GDR goes Glocal - Culture, Cooperation, and Conflict

13 June 2024

Photo: UHH/Inci

No single country symbolised the physical and ideological post-war division of Europe as vividly as the German Democratic Republic (GDR). And yet, despite its anti-capitalist rhetoric and the building of the Wall in 1961, the GDR was far from being an insular state. Beyond its shared culture and myriad relationships with West Germany, it also sought global recognition and international leverage with socialist and non-socialist countries alike.

GDR goes “Glocal”: Culture, Cooperation, and Conflict aims to bring together scholars from various disciplines – and at any stage in their career – to explore the GDR’s local and global relationships in all their complexity. In doing so, we hope to provide a forum for interdisciplinary discourse and work toward a nuanced and multifaceted understanding of the GDR’ international networks, partnerships, rivalries, and exchanges.

During the conference that took place in historical Warburg-Haus, researchers from Germany coming from different disciplines, as well as international researchers shared their studies. They shed light into different aspects of life in GDR; topics included labor, immigration, diversity, (health) institutions, art, and gender in GDR. We thank all participants, including CHES team, who were vital actors for this conference to take place.

Kristina Gunne, IFZ München
Falko Schnicke, Johannes Kepler Universität, Linz
Yves Müller, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie, Sachsen-Anhalt
Owen Evans, Edge Hill University
Franziska Haug, Universität Regensburg
Christian Saehrendt
Ned Richardson Little, ZZF Potsdam
Ulrich Mücke and Miene Waziri, Universität Hamburg
Samuel Uwem Umoh, University of Hradec Králové
Tom Drechsel, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena
Beatrix Hoffmann-Ihde, Universität Bonn
Lukas Bartl, Universität Erfurt
Peter Banks, Universität Hamburg
Katja Schmidt-Mai, Universität Hamburg
Kristian Handberg, University of Copenhagen
Marie Meyerding, Freie Universität Berlin
Zvonimir Glavaš, University of Zagreb
Michael Rauhut, University of Kristiansand
Mary Ikoniadou, Leeds Beckett University