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German Historical Institute Washington

Advancing Research, Supporting Scholars, Building Networks

German Historical Institute Washington

Research in German, European & Jewish History

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German Historical Institute Washington

Research in the History of the Americas & Transatlantic History

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German Historical Institute Washington

Research on Migration & Mobility

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German Historical Institute Washington

Research on Empires & their Legacies

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As a center for advanced historical research, the German Historical Institute Washington (GHI) has an international reputation that extends far beyond the disciplinary boundaries of history. From its two locations in Washington, DC, and Berkeley, CA, the Institute fosters innovative scholarship and dialogue that connect scholars across continents, disciplines, and generations. As a cultural ambassador, the GHI builds bridges between academic research and the public in Germany, the United States, and beyond.

GHI Fellow Mario Peters retrieving a book from the library on a ladder Job

We are hiring 2 full-time Research Fellows in modern/contemporary history

Stefan Szymanski (University of Michigan) and Arpad von Klimó (The Catholic University of America) answering questions Video

Watch Stefan Szymanski's lecture on the surprising economics of soccer from our 2026 Spring Lecture Series

Samuel Jackisch (ARD German Radio and Television), Chukwuka Onwumechili (Howard University), and Steven Goff (Yahoo Sports) Video

Watch our fireside chat on global soccer with Steven Goff, Chukwuka Onwumechili, and Samuel Jackisch

Latest News

Opportunities

Two Research Fellow Positions in Modern and Contemporary History (19th century to the present)

We are hiring 2 full-time Research Fellows in modern/contemporary history starting January 1, 2027. Deadline to apply is August 30, 2026.

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Fellowship

Doctoral and Postdoctoral Research Fellowships

Deadline: October 1, 2026 | The GHI awards short-term fellowships to European and North American doctoral students as well as postdoctoral scholars to…

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West Coast Germanists' Workshop

Ninth West Coast Germanists’ Workshop: Borders and Belonging

Deadline: November 22, 2026 | Workshop at the University of California, Berkeley, March 12-13, 2027

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Fellowship

Fritz Thyssen Pre-Dissertation Fellowship

Deadline: November 22, 2026 | For Doctoral Students in German and European History at North-American West Coast Universities

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Events & Conferences

The GHI organizes international scholarly conferences, public programs and lectures on a wide variety of historical topics.

Sep 17, 2026

The Moralization of Science

Conference at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna (Austria) | Conveners: Daniel Brewing, Moritz Fischer, Elke Seefried (RWTH Aachen), Alexander Bogner (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Axel Jansen (GHI Washington)

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Sep 22, 2026

Scripting Silence: Animals Political and Unpolitical in Charlotte Beradt’s Dreamscape

Lecture at UC Berkeley (201 Philosophy Hall, UC Berkeley) | Speaker: Ariel Tang (Stanford University)

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Oct 05, 2026

German-American Encounters – 250 Years of Shared Histories

Panel Discussion at United Church (1920 G St NW, Washington, DC 20006)

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Oct 08, 2026

Reckoning with the Past in Germany and the United States: The Case for Thinking Comparatively about Reparative Justice

2026 Feldman Lecture at Alumni House Berkeley | Speaker: Rita Chin (University of Michigan)

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Oct 08, 2026

Flight, Exile and Emigration in Germany’s Age of Extremes: Biographical Perspectives

International workshop at Georgetown University | Conveners: Frank Biess (UC San Diego), Anna von der Goltz (Georgetown University), Simone Lässig (TU Braunschweig) and Richard Wetzell (GHI Washington)

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Nov 16, 2026

Environments and Societies at the Crossroads: Socio-Environmental Justice in Europe and the Americas in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Workshop at UC Berkeley | Convener: Simone M. Müller (University of Augsburg), Isabel Richter (German Historical Institute Washington, Pacific Office)

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Feb 25, 2027

The Violent 1950s: Towards a New History of the Global “Postwar” Decade

Conference at GHI Washington | Conveners: Andreas Greiner (GHI Washington) and Robert Kramm (University of Tübingen)

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Mar 12, 2027

Ninth West Coast Germanists’ Workshop: Borders and Belonging

Workshop at the University of California, Berkeley | Conveners: Sheer Ganor (University of Minnesota), Stefan-Ludwig Hoffmann (University of California, Berkeley), Stefan Laffin (University of California, Berkeley), and Isabel Richter (German Historical Institute Washington | Pacific Office Berkeley), in conjunction with the Townsend Working Group in German History and Culture

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Jun 11, 2027

Bloodbath Nation? Political and Social Violence in U.S. History

Annual Conference of the Historians of the German Association for American Studies (GAAS) at the Akademie für Politische Bildung, Tutzing | Conveners: Raphael Rössel (GHI Washington) and Jana Dunz-Keck (GHI Washington)

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Latest Publications

Julia Lange

Identity Trouble: Deutschamerikanische Identitätspolitiken und die Erinnerung an den Holocaust

Transatlantische Historische Studien. Band 66. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2026.

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Claudia Kreklau

The Making of Modern Eating: How the German Middle Class Forged the Way We Eat, 1780-1910

Studies in German History. Vol. 32. New York: Berghahn Books, 2026.

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Stephan H. Lindner

A History of the I.G. Farben Trial: Armament, Exploitation, Auschwitz

Studies in German History. Vol. 31. New York: Berghahn Books, 2025.

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Latest Blogposts

Jun 16, 2026

Lukas Buchholz-Hein

Hätte ich das mal eher gewusst …mit Lukas Buchholz-Hein

Kannst Du in drei Sätzen Dein Projekt vorstellen und sagen, was speziell der digitale Anteil daran war? Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843) hatte sich als studierter Arzt gegen die damals vorherrschenden …

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Jun 09, 2026

Ben Miller

Gymnastics in Motion – Migrant Knowledge and the Circulation of Turnen in Texas

Explores the "Turner" school of physical culture among German migrants to the United States …

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Jul 01, 2026

Jan Markert

„Hätte ich das mal eher gewusst …mit Jan Markert“

Kannst Du in drei Sätzen Dein Projekt vorstellen und sagen, was speziell der digitale Anteil daran war? Der erste Deutsche Kaiser Wilhelm I. (1797–1888) und seine Ehefrau Kaiserin Augusta (1811–1…

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Feb 05, 2026

Helena Friedrich Schwinghammer

Hätte ich das mal eher gewusst …mit Helena Friedrich Schwinghammer

Kannst Du in drei Sätzen Dein Projekt vorstellen und sagen, was speziell der digitale Anteil daran war? Das Vogtland war bis zur Deindustrialisierung eine Region, die lange von weiblicher Arbeit in d…

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Feb 04, 2026

Nicolas Blumenthal

Nicolas Blumenthal

Nicolas Blumenthal University of Fribourg, Switzerland Research Focus: WebsiteEmail Related Blog Posts…

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Feb 04, 2026

Nicolas Blumenthal

Challenging “Racelessness:” Debates and Restrictions on Immigration in Postwar Switzerland 

Discusses deportation practices in Switzerland since World War II…

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Feb 03, 2026

Andreas Markus Schnurr

Andreas Markus Schurr

Andreas Markus Schurr University Institute Florence, Italy Research Focus: WebsiteEmail Related Blog Posts…

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Jan 28, 2026

Jana Dunz-Keck

Hätte ich das mal eher gewusst …mit Jana Dunz-Keck

Kannst Du in drei Sätzen Dein Projekt vorstellen und sagen, was speziell der digitale Anteil daran war? Im 19. Jahrhundert schrieben Zeitungen in großem Umfang voneinander ab; Texte wurden kopiert, …

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Sep 12, 2025

Anna Derksen

Inside “Vipeholmsanstalten”: Podcasting about Institutionalization and Memory in Sweden’s Welfare State

Analyzes the effects of podcasting both on the (his)storytelling and in redressing old abuses, here specifically about Vipeholmsanstalten, a Swedish institution that housed and treated people with int…

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Aug 18, 2025

Caroline Mezger

Rumors of the Holocaust: Expressing an Unspeakable Knowledge

A contribution exploring the role of rumor in the development and articulation of knowledge on the Holocaust as it was unfolding. …

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Jun 16, 2025

Editors

Knowledge Notes

Occasional notes on calls, events, publications, and more that caught our attention. Please email us your own items. Job Opening Lund University: Associate Senior Lecturer in Global History of Know…

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Apr 10, 2025

Barnabas Balint

Knowledge and Organization of Guard Dogs in the Nazi Concentration Camps: The Hundestaffeln

In March 1943, six Russian prisoners of war escaped from a factory in Neustadt where they had been forced to work. To recapture them, the German authorities dispatched SS-Untersturmführer Koermann …

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