Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichtswissenschaft

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichtswissenschaft
Name	Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichtswissenschaft
Native name	Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichtswissenschaft
Founded	1969
Headquarters	Bonn
President	Franziska Müller
Members	ca. 2,500

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichtswissenschaft is a German learned society for historians that brings together scholars from universities, archives, museums and research institutes to promote historical research, teaching and public communication. Founded in 1969, it positions itself within debates that involve the Bundestag, Bundesministerium des Innern, regional Landtage, and international bodies such as the International Committee of Historical Sciences and the European Science Foundation. Its activities intersect with major institutions including the Universität Heidelberg, Universität Göttingen, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, and national cultural bodies such as the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz.

Geschichte

The society was established in the aftermath of student movements of the 1960s and reforms in the Westdeutsche Hochschulen landscape, with founding figures drawn from the milieus of the Max Planck Institute for History, the Deutsches Historisches Institut Paris, the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig and provincial universities such as the Universität Bonn and Universität Münster. Early concerns included legacies of the Weimarer Republik, continuities from the Nationalsozialismus, and comparative work on the Französische Revolution and the Russische Revolution. During the 1980s and 1990s the society expanded its profile through collaborations with the Bundesarchiv, the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, and museums like the Deutsches Historisches Museum and the Hamburgisches Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte. The reunification of Germany brought renewed engagement with institutions in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, the Leibniz-Gemeinschaft and the Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.

Aufgaben und Ziele

The society aims to advance research on subjects ranging from Mittelalter studies linked to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft funding lines to modern history topics involving the Europäische Union, the Vereinte Nationen, and transnational histories connected to the British Empire and the Osmanisches Reich. It promotes critical editions, encourages archival work in the Landesarchive Nordrhein-Westfalen and the Archives Nationales, and supports curriculum development at institutions such as the Freie Universität Berlin and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Advocacy includes advising parliamentary committees, participating in debates around the Grundgesetz, influencing cultural policy with the Kultusministerkonferenz, and defending scholarly freedom in controversies involving the Bundesverfassungsgericht.

Organisation und Struktur

Organizationally the society is governed by an elected presidium, a board and specialized committees that liaise with bodies like the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz, the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, and the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig. Regional sections correspond to state-level hubs in cities such as Dresden, Köln, Frankfurt am Main, and Hamburg, while thematic working groups focus on fields connected to the Aufklärung, the Industrialisierung, diplomatic histories of the Wiener Kongress, and gendered perspectives linked to scholars at the Institut für Zeitgeschichte. Administrative offices coordinate with publishers like Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Mohr Siebeck, and De Gruyter.

Mitglieder und Mitgliedschaft

Membership includes emeriti and active professors from universities such as the Universität Tübingen, the Universität Leipzig, and the Technische Universität Dresden, curators from the Bundespräsidialamt collections, archivists from the Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, and researchers from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Honorary members have included historians associated with the Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, recipients of awards like the Leibnizpreis and the Bayerischer Maximiliansorden für Wissenschaft und Kunst, and editors of journals such as Vierteljahrschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte and Historische Zeitschrift. Admission requires nomination, endorsement by existing members, and payment of dues; student and pensioner rates align with similar societies like the Royal Historical Society and the American Historical Association.

Publikationen und Veranstaltungen

The society produces conference proceedings, monograph series, and policy briefs; its flagship journal features contributions comparable to those in the Historische Zeitschrift, the Past & Present special issues, and the Journal of Modern History. It organizes annual congresses that rotate among venues including the Alte Aula der Universität Heidelberg, the Stadtmuseum Berlin, the Schloss Gottorf and international hubs such as the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and the Columbia University. The society convenes panels on topics like the Reformation, the Dreißigjähriger Krieg, the Europäische Integration, and digital humanities initiatives in partnership with the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Humboldt-Stiftung.

Beziehungen und Kooperationen

Institutional partners include the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, the Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, the Goethe-Institut, and the European University Institute. It maintains exchange programs with the American Academy in Berlin, the British Academy, the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, and the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, and collaborates on projects with the International Committee of Historical Sciences and the Union Académique Internationale. The society also advises museums and memorials such as the Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer, the Topography of Terror, and the Stiftung Neue Synagoge Berlin – Centrum Judaicum.

Einfluss und Kritik

The society has shaped curricular standards used at the Kultusministerkonferenz and has influenced debates before the Bundesverfassungsgericht and in parliamentary commissions on restitution and provenance research involving collections connected to the Holocaust and colonial histories of the Deutsches Kolonialreich. Critics from activist collectives, scholars linked to the Postcolonial Studies network, and contributors to journals like Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte have accused parts of the membership of institutional inertia and uneven attention to non-European archives in regions such as the Global South. Defenders point to collaborative projects with the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz and grant-supported initiatives with the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung as evidence of reform and diversification.

Category:Learned societies of Germany Category:Historical societies