Partner Duitsland Instituut Amsterdam

Programma’s uit het verleden

22 11 24

Out of the Darkness: The Germans 1942-2022

In his new book Uit de schaduw (Out of the Darkness), historian Frank Trentmann tells the dramatic story of the German people from World War II until the fall of the Berlin Wall and the struggle to find a place in the world today. It is a story of ‘moral renewal’ towards a democratic society and a groundbreaking new view on modern Germany. This afternoon, we will discuss the book with the author.

06 11 24

Geopolitiek en de Europese Unie na de Amerikaanse verkiezingen

Hoogmoed en onmacht

Een geopolitieke speler worden op het wereldtoneel – dat is het streven van de Europese Unie. Maar kan ze haar torenhoge ambities wel waarmaken? Hoe moet de EU zich positioneren naast andere globale acteurs zoals de VS? In zijn boek Hoogmoed en onmacht onderzoekt Tom de Bruijn deze vragen vanuit historisch en persoonlijk perspectief.

**Wegens een technische storing is er helaas geen livestream mogelijk**

Een dag na de Amerikaanse presidentsverkiezingen spreken we hierover met de auteur en met gasten Kajsa Ollongren, Theresa Kuhn, Luuk van Middelaar, René Cuperus en Ton Nijhuis.

04 10 24

How to Defend Our Institutions and Values Against the Rise of the Far Right?

Empower democracy!

Together with political scientist Léonie de Jonge and blogger and activist Thomas Laschyk, we will talk about the urgent and thorny questions of how to deal with the far right in the Netherlands and Germany. What are the threats and risks to democracy, and what can we do to protect our democratic institutions and values? And what can the Netherlands and Germany learn from each other?

04 07 24

Lecture Axel Honneth

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back. Postcolonialism and the West

There are many ways to understand the theoretical and political claims of recent postcolonialism. In this lecture, Axel Honneth understands it as a powerful and fully legitimate attempt to raise awareness of the fact that colonialism is still oppressively present in the West, even in an age that presents itself as postcolonial. In order to meet this challenge, Honneth will explore in what ways European culture needs to change its own self-understanding with regard to the past, the present and the future.

01 07 24

German Climate Activism and Policy Today

After 2023 was confirmed to have been the hottest year ever recorded, NASA climate scientist Gavin Schmidt warned that “it could imply that a warming planet is already fundamentally altering how the climate system operates, much sooner than scientists had anticipated.” In this context, Sabine von Mering will provide an assessment of current German climate activism and policy, including the impact of the European parliament election of June 2024 and what will be at stake for climate policy in the German federal election of 2025.

27 06 24

Die Vorleser live

Franz Kafka

Is Kafka zware kost? Ja, zeker. Maar tegelijkertijd een bron van inspiratie, herkenning en levenslessen – voor de samenleving, het individu, de twijfelaar, de familievader. 100 jaar geleden stierf de Tsjechische schrijver Franz Kafka, maar zijn tijdloze werk raakt ons nog steeds. Daarom wijdt de literatuurpodcast Die Vorleser een speciale live-editie aan Kafka, met als gast Abdelkader Benali.

11 06 24

Duitse sporen in een voormalige Nederlandse kolonie

Berlijn ligt (ook) in Suriname

Duitse voornamen in het regenwoud? En voormalige plantages met Duitse plaatsnamen zoals Berlijn en Hildesheim? Ze zijn verrassend genoeg geen rariteit in Suriname. Want naast de koloniale macht Nederland hebben ook Duitsers hun sporen achtergelaten in het land. Zij vormden de op een na grootste groep Europeanen die zich in Suriname vestigde. Over de nog weinig onderzochte verbindingen tussen Suriname en Duitsland spreken we deze avond met Carl Haarnack, Margot van den Berg en Humphrey Lamur. Moderatie: Henning Radke.

04 06 24

Duitsers en hun democratie sinds de jaren 1980

Tausend Aufbrüche

35 jaar na de val van de Muur is het debat over de kloof tussen Oost- en West-Duitsland nog steeds springlevend. De Duitse kranten staan vol over wederzijds onbegrip en vermeende verschillen. Tijdens dit programma geeft Christina Morina een lezing naar aanleiding van haar nieuwe boek Tausend Aufbrüche: een onderzoek naar de ideeën over democratie en het zelfbeeld van burgers in Oost- en in West-Duitsland. Door haar studie van de democratie van onderaf vermijdt ze niet alleen bestaande clichés, maar trekt ze ook lijnen door naar het hedendaagse rechtspopulisme.

16 05 24

Nederlands-Duitse cultuurdialogen: Margot Dijkgraaf & Ulrike Draesner

Tijdens de Nederlands-Duitse cultuurdialogen brengen wij Nederlandse en Duitse kunstenaars en cultuurmakers bij elkaar om te spreken over hun werk en inspiratie, maar ook over het cultuurlandschap in beide landen. Welke thema’s houden cultureel Nederland en Duitsland bezig? Waar kunnen wij van de ander leren? In deze editie een dialoog tussen Margot Dijkgraaf, en Ulrike Draesner. Moderatie: Jerker Spits.

25 04 24

Heads above the Water? Writing History in the Anthropocene

Is history still relevant as accelerating climate change is rapidly transforming the world we live in? In her lecture, Sandra Maß explores the different layers of this pressing question and calls for a new type of historiography.

14 03 24

Fritz Haber (1868-1934): The Scientist Who Fed the World and Poisoned the Enemy

Hardly any biography reflects the contradictions of the early 20th century as dramatically as that of Fritz Haber. The chemist was awarded the Nobel Prize for the pioneering invention of artificial fertilisers, but he also introduced poison gas as a weapon in World War I. In this lecture, Stefan Wolff will be speaking about his research on Haber and related questions about the social responsibility of science and the influence of politics on it. Moderation: Mario Daniels.

07 03 24

Redeeming Objects: A West German Mythology

Out of the rubble of World War II and the Holocaust, the Federal Republic of Germany emerged, and with it a foundational myth of the “economic miracle.” In her new book Redeeming Objects. A West German Mythology (University of Wisconsin Press 2023) Natalie Scholz shows how this mythical foundation derived its redemptive qualities from being entangled with Nazi culture. Scholz will discuss the different dimensions of her book with Marieke Bloembergen, Carolyn Birdsall and Till van Rahden. Mario Daniels will moderate the event.

19 02 24

Never Again: Germans and Genocide after the Holocaust

Germans remember the Nazi past so that it may never happen again. But how has the abstract vow to remember been translated into concrete action to prevent new genocides abroad? In this lecture, historian Andrew Port will examine this question in relation to the genocides that took place in Cambodia, Bosnia, and Rwanda.

07 02 24

Waves of Restitution, Reparation and Cultural Memory after the Second World War

The debate on reparations and restitution for victims of war, persecution, and human rights violations remains an ongoing process. In this lecture, historian Constantin Goschler will explain why and how these debates have changed in the German context, due to a memory boom, globalisation, changes in the domestic and foreign policy, and generational shifts. Lorena De Vita will comment upon Goschler’s lecture.

11 01 24

Moderate Modernity: The Newspaper Tempo and the Transformation of Weimar Democracy

The collapse of the Weimar Republic, Germany’s first liberal democracy, is still one of the most intensely debated topics in modern history. With Western democracies currently under pressure by populists and authoritarian regimes worldwide, the question why the Weimar Republic failed has acquired renewed urgency and relevance. In his book Moderate Modernity, Jochen Hung offers a new perspective on this question. Hung will discuss his new book and the meaning of Weimar democracy for today in conversation with Moritz Föllmer and Mario Daniels.

23 11 23

Against Aggression: Monstrous and Resonant Forms of Uncontrollability

In his book The Uncontrollability of the World (2020), German sociologist Hartmut Rosa argues that the late modern human being desires to control the world. However, to truly experience “life” and achieve resonance with the world, we must be open to its uncontrollability. Tonight, Rosa will be in conversation with philosophers Daniel Loick and Beate Roessler.

21 11 23

Why we fall for it – and how we build immunity

Diagnosis: Disinformed

In all its various forms, disinformation is one of the great threats to modern democracy. Especially in times of crisis, fake news and conspiracy theories fall into fertile ground. Through new technologies and social media channels, disinformation spreads at lightning speed—and divides society. We saw that happening during the corona crisis and we see it now in the war in Ukraine. Indeed, disinformation can radicalize people and incite them to violence. Putin’s war, but also the right-wing attacks in Halle and Hanau in Germany and the burning of 5G transmission masts in the Netherlands are examples of this.

10 11 23

Op zoek naar je ambivalente familiegeschiedenis

Op de boekenmarkt doen familieverhalen het onverminderd goed: het persoonlijke verslag als prisma voor grote geschiedenis blijft een pakkend genre. Familiegeschiedenissen gaan altijd over sluimerende geheimen, morele dilemma’s en uiteindelijk over de auteur zelf – die de zoektocht onderneemt en die door dit verleden is gevormd. Naar aanleiding van het nieuwe boek van historicus Bas von Benda-Beckmann over zijn vaders familie in Nazi-Duitsland verkennen we de kunst van het optekenen van een ambivalent familieverleden.

31 10 23

Power and the Future of the Digital Society

Eaten by the Internet

Our world is eaten by the Internet. This means that those who control the Internet control the bounds of public speech, economic production, social cohesion, and politics, making its infrastructure a core political terrain in the networked age. This evening we honor a new book about the power of Big Tech and the future of the digital society, Eaten by the Internet. The discussion with the book’s authors and editor will make Internet infrastructure visible as a key force of political power and urge us to ask how can we ensure the Internet will sustain us, rather than consume us?

05 10 23

Beuys en de naoorlogse (kunst)geschiedenis: een ander perspectief

Wat is de betekenis van Joseph Beuys in de context van de naoorlogse West-Duitse kunst? In het afgelopen jaar verkenden kunstenaar Joseph Sassoon Semah en curator Linda Bouws in tentoonstellingen, debatten en performances de ontbrekende feiten in het kunsthistorisch perspectief op Joseph Beuys. Van dit project hebben zij nu een boek gemaakt. Zij gaan hierover in gesprek met Bas Marteijn, Emile Schrijver en Gregor M. Langfeld. Moderatie: Felix Rottenberg.

13 09 23

How we got here, why they matter, and what our technological future will look like

“Chip Wars”

Computer chips have taken center stage in the current geopolitical conflicts. Many debates tend to depict these issues as new challenges, but they are not. The geopolitics of computer chips has a deep and complicated history. In this sixth event of our “Geopolitics of Technology” series, we will discuss how decades of globalization have built and re-built our supply chains; why and how states have always played a key role in chip markets; and how and why concepts of economic, political and military power intersect particularly in this technological field.

29 06 23

German and Dutch Perspectives

Debating Holocaust and Colonial Memory Culture: Historikerstreit 2.0

In 2021, a heated debate ignited what the Australian historian A. Dirk Moses called “The German Catechism.” Moses criticized the German consensus on the uniqueness of the Holocaust. While defending this uniqueness, comparisons with other genocides are often not taken into account. Moses depicted German intellectuals as “high priests” who by all means defend their ideas. Simultaneously, they tend to overlook the colonial context of German atrocities in Eastern Europe, as well as wider debates on a variety of memory cultures. In his lecture, historian Michael Wildt sheds light on this new “Historikerstreit.”

31 05 23

The State of European Literature: Fatma Aydemir

Tonight, Fatma Aydemir, a major voice in German literature, will deliver the fourth State of European Literature. The State of European Literature is an annual lecture delivered by a renowned author or poet of international stature, about the state of literature and the state of Europe through the perspective of literature.

11 05 23

Amsterdam German Studies Lecture

Living in a Vortex: On Writing World History at a Time of Globalisation Blues

The glory days of globalisation are over. After the sobering experiences of the last few years, little remains of the faith that growing international exchange will foster mutual understanding and cooperation. At the same, the environmental crisis makes it ever more important to think on a global scale. Pollution knows no borders, and the same holds true for erosion, loss of biodiversity, climate change and other issues at the interface of man and the natural world. The predicament of our times urges a new type of world history. In his Amsterdam German Studies Lecture, Frank Uekötter offers a novel approach.

25 04 23

Nederlands-Duitse cultuurdialogen: Hetty Berg & Sasha Waltz

Tijdens de Nederlands-Duitse cultuurdialogen brengen wij Nederlandse en Duitse kunstenaars en cultuurmakers bij elkaar om te spreken over hun werk en inspiratie, maar ook over het cultuurlandschap in beide landen. Welke thema’s houden cultureel Nederland en Duitsland bezig? Waar kunnen wij van de ander leren? In de eerste editie een dialoog tussen Hetty Berg, directeur van het Joods Museum in Berlijn, en choreograaf Sasha Waltz, oprichter van het internationale dansgezelschap Sasha Waltz & Guests. Moderatie: Hanco Jürgens (DIA).

05 04 23

Christoph Menke in dialogue with Beate Roessler and Titus Stahl

What is Liberation?

In his latest book A Theory of Liberation (Suhrkamp, 2022), German philosopher Christoph Menke claims that we live in a time of failed liberations: Sooner or later, all attempts at liberation have produced new forms of domination and thus of servitude. Tonight, Menke discusses this topic with philosophers Titus Stahl and Beate Roessler.

23 03 23

The Geopolitics of Foreign Technologies

Europe and the Technologies of ‘Others’

In this edition of the ‘Europe and the Geopolitics of Technology’ series, experts scrutinize various urgent questions of European technology regulation. When does foreign innovation become a threat, and how do European technology regulators and publics imagine and differentiate sovereign spaces and practices of technology regulation and application? How do practices of various technology actors (private and public) produce security and sovereignty in Europe, China, Russia and beyond? And how are these spaces, digital infrastructures and practices mutually imagined, othered, and (self-)orientalized?

22 03 23

Boekpresentatie Een jager in het woud

De Frans-Duitse as van verleden naar toekomst

Na Brexit, de oorlog in Oekraïne en de Duitse Zeitenwende richt het oog zich opnieuw op de Frans-Duitse as. Kan die nog richting geven aan de toekomst van Europa en is de kloof uit hun gezamenlijk verleden definitief overbrugd? Maarten Doormans nieuwe boek Een jager in het woud is een historische röntgenfoto van de manier waarop Frankrijk en Duitsland elkaar bezien. Hij gaat hierover in gesprek met Margot Dijkgraaf, Tom de Bruijn en Joep Leerssen. Moderatie: Ton Nijhuis.

21 02 23

Een theatrale lezing van Joods-Duits toneel in negentiende-eeuws Berlijn

Mensen, apen, onrecht

Deze middag reizen wij terug in de tijd, naar het joodse Berlijn van de negentiende eeuw. Welke rol speelde het toneel in de joods-burgerlijke cultuur van toen? Een themamiddag met theatrale lezing en bijdragen van Ezra Engelsberg (DIA) en Deborah Hertz (University of California).

16 02 23

Oost versus West: percepties van ‘de Ander’ in het Europa van de 21e eeuw

Ook decennia na de val van het communisme en de Duitse eenwording bestaat nog steeds een kloof tussen Oost- en West-Europa, en tussen Oost- en West-Duitsland. Waar zit hem dat in? Historicus Beatrice de Graaf spreekt met de Duitse schrijver en publieke intellectueel Ingo Schulze over de spanningen, misverstanden en ongelijke machtsverhoudingen tussen Oost en West.

08 02 23

Politics of (Dis)Connection

The possible establishment of a sovereign internet in Russia, European initiatives on ‘Digital Sovereignty’, and the conflict between China and the United States over Huawei equipment are rekindling the discussion on splinternets and the limits to global interconnectivity.

26 01 23

The Making of Democracy in Western Europe after 1945

The Certainties of the Past?

Democracy has a long history; or, perhaps more exactly, it has a long past. The electoral and political volatility which has been evident in Europe during the first two decades of the twenty-first century has created a widespread sense that a past era of democratic certainties has ended. That generates civic and intellectual challenges for our present era. But it also enables us to reassess the supposed certainties of past history. How far can we still regard the history of Western Europe in the second half of the century as a democratic era? Or should we now see it as a similar era of political uncertainties?

12 01 23

The Hohenzollern Debate: The German Royal Family and the Nazis

In Germany, a fierce debate has recently developed on the links between the old royal family Hohenzollern and the Nazis. This issue was raised after the Hohenzollern had claimed restitution from the state for the Soviet expropriations of their property after 1945. In order to get approval for its claim, the Hohenzollern family has to prove that their ancestors did not substantially support the Nazis in their rise to power. In the ensuing legal proceedings and public discussion over this issue historians have become sought-after experts and important witnesses. Stephan Malinowski is one of them.

14 12 22

Infrastructural Distortion and Possession

Global internet infrastructure is increasingly becoming part of geopolitical conflicts. However, politics have always been an inherent part of communication infrastructures. One could even argue that the internet infrastructure has been a field of reconfiguration of global power for decades, we just failed to see it.

08 12 22

Transnationalizing the History of Germany’s First Democracy

Weimar Between East and West

For a long time, research on the Weimar Republic has implicitly assumed a comparison with Western European (liberal) democracy. More recent research emphasizes that the Weimar Republic should also and even especially be understood in the context of Central and Eastern European democracies. In this lecture, historian Thomas Mergel argues for a much broader, transnational perspective on the Weimar Republic.

23 11 22

Politics of (Dis)Connection

20 10 22

The Older Woman in West Germany and Britain, 1950s-1980s

Navigating Gender Regimes in History

While post-war social scientists and historians devoted ample time to the study of youth, older demographic groups received comparatively less attention. In contrast, in her Amsterdam German Studies Lecture, Professor Christina von Hodenberg focuses on the agency of older women in post-war West-Germany and Britain.

30 09 22

Putin’s War and Germany’s New Foreign Policy

Putin’s war against Ukraine has ushered in the dawn of a new era or ‘Zeitenwende’. This is especially the case for Germany. In this talk, Professor Gunther Hellmann (Frankfurt/Main) will argue that hints of a pending turn-around started earlier than usually perceived. He further argues that the implications of the transformation in German foreign policy will most likely be more far-reaching than often assumed.

20 09 22

How New Media Reshape Traditional News Agencies and Politics

Fake News, Lügenpresse, and Disinformation Campaigns in the US, Germany and Russia

With the coming of age of digital media, the social debates on the importance of fake news, media hoaxes and disinformation came into focus of analysts, scholars and politicians. Interestingly, this global phenomenon has had similar features while developing within various local contexts. Particularly the US, Germany and Russia are of interest, since fake news has risen in different social contexts and the concept has different meanings in these countries. Tonight, experts discuss the global influence of the new media on both traditional news-gathering and politics.

14 09 22

Why and How the United States Curtailed High Technology Trade in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Dangerous Knowledge in Postwar America

In their new groundbreaking book, Knowledge Regulation and National Security in Postwar America, Mario Daniels and John Krige set out to show the enormous political relevance that export control regulations have had for American debates about national security, foreign policy, and trade policy since 1945.