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Through books, essays, lectures and conferences, the FZH makes accessible not only the findings of its own research, but also developments in urban public affairs and the broader academic discourse. Operating since 1997 as a community foundation supported by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, it has additionally been a research facility of the University of Hamburg since 2000.
The Research Centre for Contemporary History in Hamburg (FZH)
supports research into the twentieth century with a particular focus on the history of Hamburg and Northern Germany.Through books, essays, lectures and conferences, the FZH makes accessible not only the findings of its own research, but also developments in urban public affairs and the broader academic discourse. Operating since 1997 as a community foundation supported by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, it has additionally been a research facility of the University of Hamburg since 2000.
The Committees of the FZH
The FZH is led by a management committee (Director: Prof. Dr. Axel Schildt; Deputy Director: Prof. Dr. Dorothee Wierling). Oversight is exercised by a board of trustees, chaired by the head of the city’s Department of Science and Research (currently Senator Dr. Herlind Gundelach), or a deputy thereof. An advisory panel of international scholars (Chair: Prof. Dr. Christoph Cornelißen, University of Kiel) provides guidance to the FZH on all matters of research.
Historical Memory of the City
The FZH continues a long tradition of historical research into National Socialism in Hamburg. Early attempts to analyse local manifestations of the “Third Reich” had already begun shortly after the end of the war. This led in to the founding in 1960 of the Research Centre for the History of National Socialism in Hamburg. From these modest beginnings, it grew into a historical institute earning renown across the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1966, it incorporated the Hamburg Library for Social History and the Labour Movement, including books and brochures rescued from the National Socialist era and beyond.
The initial research focus was on the development of antisemitism since the time of Imperial Germany, as well as the rise of the Hamburg branch of Nazi Party up until the nationwide takeover.
In the 1980s, attention turned to the National Socialist regime itself and the fate of Hamburg residents who had been persecuted and expelled during the “Third Reich”; this saw the beginning of the collection “Hamburg Biographies – Workshop of Memory”. Since then, research efforts have increasingly included the period after 1945. This expanded research focus was reflected by the adoption of a new name in 1997: Research Centre for Contemporary History in Hamburg (FZH).
Current lines of research
are generally designed to transcend the historiographical boundaries represented by the years 1933, 1945, and 1949. This long view on social developments allows the contextualization of National Socialism within the overall history of the twentieth century. Broader trends of the modern age thus become visible in the metropolis of Hamburg, with its relationships to the surrounding area. This strategy of focussing on local and regional history puts the experiences and perceptions of individuals and groups at the centre of interest. Research results are largely made available through three academic series published by the FZH: “Hamburg Research into Social and Contemporary History” with Wallstein Verlag of Göttingen; as well as “Forum of Contemporary History” and “Hamburg Time Traces”, both with Dölling und Galitz Verlag of Munich and Hamburg.
Library
The FZH reference library is open to members of the public, and currently offers around 84,000 books as well as some 80 current periodicals under subscription.
The collection can be browsed online at Campus Catalogue Hamburg. The primary thematic focus of the FZH library is on contemporary history, especially the history of National Socialism and the labour movement in the context of Hamburg and Northern Germany.
The following subject areas are especially prominent:
- groups and organizations dedicated to nationalism and the “völkisch” movement
- antisemitism and racial theories
- racial policy and the Holocaust
- resistance in the time of National Socialism
- churches in the “Third Reich”
- social and local histories of the twentieth century
- history of the Weimar Republic
- early history of the Federal Republic of Germany
- history of the labour movement, labour parties, and labour unions, especially in Hamburg and Northern Germany.
Furthermore, the library’s periodicals include some 650 discontinued journals, as well as around 200 business reports, 130 annuals, and 100 serial publications.
Archive
The FZH has an extensive archive containing original materials, press clippings, and pamphlets.
Among other things, the archive includes large collections on the following organizations:
- DGB - German Confederation of Trade Unions (Hamburg branch),
- SPD - Social Democratic Party of Germany (Hamburg branch),
- ZdK - Central Association of German Consumer Cooperatives
- Emergency Association of People Affected by the Nuremberg Laws
- Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation
- Working Group of Formerly Persecuted Social Democrats of Hamburg
- Communist Party of Germany (Opposition) / International Union of the Communist Opposition.
The oldest collection in our archive, the Hans Schwarz Archive on the Dachau and Neuengamme concentration camps, with documentation from Gertrud Meyer on the persecution and resistance seen in Hamburg, has been supplemented by an additional contribution from the personal estates of Hans Schwarz and Gertrud Meyer. The part of this archive relating to Neuengamme Concentration Camp has been delivered there to the memorial centre, available for viewing since autumn 2007.
An additional focus of our archive is represented by works on the history of sexuality, with the most important collection in this department being the Beate Uhse Archive.
Kontakt: fzh@zeitgeschichte-hamburg.de
The FZH is led by a management committee (Director: Prof. Dr. Axel Schildt; Deputy Director: Prof. Dr. Dorothee Wierling). Oversight is exercised by a board of trustees, chaired by the head of the city’s Department of Science and Research (currently Senator Dr. Herlind Gundelach), or a deputy thereof. An advisory panel of international scholars (Chair: Prof. Dr. Christoph Cornelißen, University of Kiel) provides guidance to the FZH on all matters of research.
Historical Memory of the City
The FZH continues a long tradition of historical research into National Socialism in Hamburg. Early attempts to analyse local manifestations of the “Third Reich” had already begun shortly after the end of the war. This led in to the founding in 1960 of the Research Centre for the History of National Socialism in Hamburg. From these modest beginnings, it grew into a historical institute earning renown across the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1966, it incorporated the Hamburg Library for Social History and the Labour Movement, including books and brochures rescued from the National Socialist era and beyond.
The initial research focus was on the development of antisemitism since the time of Imperial Germany, as well as the rise of the Hamburg branch of Nazi Party up until the nationwide takeover.
In the 1980s, attention turned to the National Socialist regime itself and the fate of Hamburg residents who had been persecuted and expelled during the “Third Reich”; this saw the beginning of the collection “Hamburg Biographies – Workshop of Memory”. Since then, research efforts have increasingly included the period after 1945. This expanded research focus was reflected by the adoption of a new name in 1997: Research Centre for Contemporary History in Hamburg (FZH).
Current lines of research
are generally designed to transcend the historiographical boundaries represented by the years 1933, 1945, and 1949. This long view on social developments allows the contextualization of National Socialism within the overall history of the twentieth century. Broader trends of the modern age thus become visible in the metropolis of Hamburg, with its relationships to the surrounding area. This strategy of focussing on local and regional history puts the experiences and perceptions of individuals and groups at the centre of interest. Research results are largely made available through three academic series published by the FZH: “Hamburg Research into Social and Contemporary History” with Wallstein Verlag of Göttingen; as well as “Forum of Contemporary History” and “Hamburg Time Traces”, both with Dölling und Galitz Verlag of Munich and Hamburg.
Library
The FZH reference library is open to members of the public, and currently offers around 84,000 books as well as some 80 current periodicals under subscription.
The collection can be browsed online at Campus Catalogue Hamburg. The primary thematic focus of the FZH library is on contemporary history, especially the history of National Socialism and the labour movement in the context of Hamburg and Northern Germany.
The following subject areas are especially prominent:
- groups and organizations dedicated to nationalism and the “völkisch” movement
- antisemitism and racial theories
- racial policy and the Holocaust
- resistance in the time of National Socialism
- churches in the “Third Reich”
- social and local histories of the twentieth century
- history of the Weimar Republic
- early history of the Federal Republic of Germany
- history of the labour movement, labour parties, and labour unions, especially in Hamburg and Northern Germany.
Furthermore, the library’s periodicals include some 650 discontinued journals, as well as around 200 business reports, 130 annuals, and 100 serial publications.
Archive
The FZH has an extensive archive containing original materials, press clippings, and pamphlets.
Among other things, the archive includes large collections on the following organizations:
- DGB - German Confederation of Trade Unions (Hamburg branch),
- SPD - Social Democratic Party of Germany (Hamburg branch),
- ZdK - Central Association of German Consumer Cooperatives
- Emergency Association of People Affected by the Nuremberg Laws
- Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation
- Working Group of Formerly Persecuted Social Democrats of Hamburg
- Communist Party of Germany (Opposition) / International Union of the Communist Opposition.
The oldest collection in our archive, the Hans Schwarz Archive on the Dachau and Neuengamme concentration camps, with documentation from Gertrud Meyer on the persecution and resistance seen in Hamburg, has been supplemented by an additional contribution from the personal estates of Hans Schwarz and Gertrud Meyer. The part of this archive relating to Neuengamme Concentration Camp has been delivered there to the memorial centre, available for viewing since autumn 2007.
An additional focus of our archive is represented by works on the history of sexuality, with the most important collection in this department being the Beate Uhse Archive.
Kontakt: fzh@zeitgeschichte-hamburg.de
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