Databases and web portals
City of Nuremberg Education Centre: The Nuremberg Trials
Information about the background to, events during, outcomes of and documents relating to the Nuremberg Trials 1945-1949.
Contemporary History online
A joint project of the Centre for Contemporary Historical Research (ZZF) and the Berlin State Library – Prussian Cultural Heritage (SBB). The objective of this thematic portal is to offer and expand a central point of entry to the WWW for contemporary historians in the German-speaking world.
German-Israeli Youth Exchange
Collection of youth encounters, skilled worker programmes, volunteer services and other projects relating to the work of supporters and organizations over the past 50 years.
Information for victims of and those affected by the repressive secret service of the SED dictatorship
This portal does not see itself as a scientific source of information, but offers facts and contemporary witness material from victims of and people affected by the Stasi.
Intelligence Service for Historians
The NFH contains collections of links, discussion forums and a daily press roundup in which those articles from German and Italian daily newspapers and magazines most relevant to historians are analysed and presented.
Israelweb – Youth Forum of the German-Israeli Society AG Hamburg
This portal provides useful information for those planning a stay in Israel, including opportunities for voluntary work, work experience and study.
LeMO: Living Virtual Museum Online
A virtual tour through 150 years of German history, from the establishment of the German Reich in the 19th century to the present day. The museum uses informative texts as well as film and audio documents which, coupled with the museum exhibits, provide a comprehensive view of history.
Schwaneberg Logistik Film Studio
Films by contemporary witnesses
Truth Commissions Digital Collection
An overview provided by the United States Institute of Peace about truth commissions worldwide. The list is given in alphabetical order by country, and contains brief information and links for further reading.
Institutions - Exchange
Action Reconciliation Service for Peace
The organization runs projects with young people involving work with survivors of the Holocaust, Jewish-Arab reconciliation initiatives in Israel, and other aspects of educational work and activities aimed at keeping alive the memories of what happened during the Second World War.
Baltic Sea Secretariat for Youth Affairs
Information about youth cooperation, NGOs and international organizations in the Baltic Sea region on a local, regional and national level.
Baltic Youth Office
A service institution affiliated with the Regional Youth Council of Schleswig-Holstein and a regional service bureau of eurodesk Germany. Eurodesk is a European youth information network with national agencies in 29 countries.
Berlin-Brandenburg Institute for Franco-German Cooperation in Europe
The Genshagen Foundation is committed to promoting dialogue between Germans and French people, and increasingly with Poles, at the civil society level.
ConAct – Coordination Centre for German-Israeli Youth Exchanges
An institution of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, ConAct supports existing contacts and attempts to suggest new ideas for exchanges with Israel.
Foundation for "Polish-German Reconciliation"
The main task of the Foundation is to make financial assistance available to victims of the Nazi regime living in Poland, though projects aimed at coming to terms with the past are also initiated.
German-Czech Exchange
"Tandem" refers to cross-border youth exchange between the Czech Republic and Germany. The organization supports teachers and youth leaders who are interested in their neighbouring country.
German-French Youth Organization
The DFJW promotes youth exchanges between Germany and France, supporting both the processes of preparing for and subsequent analysis of the encounters.
German-Israeli Society
The goal of the German-Israeli Society (DIG) is to promote both German-Israeli and German-Jewish relations and activate these in all areas of society.
German-Polish Youth Academy
The aim of the DPJA is to bring young people in Poland and Germany closer together, increase their understanding of one another, encourage reconciliation and help build a free, undivided and democratic Europe.
German-Polish Youth Organization
This organization provides grants to promote exchange and other programmes for young people from Germany and Poland.
German-Russian Exchange
Through its voluntary work in Berlin, the DRA promotes the integration of Russian-speaking migrants and finds positions for volunteers wishing to work in action groups between Western and Eastern Europe.
German-Russian Youth Exchange Foundation
The Foundation helps young people from Germany and Russia to get to know one another. Its aim is to encourage joint activities, thereby contributing to the establishment of lastingt relationships between Germany and Russia.
House for German-Polish Cooperation
A hitherto unique, cross-party initiative of Polish and German foundations, institutions and organizations aimed at promoting German-Polish relations and understanding.
MitOst e.V., Association for Language and Cultural Exchanges in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe
An association for language and cultural exchanges in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, founded by scholarship holders from the Robert Bosch Foundation. The association's work is focused on voluntary exchange and cultural projects.
Theodor-Heuss-Kolleg of the Robert Bosch Foundation
The college, named after Theodor Heuss, encourages young people from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to shape their environment, learn about the rules of democracy and take on duties involving responsibility.
Research Institutions
Auschwitz
This research and work centre presents numerous articles for learning about the history of National Socialism and the Holocaust.
Center for Interdisciplinary Memory Research
In numerous projects, the CMR investigates the formation and transgenerational transmission of memory and the long-term effects of collective experience of violence.
Centre for Anti-Semitism Research
The ZfA is the only institute of its kind to conduct interdisciplinary research and teaching about prejudice and its consequences, e.g. anti-Semitism, xenophobia and racism.
Centre for Contemporary History Research, Potsdam
The central focus of the scientific work conducted by the Centre is comparative research into the history of the Soviet occupied zone and the GDR, comparing dictatorships with National Socialism and with the states of Central Eastern and Eastern Europe, and investigating the history of inner-German relations.
Essen Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities
The KWI is an interdisciplinary research institute for the humanities and cultural sciences. The research focus is on memory and cultures of responsibility.
Georg-Eckert Institute for International Text Book Research
The Institute conducts research into teaching materials in the subjects of history, geography and social studies, and is involved in numerous projects with international partners.
Hannah-Arendt-Institute for Research on Totalitarianism at the Technical University of Dresden
The Institute devotes itself mainly to a systematic investigation of communism and national socialism. Part of the research institute's work is to critically appraise political extremism in history and the present day.
Institute of Contemporary History
Research institute, archive and library for research into and information about contemporary history.
Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies
The Max Weber Centre is a central research and teaching institute, similar to a faculty, at Erfurt University. It focuses on topics in the fields of sociology, philosophy, religious science, law, economics and history.
Research and Work Centre for »Education according to/via the Hamburg Institute for Social Research«
A foundation whose job is to allocate and run scientific research projects and organize conferences and workshops in the field of social research. Focal topics are the Society of the FRG, Nation and Society, and Violence.
Study and Documentation Centre: Fritz Bauer Institute
The Institute conducts interdisciplinary research into the history and effects of the mass crimes committed by the Nazi regime, especially the Holocaust, and communicates the results of this research to the public. It views itself as the interface between scientific theory and cultural practice.
Government Institutions
Association for Information and Advice for Nazi Persecutees
The Association advises and informs Nazi persecutees from all walks of life about any entitlement they may have to compensation.
Foundation for the Examination and Reappraisal of the Communist Dictatorship in East Germany
A foundation directly accountable to the Federal Government which promotes and supports projects focusing on investigations of GDR society, victim's organizations, scientific research and political education. In addition, the Foundation contributes to the maintenance, collection and documentation of materials concerning resistance and opposition to the SED dictatorship.
Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future"
The foundation operates as a grant-giving foundation. It has a legal mandate to promote projects that serve the purposes of better understanding among peoples, the interests of survivors of the National Socialist regime, youth exchange, social justice, remembrance of the threat posed by totalitarian systems and despotism, and international humanitarian cooperation.
Office of the Federal Commissioner for the Files of the State Security Service of the former GDR
The BStU maintains in its archives the files of the former secret police and intelligence service of the GDR, making them available for different purposes to the public, other authorities and companies in accordance with strict legal regulations.
“Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” Foundation
The purpose of the Foundation is to make financial assistance available to victims of the Nazi regime. However, it also promotes projects that serve the purposes of better understanding among peoples, the interests of survivors of the NS regime, youth exchange, and remembrance of the threat posed by totalitarian systems.
Museums and Memorials
Allied Museum
The activities of the Allied Museum are founded in the "Charta for an Allied Museum in Berlin". This states that the museum's mission is to document the role of the Western forces and their commitment to Berlin and Germany as a whole in the years from 1945 to 1994, portraying this in exhibitions and events.
Anne Frank Centre, Berlin
The AFZ provides materials, seminars and further education for young people and adults in the area of historical and political education and intercultural learning.
Berlin “Hohenschönhausen” Memorial
The site of the main remand prison for people detained by the former East German Ministry of State Security has been a memorial since 1994. The Memorial's charter entrusts it with the task of researching the history of the Hohenschönhausen prison between 1945 and 1989, supplying information via exhibitions, events and publications, and encouraging a critical awareness of the methods and consequences of political persecution and suppression in the communist dictatorship.
Berlin Wall Documentation Center
The Documentation Center provides an overview of and information about the history of the Berlin Wall. It also houses a permanent exhibition documenting the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. In the visitors' archive, visitors are free to research text, audio, film and photographic documents relating to the history of Bernauer Strasse.
Foundation "House of History of the Federal Republic of Germany"
This site provides information about the wide variety of exhibitions organized by the Haus der Geschichte (House of History) of the Federal Republic of Germany.
German Historical Museum
The German Historical Museum is devoted to enlightenment and communication about the shared history of Germans and Europeans. Besides a permanent exhibition, the museum also features many temporary exhibitions.
German-Russian Museum
A museum in which the former enemies jointly remember the Second World War and National Socialist regime.
House of the Wannsee Conference
On 20 January 1942, fifteen high-ranking civil servants and SS officers met in this house to discuss plans of "The Final Solution" of the Jewish question in Europe, the decision to deport the Jews of Europe to the East and murder them. On the 50th anniversary of the conference, a memorial and educational centre was opened in the villa in 1992.
Jewish Museum Berlin
The museum presents the visitor with two millennia of German-Jewish history. It houses a permanent exhibition, a variety of special exhibitions, an extensive archive, the Rafael Roth Learning Center and research institutions.
Marienfelde Transit Camp Memorial
The permanent exhibition at this memorial of national import features 900 exhibits spread over 450 sq m on the history of East German refugees in West Berlin. A great many original documents, photographs, items from the Marienfelde transit camp and various personal effects of the refugees’ offer wide-ranging insights into this very moving chapter of recent German history.
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in the centre of Berlin is Germany's central Holocaust memorial site, a place for remembrance and commemoration of over six million victims.
Museums and Memorials to German Post-War History
An overview of museums and memorials to German post-war history, listed by topic and region/state.
NS Memorial Sites and Documentation Centres in Germany
This site lists by state all the NS memorial sites and documentation centres throughout Germany.
Saxon Memorials Foundation
This site provides an overview of memorial sites in the state of Saxony that recall violent political crimes whose importance reaches beyond the borders of the region and are of particular historical significance; that recall political persecution, state terror and state-organized murder.
Stasi Museum Berlin
The museum is located in House 1 of the central complex of the Ministry for State Security in Berlin-Lichtenberg. Work rooms and offices can be visited. There are also exhibits relating to the activities of the State Security Service, different aspects of the political system and resistance and opposition in the GDR.
Wall Museum/Museum at Checkpoint Charlie
A museum situated at the original site of Checkpoint Charlie housing an exhibition of the Berlin Wall's history and events.
Projects and Initiatives
Association Against Oblivion – For Democracy
The Association provides material for schools, training and further education and on the current discussion of right-wing extremism. It supports projects and action groups which focus on local and regional German history and/or make a stand against political extremism, racism, xenophobia and exclusion of minorities.
Association for the Examination and Reappraisal of the Damage Caused by the SED Dictatorship
The Association aims to help people who are continuing to suffer as a result of the despotic acts of the SED regime. The goal is to raise public awareness for the achievements of those who during the period of the GDR dictatorship made sacrifices for the sake of liberty and human rights.
Berlin History Workshop
Events and materials relating to the history of Berlin.
Civic Action Group "15th January"
The aim of the group is to reveal the abuse of power by the SED and its supporting organizations.
Crushed History
Projects by Horst Hoheisel and Andreas Knitz
ERA - European Resistance Archive
Individual stories, video interviews, documenting the resistance against fascism brought over Europe during Word War II
German Foundation for the Preservation of Memorials
A platform allowing charitable associations and individuals to present their initiatives – initially mainly in the Berlin region – for the preservation of memorials and monuments.
History Experienced – Living Design
A project which uses new media to document stories told by those who experienced National Socialism for themselves and makes these accessible to the public. All thematic clips are presented in chronological order and can be listened to or viewed.
History Workshop Europe
The programme supports international history workshops that critically examine ideologically or nationalistically driven interpretations of history, and attempts to highlight the common European dimension of national, regional and local history.
Meeting "Signs of Life to Dresden"
The interest group »13 February 1945« was founded in 1990, and since 1985 has conducted research into the history of the city of Dresden during the Second World War.
Project "Criminal Law in Reaction to State Crime" of the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law – Freiburg
The aim of the project is to address the question of how national and/or international law should be (re)structured in order to ensure the prosecution of state-backed crime following political system changes in the future, without at the same time rendering reconciliation and settlement impossible.
Shoa.de
This German-language Internet portal provides information about the Holocaust, and features a search engine with 800 relevant links.
Stumbling Blocks – An Art Project for Europe
This project aims to keep alive the memory of the Jews, gypsies, politically persecuted, homosexuals, Jehovah's witnesses and euthanasia victims deported and murdered under the National Socialist regime.
The Berlin Wall – A Web Photo Exhibition
A web photo exhibition about the Berlin Wall.
Union of the Victims of Communist Tyranny
The UOKG is committed to fighting left- and right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism. Its aim is to promote the care and welfare of victims of political persecution and their graves, to conduct research into unresolved individual fates and to establish memorial sites.
Young Paths in Europe – A Programme of the Robert Bosch Foundation
The competition "Young Paths in Europe" offers pupils and young people from Germany and Central and Eastern Europe the chance to realize their ideas, interests and expectations for the future in joint projects.
