The Zeitgeschichtliche Forschungsstelle Ingolstadt e. V. (''Ingolstadt Research Institute for Contemporary Historical Research registered association'', ''ZFI'', also known as ''Institut für Zeitgeschichtsforschung Ingolstadt'') is a

historical revisionist In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) views held by professional scholars about a historical event or times ...

association located in Dunsdorf,

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 ...

Political orientation

The ZFI was founded in 1981 and shaped by Alfred Schickel, Hellmut Diwald and , in opposition to the renowned

Institut für Zeitgeschichte 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 Sociali ...

(Institut für Contemporary History) in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

.''Geschichtsrevisionistischer Verein''
redok, 14 December 2006 It has about 500 to 600 members. It organizes large meetings twice a year, and publishes the ''Zeitgeschichtliche Bibliothek'' and the ''ZFI-Informationen''. Stephen E. Atkins has stated that the ZFI is a Holocaust denial institution in Germany, while the head of the ZFI, Alfred Schickel, is careful to avoid German restrictions against disputing the Holocaust and has concentrated on what Atkins describes as "so-called Allied atrocities against the Germans". For instance, Schickel wrote in 1980 that the number of six millions Jews killed in the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

was "no longer advocated seriously today in contemporary historical science". "The ZFI rejects the findings of historical research, and uses ideologically based

pseudohistory Pseudohistory is a form of pseudoscholarship that attempts to distort or misrepresent the historical record, often by employing methods resembling those used in scholarly historical research. The related term cryptohistory is applied to pseudohist ...

. In doing so, it creates a "parallel universe" isolated from scholarly discourse by self-referencing to its own publications." In conferences and meetings,

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

is trivialized, and the German guilt for the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

is denied. This happens in close collaboration with periodicals such as '' Europa Vorn'', ''

Nation und Europa ''Nation Europa'' (also called ''Nation und Europa'') was a far-right monthly magazine, published in Germany. It was founded in 1951 and was based in Coburg until its closure in 2009. It is also the name of the publishing house that developed th ...

'' and ', which pursue similar goals. The founders of ZFI, who except for Schickel have died, have collaborated with historical revisionist and Radical right organizations. Former GDR policeman regarded the ZFI in 1994 as "one of the intellectual centers of

far right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

historical revisionism In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) views held by professional scholars about a historical event or times ...

in Germany".

Criticism

The ZFI was previously observed by the intelligence service of the Bavarian government. However, the ZFI no longer features in the yearly reports of the intelligence service, that depict extremist and anti-constitutional activities. In February 2007, the service stated, though, that "Publications belonging to the far right refer to the Head of the ZFI and his articles in order to propagate thoughts which are not compatible with the free democratic order." The

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...

and others have made allegations that ( CSU), Lord Mayor of Ingolstadt, has participated several times in ZFI conferences, while

Horst Seehofer Horst Lorenz Seehofer (born 4 July 1949) is a German politician who served as Minister of the Interior, Building and Community under Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), he served as the 18 ...

(CSU), the minister for food, agriculture and consumer protection, had sent a laudatory greeting to the organization. Some of the more active critics of the institution include the left-wing journalist

Anton Maegerle Anton Maegerle is the ''Pseudonym'' of a German journalist. He is also the author of books about far-right politics, right-wing radicalism, the New Right, and right-wing policy in general. Personal life Only very few personal details of his li ...

, who published his portrait of the ZFI in 1996. Its publications are widely considered to be of revisionist nature. Wolfgang Wippermann:''Verdiente Revisionisten. Alfred Schickel und die "Zeitgeschichtliche Forschungsstelle Ingolstadt (ZFI)"''. In: Johannes Klotz, Ulrich Schneider (eds.): ''Die selbstbewußte Nation und ihr Geschichtsbild.'' Köln 1997, , pp. 78-95.

Award program

Die ZFI also awards the ''Dr. Walter-Eckhardt-Ehrengabe für Zeitgeschichtsforschung'' ("Dr. Walter Eckhardt Honorary Gift for Contemporary Historical Research"). Among the recipients in the preceding years were: * Alfred Schickel (1986) *

Joachim Hoffmann Joachim Hoffmann (1 December 1930 – 8 February 2002) was a German historian who was the academic director of the German Armed Forces Military History Research Office. Life Joachim Hoffmann was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, in 1930. In ...

(1991) * (1993) * Franz W. Seidler (1998) *

Alfred-Maurice de Zayas Alfred-Maurice de Zayas (born 31 May 1947) is a Cuban-born American lawyer and writer, active in the field of human rights and international law. From 1 May 2012 to 30 April 2018, he served as the first UN Independent Expert on the Promotion o ...

(2001)

Literature

* Andreas Angerstorfer, Annemarie Dengg: ''Rechte Strukturen in Bayern. Eine Dokumentation mit Schwerpunkt Oberbayern, Oberpfalz und Niederbayern.'' Second revised edition, Munich 2005 *

: "Club der Revisionisten". '' Blick nach Rechts'' No. 25, 11 December 2006. * Bernd Wagner: ''Handbuch Rechtsextremismus - Netzwerke, Parteien, Organisationen, Ideologiezentren, Medien'', Reinbek near Hamburg 1994

References

{{Authority control Ingolstadt Far-right politics Historical revisionism Historical negationism Pseudohistory 1981 establishments in Germany Organizations established in 1981 Holocaust denial in Germany