) and numerous other roles in film and tel ...

as Karin Gueffroy, Darragh Cowley as Christian Gaudian and Paul Freeman as Erich Honecker.

References

External links

Academic Profile
at

Washington Post, Author Page
'' The Washington Post'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoyer, Katja 1985 births Living people People from Guben University of Jena alumni Academics of King's College London German historians 21st-century German historians German women historians 21st-century German women writers Fellows of the Royal Historical Society