Research projects of the director Frank Bösch

Joint project
Project Management: Prof. Dr. Frank Bösch (ZZF Potsdam), Prof. Dr. Gideon Botsch (MMZ Potsdam)
Supported by the Volkswagen Foundation
The project is dedicated to the history of the radical right in both parts of Germany in the second half of the 20th century. The aim is to analyse their development comprehensively and with the support of archives, also on the basis of previously untapped sources, in the context of contemporary history. The ZZF Potsdam is working on six sub-projects.

BMBF joint project
ZZF, LMU München and FU Berlin 
Project leader at ZZF: Prof. Dr. Frank Bösch, Dr. Jürgen Danyel (until 9/2024), Christoph Classen 
The project investigates the emergence, transformation and use of GDR-related media. Mass media and private media as well as their usage environments are analysed. In the 2nd project phase 2023-25, the ZZF is working on projects by Isabel Enzenbach/Anja Tack (the exibiton-project is compleated, Dec. 2025), Tom Koltermann, Nikolai Okunew and Lea Freese-Renner.

Joint project "Drifting Apart"
Subproject at the ZZF Potsdam under the direction of Frank Bösch.

The subproject examines how international engagement with Iran has changed since the 1979 revolution. It analyzes the negotiation and enforcement of sanctions as well as the emergence of new forms of cooperation.

Postgraduate Research Group of the Hans Böckler Foundation
Project management: Frank Bösch/ZZF, Winfried Süß/ZZF (spokesman), Stefan Berger/ISB Bochum, und Andreas Wirsching/IfZ München-Berlin
Duration: 2021 - 2025 (second funding phase of the Kolleg)

During the second half of the twentieth century, technological and economic changes have induced fundamental changes in the world of labour. The four dissertation projects of Lukas Doil, Till Goßmann, Jessica Hall, and Christina Häberle are located at the ZZF Potsdam in Dept. IV "Regimes of the Social."

PhD project
Part of the collaborative research project “Where the Rich Live: Mapping Villa Neigh-borhoods and Cultures of Wealth in Germany’s Long 20th Century (RichMap),” conducted in partnership with the IRS in Erkner
Supervision: Prof. Dr. Frank Bösch (ZZF Potsdam), PD Dr. Eva Maria Gajek (IRS Erkner)

The research aims to trace the evolution of social inequality and cultural differentiation, contributing to wealth studies in Germany. 

Cooperation project
of the ZZF and the University of Potsdam
under the direction of Prof. Dr. Frank Bösch and Prof. Dr. Dominik Geppert (University Potsdam)
The project will comprehensively investigate the transformations on the basis of three individual studies. The central question is the extent to which the founding history of Potsdam University differs from the transformation processes of other East German universities. There are two PhD projects at the ZZF.