Professor Andreas Gestrich (born 3 July 1952) is a German historian who has been director of the

German Historical Institute London The German Historical Institute London (GHIL) is one of the nine independent academic research institutes of the German Historical Institute (german: Deutsche Historische Institute) that are part of the Max Weber Foundation. Foundation The cre ...

since September 2006.

Early life and education

Gestrich was born on 3 July 1952. He studied from 1973 to 1979 history, Latin and Russian at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

and at the Universities of Tübingen and Bristol. In 1979 he completed his studies with the first state examination for teaching at grammar schools in the subjects of history and Latin. Instead of teaching, Gestrich became a research assistant to a DFG project on the social history of childhood, youth and family at the Institute of Education at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

. In 1983 he moved to the University of Stuttgart, where he

habilitated Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

in 1992.

Career

From 1992 to 1997 Gestrich held substitute professorships in Würzburg, Karlsruhe and Trier. Since 1997 Gestrich has been professor of modern history at the

University of Trier The University of Trier (german: Universität Trier), in the German city of Trier, was founded in 1473. Closed in 1798 by order of the then French administration in Trier, the university was re-established in 1970 after a hiatus of some 172 y ...

. In September 2006 he became director of the German Historical Institute in London.Prof Dr Andreas Gestrich.
German Historical Institute London. Retrieved 4 January 2016. His research interests include the history of the family, childhood and youth, the history of poverty and poor relief, media history and the social history of religious groups.

Honours

In February 2006, Gestrich was awarded the Order of Merit of Rhineland-Palatinate. In August 2018, he was awarded the President's Medal of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

"for his contribution to the study of German and Continental European History".

Selected publications

* ''Traditionelle Jugendkultur in einer ländlicher Arbeitergemeinde Württemberg 1800-1920'' (= '' Kritische Studien zur Geschichtswissenschaft.'' Band 69). Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, Göttingen 1986, (Dissertation Universität Tübingen 1982/1983). * ''Absolutismus und Öffentlichkeit: politische Kommunikation in Deutschland zu Beginn des 18. Jahrhunderts'' (= ''Kritische Studien zur Geschichtswissenschaft.'' Band 103). Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, Göttingen 1994, (Habilitationsschrift Universität Stuttgart 1992).

References

1952 births Living people 20th-century German historians People from Ravensburg Academics of the German Historical Institute London Academic staff of the University of Trier Recipients of the President's Medal (British Academy) 21st-century German historians {{Germany-historian-stub