The media heritage of the GDR
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
Energy and the Environment
Economic processes always involve the consumption or conversion of energy. Historically, the composition of primary energy sources has changed significantly. Since the emergence of the environmental movement and mounting concerns about global resource limits in the 1970s, the relation between economy and ecology has become a central social and political concern. Recently, its relevance has become even more pronounced due to the effects of climate change. How did national governments and international organizations try to ensure sufficient energy supplies?
Social history of the GDR
What role did ideology and rule play in the everyday lives of GDR citizens? What social and cultural transformation processes can be observed? The topics examined here include, for example, the social history of the SED dictatorship, the transformation of the GDR state party, the history of the BND after 1968 and ideals of beauty.
Research projects of the director Frank Bösch
Prof. Dr. Frank Bösch is currently leading six projects at the ZZF that deal with the following topics: The Radical Right in Germany, 1945-2000 - Transformation in the World of Work – Media heritage of the GDR - East German universities - East German villa districts - International Institutions in Crisis
Exhibitions
The Brandenburg Museum for Future, Present, and History in Potsdam is currently (28.11.2025 until 22.03.2026) showing the exhibition “Seeking the Wide Open Spaces: Photographs of the Late GDR and Early 1990s,” curated by Anja Tack and Isabel Enzenbach.
Completed research projects of the directorate
Overview of completed research, exhibition, book and public history projects since 2011 by Director Frank Bösch, former Director Martin Sabrow (until 2021), Hanno Hochmuth and Hans-Hermann Hertle (Research Associate until 2019 and up to now Senior Fellow).
National Socialism and its Aftermath
Department IV’s researchers investigate concepts, instruments and practices of societal control and mobilisation, the interrelation between mobilisation and society’s self-interests as well as processes of ‘self-mobilisation’.
Knowledge Systems
The projects in this research area analyze how knowledge systems structure different spheres of human activity, in which they are simultaneously (re)produced. In particular, they analyze the change as well as the impact of different forms of knowledge in politics and the economy. Examining contemporary history as a whole, they place specigif emphasis on the importance of scientific knowledge for the transformation of worldviews and modes of action. In addition, they reflect upon the effects of past knowledge systems on historical scholarship and historiography.
Globalization and National Economic Policy
Since the Second World War – and with an accelerating speed since the 1970s and again the 1990 – transnational economic interdependencies increased. How did entrepreneurial and business decisions as well national and international economic policies influence this process, which is often referred to as globalization? And which consequences did it have for business and politics? How did historical actors react to ensuing crises, structural changes and new political circumstances?
Library
The ZZF's special library collects academic literature on German and European contemporary history since 1945, with a focus on social and economic history, political and cultural history and media history. International literature on the history of the division and reunification of Germany forms the core of the library, which is open to the public as a reference library in the centre of Potsdam and is available to ZZF researchers and anyone interested in contemporary history.