The Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (

German 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 **Ge ...

: ''Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung'', abbreviated ''ZZF'') is an interdisciplinary

research institute A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...

focusing on the

contemporary history Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is ...

of Europe, especially Germany, and member of the

Leibniz Association The Leibniz Association (German: ''Leibniz-Gemeinschaft'' or ''Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz'') is a union of German non-university research institutes from various disciplines. As of 2020, 96 non-university research insti ...

History

The ZZF, located 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 ...

Germany 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 betwe ...

, was established in 1996 as the continuation of the

Max Planck Society The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (german: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e. V.; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. ...

research program on Contemporary History, founded in 1992. Its main operation was supported by the state of

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 ...

, with additional financial backing from the

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...

(German Research Foundation) for specific projects. Since 2009 the ZZF is a member of the

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community The Leibniz Association (German: ''Leibniz-Gemeinschaft'' or ''Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz'') is a union of German non-university research institutes from various disciplines. As of 2020, 96 non-university research insti ...

and therefore mainly funded to equal parts by the German Ministry of Education and Research and the ''Länder''. As of October 2022, its current director is Frank Bösch. Past directors include

Jürgen Kocka Professor Emeritus Jürgen Kocka (born 19 April 1941 in Haindorf, Sudetenland) is a German historian. A university professor and former president of the Social Science Research Center Berlin (2001–2007), Kocka is a major figure in the new ...

, Christoph Kleßmann, Konrad H. Jarausch, and Martin Sabrow.

Research

The centre cooperates with the doctoral programs of several universities, and other research programs. The emphasis is on production of scholarly papers and dissertations on the partition of Germany after world War II, the comparison of post-war

dictatorial A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...

regimes in

Central and Eastern Europe Central and Eastern Europe is a term encompassing the countries in the Baltics, Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Southeast Europe (mostly the Balkans), usually meaning former communist states from the Eastern Bloc and Warsaw Pact in Europe. ...

, and the history and transformation of European memory. The centre also organizes joint academic conferences, accepts

visiting scholar In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

s, and coordinates

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

s and

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

s. Additionally, the centre also engages in the production of non-academic public lectures, conferences, workshops and multimedia based websites.

Publications

The centre publishes several publications and websites: * ''Zeithistorische Forschungen / Studies in Contemporary History'', an

open access journal Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...

published also in print by

Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (V&R) is a scholarly publishing house based in Göttingen, Germany. It was founded in 1735 by (1700-1750) in connection with the establishment of the Georg-August-Universität in the same city. After Abraham Vandenhoec ...

. The journal contains both German and English articles, each with an abstract in both languages.''Zeithistorische Forschungen / Studies in Contemporary History'' was reviewed by Andrew I. Port, H-Net Reviews, July, 2009, URL
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.php?id=24748
* ''Zeithistorische Studien'' (Contemporary Historical Studies), a monograph series of which up to 2010 have been published 47 titles. * ''Geschichte der Gegenwart'' (The History of the Present), a monograph series (since 2010). * ''ZeitRäume'' (TimeSpaces), an

almanac An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is an annual publication listing a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and othe ...

. * ''Zeitgeschichte-online'' (ContemporaryHistory-online), a

web portal A web portal is a specially designed website that brings information from diverse sources, like emails, online forums and search engines, together in a uniform way. Usually, each information source gets its dedicated area on the page for displayin ...

. Sites on the portal devoted to the

Uprising of 1953 in East Germany The East German uprising of 1953 (german: Volksaufstand vom 17. Juni 1953 ) was an uprising that occurred in East Germany from 16 to 17 June 1953. It began with a strike action by construction workers in East Berlin on 16 June against w ...

17Juni53.de
and on the history of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

Chronik-der-Mauer.de
are particularly frequently used. The centre also designed the websit
Ungarn1956.de
(Hungary1956), on the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

jointly with the “ Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur” (Foundation for the Reconciliation of the SED Dictatorship) and the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin.

Notes

External links

Official Website
/
Web Portal “Zeitgeschichte-online”

Journal “Zeithistorische Forschungen / Studies in Contemporary History”
{{DEFAULTSORT:Centre For Contemporary History History institutes Research institutes in Germany Leibniz Association 1996 establishments in Germany History organisations based in Germany