Contemporary History and Archive

In the history of the Cold War, the Global South often appears only as a theatre of bloc politics between East and West. In recent research, voices from Africa and Asia have been noted, but little is known about their interconnections. To shed light on these, the collaborative project "Crafting Entanglements: Afro-Asian Pasts of the Global Cold War", starting in July of 2023, looks at student and women's networks, media entanglements through radio stations and film festivals, and the divided city of Berlin as a site of South-South connections. more info

The baroque city church, a Wilhelminian villa, a park - such buildings are considered "authentic" and representative of cities. But what about buildings from more recent history, especially the history of the GDR? The research project "Urban Authenticity" has investigated processes of authentication and now presents the results on an interactive website. It documents the history of building and discourse on the basis of over 50 examples, mainly in Berlin-Brandenburg. Not only buildings in Berlin and Potsdam are presented, but also numerous examples in rural Brandenburg. These tell stories of eradication, but also of the preservation of built local identity. more info