Research
In research and teaching, the chair is dedicated to a highly eventful and extraordinarily dynamic epoch in recent European history. This epoch was marked by contradictions like no other. The 20th century knew world wars and the Cold War on one hand and the pacification of European societies and the unification of Europe on the other. It saw extreme poverty together with the development of prosperity that was historically completely new. Fundamental upheavals and experiences of accelerated change characterized not only the catastrophic first half of the 20th century, but also – albeit far less violently – the development of European history since the 1950s.
Under these circumstances, the staff of the chair ask what is special about the 20th century and which shared experiences – not only limited to Western Europe – form the common ground of a European history. What this specifically European history is, however, can only be discovered if one repeatedly directs one's attention to non-European regions. Only from a comparative perspective does Europe emerge.
It is from this understanding of European history that the research topics of the chair emerge. One focus of its work is the history of politics in terms of cultural history and communication theory, especially in the tension between dictatorship and democracy. The social dimensions of change, in (e.g.) the manifold migratory movements or the history of consumption, but also in the history of cities, represent a further focal point. The focus is always on perceptions and experiences as reality-structuring dimensions of history.
The European societies of the 20th century can be described in a special way as media societies. Electronic media and new forms of communication determine our lives today to an extent that was unimaginable around 1900. At the same time, various forms of knowledge, science and their popularization have gained massive influence in the 20th century. This is probably where the most drastic changes took place compared to the 19th century. We therefore pay particular attention to the history of media and knowledge in Europe in the dynamic 20th century.