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 **Ger ...

: ''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.

History

The ZZF, located in Potsdam, Germany, 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, with additional financial backing from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) for specific projects. Since 2009 the ZZF is a member of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community 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, 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 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 scholars, 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 museums. 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 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. * ''Zeitgeschichte-online'' (ContemporaryHistory-online), a web portal. Sites on the portal devoted to the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany
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 jointly with the “

Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur The Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship (german: Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur, alternatively translated as "(Federal) Foundation for the Study of Communist Dictatorship in East Germany") is a governmen ...

” (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