So far, the GDR history education (Geschichtsdidaktik) has largely been understood as an established system or even perceived from the perspective of its “liquidation”. Almost exclusively text hermeneutic methods were used.
The present study uses alternative approaches in terms of content and methodology. It examines the roots and the beginning…[Read more]

Jubilees, anniversaries, commemoration days, public holidays, etc. Anniversaryitis. The coincidences of the calendar and the astronomical constellations that determine it are increasingly and, today, almost exclusively, defining when and with what our so-called historical consciousness occupies itself. If our current public history–our d…[Read more]

Public History scandals have occurred repeatedly in the German Bundeswehr (German armed forces) in recent years. These scandals comprised young men belonging to this modern parliamentary army who actively draw on the traditions and symbols that were once used by the National Socialist Wehrmacht. This has prompted the German Ministry of Defence to…[Read more]

Paul Feyerabend’s essay “Against method” (1975) is rarely mentioned when scientists try to contextualise and justify their research projects. Or at least I have never come across this piece as a positive reference in a proposal submitted to me for review nor have I ever heard it referred to positively in a talk. Well, except if the writer or speak…[Read more]

In his detailed keynote chapter, I undertake to restructure the terminological field, which is internationally referred to as “Public History”, but also uses terms such as “Cultural Heritage”, “Collective Memory”, “Culture of Remembrance” or “History Culture” etc. He expands on current ways of understanding the term “Public History” and the core…[Read more]

This study juxtaposes the concerns of Catholicos Timothy I (r. 780–823), leader of the Church of the East, with those of al-Jāḥiẓ (about 776–868/9), a popular Muslim writer, regarding the dangers for each community when Christians appear as plaintiffs or defendants in Islamic courts. Timothy’s Canons attempt to obviate some of the reasons…[Read more]

Outlines the restoration of the Russian film classic “Man with a Movie Camera” (USSR, 1929) by Dziga Vertov which was carried out by the EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam between 2008 and 2010. The restoration allows contemporary audiences the possibility to once again experience Vertov’s film as the filmmaker originally intended – or at least in a v…[Read more]