Twentieth Century Germany

"Kurzschlüsse und Abbrüche in der musikästhetischen Argumentation in der DDR", in: Die unerträgliche Leichtigkeit der Kunst – Künste und Kunstwissenschaften in der DDR, hg. v. Michael Berg, Knut Holtsträter u. Albrecht von Massow, Köln u.a. 2007, S. 193-205.

by Knut Holtstraeter

Die Anfänge des kommerziellen Rundfunks im Saarland. Die Geschichte der Saarländischen Fernseh AG (Tele-Saar und Europe No. 1)

by Andreas Fickers

Published In Clemens Zimmermann, Rainer Hudemann, Micheal Kuderna (eds), Medienlandschaft Saar von 1945 bis in die Gegenwart. Band 1: Medien zwischen Demokratisierung und Kontrolle (1945-1955) Oldenbourg Verlag: Muenchen, pp. 241-310.

This chapter reconstructs the fascinating story of the first commercial television station in Europe: Tele-Saar.... more This chapter reconstructs the fascinating story of the first commercial television station in Europe: Tele-Saar. Funded by the French occupational government in the Saar region, the station aimed at promoting the French high-definition television system (819 lines) in Germany. In order to finance this act of technopolitical diplomacy, the French started a commercial radio station (Europe nr.1) which became one of the most popular French speaking radio stations in post-war Europe.

Prove di vincolo esterno. La Repubblica Federale Tedesca e il "compromesso storico" come problema internazionale

by Giovanni Bernardini

F. Perfetti, A. Ungari, D. Caviglia, D. De Luca (a cura di), "Aldo Moro nell'Italia contemporanea", Firenze, Le Lettere, 2011

Wilhelm II. in Bonn

by David Gillengerten

Fourth Reich or farce? The Origins, Significance and Impact of the Naumann Affair

by Guy Walters

PhD proposal

Particularly Universal? The Black Panther Party, Angela Davis, and the West German Left

by Andrew Tompkins

M.A. Thesis in History, University of Chicago (2008)

Importance of the official language in Germany after the example of the USA

by Bronislav Totskyi

Published in "The 1st International Student`s Scientific Conference on the topic “Current Issues of the Development of Law in the Time of the Czech presidency of the EU” – 2009, pp. 59-63"

I try to make a short analysis of the language sutiation and policy in USA. Therefore, I attempted to make some... more I try to make a short analysis of the language sutiation and policy in USA. Therefore, I attempted to make some assumption for the Germany situation.

“How the Federal Republic Became and Immigration Country: Norms, Politics and the Failure of West Germany’s Guest Worker System (co-authored with Karen Schönwälder).” German Politics and Society VOL. 24, No. 3 (Fall 2006): pp. 1-19.

by Phil Triadafilopoulos

“Rights, Norms, and Politics: The Case of German Citizenship Reform” (co-authored with James Ingram). Social Research, Vol. 77, No. 1 (Spring 2010): pp. 353-382.

by Phil Triadafilopoulos

Erich Retzlaff: Volksfotograf

by Christopher Webster van Tonder

Published in 'PhotoResearcher No 16 / October 2011, the journal of the European Society for the History of Photography.

Erich Retzlaff (1899-1993) is a name almost forgotten in the ever-swelling annals of the various histories of... more Erich Retzlaff (1899-1993) is a name almost forgotten in the ever-swelling annals of the various histories of photography. Yet, in the early twentieth century Retzlaff was a prolific and celebrated photographer with a publication list of over seven major volumes solely between the two world wars. Indeed, his work was well known outside of his native Germany. In addition to a growing and acclaimed repertoire of black and white studies of workers and peasants, Retzlaff was one of the first German photographers to use the ‘Agfacolor Neu’ colour film introduced in October 1936. ‘Agfacolor Neu’ was a subtractive three-layer reversal film with a single chemical process that greatly simplified the taking of vivid colour images and meant that photographers could process their own films without undue difficulties. Along with contemporaries such as Herbert Voß, Emil Grimm and Herbert Beyer, Retzlaff’s work was reproduced in a special edition, Agfacolor, das farbige Lichtbild (1938). At best, Retzlaff has now become a footnote in all the varied histories of photography. Taken in its entirety, Retzlaff’s portfolio can be read as a narrative of an era that rejected uncertainty to become a celebration of the ordinary as an extraordinary thing. Retzlaff’s work formed an integral part in a reawakening sense of place and identity during the dismal and ‘melancholic’ years of post-war hubris. Ideologically useful to National Socialism his work might have been, but like the work of most social-documentary photographers of this significant period Retzlaff’s photographs transcend the period of their creation.

Testing the FTPL across government tiers

by Peter Claeys

The Enviro-Biographical Interview: Attachment to Place in the Aftermath of Disaster

by Eleonora Rohland

Co-authored with with Maike Böcker, Gitte Cullmann, Ingo Haltermann and Franz Mauelshagen, in: Oral History and Crisis, edited by Mark Cave and Stephen Sloan. New York: Oxford University Press, in preparation.

This chapter explores the question as to why people return to or stay in a place after the oc-currence of a natural... more This chapter explores the question as to why people return to or stay in a place after the oc-currence of a natural disaster. The research for this study was conducted by the members of the research group “Memories of Disasters” which is part of the “Climate & Culture” program at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities Essen (Germany.) This initiative explores how natural disasters are remembered in different cultures and whether the experience and memory of natural disasters informs future action. The research group unites researchers from four disciplines (history, geography, ethnology and sociology) who each conducted from 60 to 80 qualitative interviews in the aftermath of a natural disaster on different continents (North America, Africa, Europe, Latin America). The calamities researched range from river floods caused by extreme rainfall (Ghana and Germany), to a hurricane and flood disaster (USA) to a volcanic eruption and consequent inundation (Chile).
The first part of this chapter presents a selection of interview excerpts from our four case studies, focusing on interviewees’ reasons to remain in/ return to disaster-prone areas. The second part introduces the interview method that was designed for this interdisciplinary and cross-cultural research endeavor, the enviro-biographical interview. We conclude by comparing culturally specific aspects of attachment to place from the four case studies.

‘Unser Freund Craxi’: la socialdemocrazia tedesca ed i mutamenti del sistema politico italiano, 1974-1978

by Giovanni Bernardini

in Annali della Fondazione Ugo La Malfa, Rome: F.U.L.M., 2006, pp. 151-180, ISSN 1826-8854

'Unser Freund Craxi': German Social Democracy and the Changes of the Italian Political System, 1974-1978 'Unser Freund Craxi': German Social Democracy and the Changes of the Italian Political System, 1974-1978

Berlin Kabaret and Athens' Theatre Revue (in Greek: Βερολινέζικο καμπαρέ και Αθηναϊκή Επιθεώρηση)

by Manolis Seiragakis

published in Το μικρόβιο του έρωτα, πρόγραμμα της σκηνής οπερέττας της ΕΛΣ, σ. 31-35

The paper examines the relationship between the two genres with was up to now out of the question due to the scorn... more The paper examines the relationship between the two genres with was up to now out of the question due to the scorn with wich theatre history scholars anticipate Greek Theatre Revue. The composer Costas Yiannides became the ideal link with his operetta "Der Liebessbazillus" and his participation in the famous art Kabaret "Wespen, Das fliegende kabaret"   

The Federal Republic of Germany and the Resistible Rise of the «Historic Compromise» in Italy (1974-1978)

by Giovanni Bernardini

in A. Varsori, G. Migani, "Europe in the International Arena during the 1970s - L'Europe sur la scène internationale dans les années 1970", Bruxelles: Peter Lang, 2011

“Italy is sick; an effective long-term therapy should be provided. Its Western partners have an important role to... more “Italy is sick; an effective long-term therapy should be provided. Its Western partners have an important role to play. But it is also urgent to cope with the present crisis: for the first time in 30 years a fundamental change in the balance of internal forces has become possible”.

(Akten zur auswärtigen Politik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (1976, Aufzeichnung des Ministerialdirektors van Well, 11 Mai 1976, doc. 135)

Introduction

As commonly acknowledged, the political, economic and social crisis that occurred in Italy in the 1970s caused concern among its major Western partners, since this crisis threatened to spread its negative effects over the stability of the continent and more generally to affect the East-West balance of power. The governments of France, Great Britain, the United States of America and the FRG shared the fear that the Italian Communist Party would exploit both its electoral successes and the apparent crisis of the center-left ruling coalition to enter the government. Thus, they rapidly came to the conclusion that a strong collective effort was needed to avert this danger.
This essay deals with the specific contribution that the government of the FRG gave to the formulation and to the implementation of this common program of action. The first part analyses the attitude of the German government toward the economic crisis that affected Italy along with other Western countries in the 1970s. The second part deals more specifically with the political challenges that the FRG found in Europe, and especially in the southern part of the continent, during the same period. The third part is devoted to the first attempt on the part of the German government to influence the evolution of the Italian crisis by taking advantage of its economic power in 1974, while the fourth will report the conclusions that Bonn drew from this unsuccessful experience. The fifth section considers, finally, the German involvement in the resolutions adopted by the four powers during and after the Puerto Rico G7 meeting to cope with the Italian crisis.

“The Path to Freedom”? Transocean and Wireless Telegraphy, 1914-1923

by Heidi Tworek

Published in Historical Social Research 35.1 (April, 2010), p. 209-236

This article examines the early years of Transocean, a news agency owned and run by the German government, and its use... more This article examines the early years of Transocean, a news agency owned and run by the German government, and its use of wireless telegraphy from 1914 to 1922. This investigation of the infancy of wireless technology demonstrates that technology plays a constitutive role in defining news. The German government used the new possibilities innate in the medium of wireless to carve out their own sphere of operation in the seas and on continents where German telegraph news had never played a major role, in particular East Asia. Wireless telegraphy enabled the German government to circumvent the British communications blockade in World War I. Afterwards, Transocean’s wireless transmissions to East Asia and ships en route caused an uproar in Britain disproportionate to its circulation. It was the Germans’ innovative use of wireless telegraphy that other nations, particularly the British, found most disturbing, rather than the content of the reports themselves.

"Für Abendländische Ethik und Kultur". Dr. Jennys Mission ist noch nicht zu Ende

by Adrian Zimmermann

published in: WOZ Nr. 15 (14.4.2011), p.5

La Spd e il socialismo democratico europeo negli anni Settanta: il caso dell’Italia

by Giovanni Bernardini

published in "Ricerche di Storia Politica", Il Mulino, 1/2010

After the end of the World War II, the SPD undertook a deep transformation, evolving from a «workers part» to a... more After the end of the World War II, the SPD undertook a deep transformation, evolving from a «workers part» to a «citizens party», which aimed at building a «Western» form of democratic socialism. This process culminated in the Congress of Bad Godesberg, when the SPD formally abandoned its Marxist tradition. The consequences were twofold. On the one hand, the Spd represented itself as a responsible political force that could credibly enter the government. On the other, the Spd began to pressure and encourage other European Social Democratic forces to follow the «German model», and marginalize the Communist parties operating in their domestic political systems. This was the case of 1970s’ Italy, where the Spd played a substantial role in influencing the Psi’s transition, particularly after the election of Bettino Craxi as General Secretary.

Due stati in Germania. La Westpolitik della Repubblica Democratica Tedesca

by Nicola Del Medico

Berufungsverfahren Ost: Der Spagat zwischen Selbst-und Fremdergänzung

by Sonja Brentjes