menu

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.

This event is on-site only and will take place in the Aula (Old Lutheran Church)

In his book, winner of the prestigious 2022 Deutscher Sachbuchpreis (German non-fiction award), Malinowski analyses the symbolic-political alliance of the Hohenzollern and the Nazis. By analyzing the family’s life in Weimar Germany and beyond he shows how it was actively involved in conservative and right-wing circles hostile to the Weimar democracy. Even before the book came out, Malinowski presented extensive evidence of the Hohenzollern family’s support for the National Socialists. For some of his statements in the media, he has since 2015 been under legal attack by the current “head of the house” Hohenzollern, who has also brought dozens of similar complaints against newspapers, radio stations, politicians and historians. The Hohenzollern aim to defend the image, carefully shaped in the past ten years, of the family’s political role as insignificant. In line with this, the last Crown Prince has even been portrayed as an active opponent of National Socialism. A juridical clarification of the Hohenzollerns’ material claims before the court in Potsdam, which will have to be based on the historians’ findings, is still pending. The next hearing will take place in the spring of 2023.

About the speakers

Stephan Malinowski studied and taught history in Berlin, France, Italy, the USA, and Ireland. Since 2012, he is a professor for European history at the University of Edinburgh. His previous book Nazis and Nobles received various awards. The expert opinion, which he prepared on behalf of the state of Brandenburg in 2014, plays an important role in the discussion about the restitution claims asserted by the “head of the house” of Hohenzollern.

Hanco Jürgens (moderator) is a member of the academic staff at the Duitsland Instituut Amsterdam. He specializes in German and modern European history. He published on a variety of topics, such as the history of Dutch German relations, German EU-policy, the Third Way, and German missionaries in India in the Eighteenth Century. Currently, he focuses on the history of Germany since the fall of the Wall.
Gerelateerde programma’s
16 12 22
Het leven van een prins in ballingschap
Bernhards oorlog

Bernhards oorlog gaat over het wonderlijke en niet zelden spectaculaire leven van de Prins der Nederlanden in de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Biograaf Dik van der Meulen gaat deze avond in gesprek over Bernhard als een complexe figuur, die opportunisme paarde aan doodsverachting; een man die egocentrisch was en tegelijk loyaal aan zijn vrienden – hoewel niet altijd aan zijn eigen echtgenote Juliana, de toekomstige koningin.

Datum
Vrijdag 16 dec 2022 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
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.

Datum
Donderdag 8 dec 2022 17:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25
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.

Datum
Dinsdag 20 sep 2022 20:00 uur
Locatie
SPUI25