Mussolini's Service Calendar
PD Dr. Lutz Klinkhammer, Dr. Amedeo Osti Guerrazzi
The primary objective of the research project on Mussolini's service calendar is to provide a digital tool that allows us to understand the working methods of the fascist dictator by displaying his personal agenda. The initial phase of the project consists in cataloguing Mussolini's daily commitments on the basis of records produced by his private secretariat. The principal source is the appointment calendar compiled on a daily basis by the ...
The burden of the Axis alliance and occupation. National cultures of remembrance and German-Italian relations from 1945 to the present day
PD Dr. Lutz Klinkhammer
The shadows of the Second World War extend into the present day: political and social conflicts over the wartime past – including trials of war criminals, debates over restitution, reparations agreements, media controversies, and the image of a "clean Wehrmacht" in West Germany, alongside the narratives of the "good Italian" and the "bad German" in Italy – have significantly shaped Italian-German relations since ...
Elite change in Italy in the 20th and 21st centuries
PD Dr. Lutz Klinkhammer
Since the 19th century, deep-seated conservative forces have dominated the Italian state and its political life. Under the liberal national monarchy, the transformation of the elites was a limited phenomenon, as is already reflected in the extremely restricted right to vote. During the fascist period, the nobility and the high bourgeoisie began to face pressure, without however being completely disempowered by the regime. The fall of Mussolini ...
Capitalism, what now? Growth Strategies in Western Europe since 1979
Dr. Lars Döpking
Economically speaking, Italy has recently been through hard times. Between 1999 and 2019 annual economic growth averaged less than 0.5%, resulting in high unemployment (especially among youngsters), collapsing household savings and political upheaval. These "lost decades" between joining the euro and the turmoil of a global pandemic are generally interpreted as the result of a long historical decline. Since Italy was unable to ...
Re-constructions: Changing Times for Germany and Italy since 1989
Joint project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Resarch (BMBF)
The project "Re-Constructions of the German-Italian Academic Forum for Contemporary History and Politics", developed in cooperation with "Villa Vigoni – German-Italian Centre for European Dialogue" and funded by the BMBF, examines the patterns of reaction to political and social crises, starting from the situation triggered by the Covid-19 epidemic.
The part of the project being rolled out by DHI Rome (Max Weber ...
The Global Pontificate of Pius XII. Catholicism in a Divided World, 1945–1958
Transnational Research Group funded by the Max Weber Foundation
We are a group of historians analyzing newly available sources on Pope Pius XII in the Vatican Archives. Our team unites scholars from the German Historical Institutes in Rome and Warsaw, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the University of Oxford, KU Leuven, Fribourg University, and Collegium Carolinum Munich.
While the opening of the Apostolic Archive in 2020 has been accompanied by strong media attention and many questions about the ...
Transitional societies in comparison. Reflections on the 'saddle period' on the Italian peninsula and in Europe
PD Dr. Lutz Klinkhammer
Building on an analysis of how populations on the left bank of the Rhine in Germany and in Piedmont responded to French rule between 1789 and 1814, the project seeks to examine specific processes of state and societal transformation from the late 18th century to the Restoration. The focus lies on the genesis of new social knowledge, informed by insights into mechanisms of political reorganisation, experiences of the world, and knowledge ...
