Lilli Katharina Rast

Lilli Rast joined IRS as a research associate in the “Historical Urban and Spatial Research” Group within the “Contemporary History and Archive” Research Area in May 2025. As a doctoral candidate, she is working on the exploratory application of the thick mapping method in contemporary history as part of the Leibniz Association-funded project “Where the Rich Live: Mapping Villa Neighborhoods and Cultures of Wealth in Germany's Long 20th Century (RichMap)”.

Previously, she studied Political Science (B.A.) and Geography (B.Sc.) at Leipzig University and Urban and Regional Planning (M.Sc.) at Technische Universität Berlin, as well as spending semesters abroad at the American University of Beirut and the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. During her studies, she worked as a research assistant at the Institute of Geography at Leipzig University and in the IRS’ research area “Politics and Planning” as well as in citizen participation.

During her studies, she developed an interest in urban history. In her master’s thesis she examined the GDR home ownership programme, analysing individual homes as heritage in a dual sense as the program’s spatial remains and as sites of meaning-making for the builder-occupiers.