Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Social and Economic History

Biography

Felix Römer has been a member of the Chair of Social and Economic History since 2019, currently as a Heisenberg Fellow and previously as a research assistant and deputy chair (winter semester 2021/22 and summer semester 2022). In winter semester 2022/23, he also represented the Chair of German History in the 20th Century with a focus on National Socialism at the IfG. Previously, he was a research fellow at the German Historical Institute London (2012-2019) and from 2013-2016 also a visiting lecturer at the London School of Economics and Political Science, after working at the Chair of Modern History at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz from 2008-2012.

Felix Römer was awarded the Carl Erdmann Prize for outstanding habilitation by the Association of German Historians in September 2023. He was accepted into the DFG's Heisenberg Program in August 2022. Habilitation at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Humboldt University of Berlin and award of teaching qualification for the subject of Modern and Contemporary History in April 2021. Doctoral research in Freiburg i.Brsg. and doctorate at the Christian Albrechts University of Kiel in 2007; 1999-2003 studies in Medieval and Modern History, Modern German Literature and Ancient History in Kiel and Lyon.

Research Interests

Felix Römer’s research focuses on Western European history after 1945 and on German history before 1945. He has published books and articles on the cultural and history of violence of the Nazi state, as well as on the social and intellectual history of Great Britain and West Germany. He is also currently conducting research on topics in digital history, migration history, and the history of European integration.

Recent Publications

• 'Objekte der Erinnerung: Das Rosenthal Kaffeeservice der Familie Heyd(t)', in: (Hi)stories of the German-Jewish Diaspora, 03.11.2025.
• Eva Maria Gajek, Felix Römer, 'Reichtum', in: Docupedia-Zeitgeschichte (05.03.2025).
• Martin Conway, Camilo Erlichman, Sandrine Kott, Ido de Haan, Adrian Grama, and Felix Römer, `Social Justice after the 20th Century´, ed. by Martin Conway and Camilo Erlichman, Journal of Modern European History (2025).
• 'Faktizität und Kategorienbildung in der Geschichtswissenschaft', in: VHD Journal 11 (2024), pp.26-33.
• Poverty, Inequality Statistics and Knowledge Politics Under Thatcher, in: The English Historical Review (2022).

Books

• Inequality Knowledge. The Making of the Numbers about the Gap between Rich and Poor in Contemporary Britain (Berlin: DeGruyter, 2023).
• Die narzisstische Volksgemeinschaft. Theodor Habichts Kampf, 1914 bis 1944 (Frankfurt / Main: Fischer Verlag, 2017).
• Together with Jörg Döring and Rolf Seubert, Alfred Andersch desertiert. Fahnenflucht und Literatur, 1944-1952 (Berlin: Verbrecher Verlag, 2015).
• Kameraden: Die Wehrmacht von innen (München: Piper Verlag, 2012).
• Der Kommissarbefehl: Wehrmacht und NS-Verbrechen an der Ostfront 1941/42 (Paderborn: Schöningh Verlag, 2008).

Engagement in the Discipline

• Together with Heike Wieters, co-organiser of the new VHD working group “Reading Didactics” aimed at further developing reading literacy in history studies. (link)

Research Project

The Making of Economic Inequality. A History of Knowledge about Income and Wealth Distribution in the United Kingdom since the Post-War Era
The ways in which we think and talk about economic inequality depend on knowledge and statistical measurements, which are not objective, but represent social constructs that have a history. This research project aims to historicise statistics on income and wealth distribution as well as measurements of poverty, and explore the significance of this statistical knowledge in the political culture. The analysis concentrates on the United Kingdom, but it takes a transnational perspective through comparative case studies and the inclusion of international organisations.