Wegen einer internen Veranstaltung bleibt das Herder-Institut vom 17. bis zum 19. März geschlossen.
Vortragssaal und Behring-Villa
Photo credit: Vortragssaal und Behring-Villa, Foto: Claudia Junghänel, Herder-Institut

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Through its work in research, knowledge transfer, documentation, and digitalization, the Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe - Institute of the Leibniz Association supports a wide range of academic activities related to the historical and cultural development of Eastern Central Europe. Its focus is on Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia. 

An important concern is the joint research of the interrelationship between this core region and its neighbors like Ukraine in a pan-European comparative context. 

About us

News and Updates

    • Allgemeine Nachricht

    Anna Veronika Wendland am Bard College Berlin

    Post-Chornobyl Era? The crisis of nuclear modernity and its repercussions in Ukraine and beyond
    The Chornobyl nuclear plant explosion (26 April 1986) became a watershed event in the contemporary history of Ukraine, the USSR, and Eastern Europe in general. The explosion’s effects challenged scientific progress and socialist modernization under Soviet rule. This technological catastrophe of global dimension was perceived as a prelude to the collapse of the Soviet system and the resulting multifaceted transformation of the countries of Eastern Europe.
    • Vernetzung

    GenDem-Projektverbund startet Ringvorlesung "Mobilizing Gendered Nations: Anti/Feminism and Nationalism, 1900-2026"

    Die Ringvorlesung des Zentrums für Gender Studies und feministische Zukunftsforschung ist eine jährlich im Sommersemester stattfindende, interdisziplinäre Vorlesungsreihe. Sie wird 2026 mitgestaltet vom Projektverbund GenDem – Verflechtung von Antifeminismen. Expertinnen aus unterschiedlichen Fachrichtungen beleuchten ausgewählte Themen der Geschlechterforschung – von theoretischen Konzepten bis hin zu praktischen gesellschaftspolitischen Fragen.
    • Neu erschienen

    European Histories of Ukraine and the Valorization of the Past

    Issue 1/2026, vol. 75, of the Journal of East Central European Studies has just been published. Edited by Gregor Feindt and Joachim Berger, it deals with the topic “European Histories of Ukraine and the Valorization of the Past.”

Researching resources

eine Zusammenstellung von Materialien und Dias auf einem Leuchtpult

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Current events

At the Herder Institute

  • Digitale 3D-Rekonstruktion der Synagoge in Novoselytsia / Ukraine mit erhaltener Deckenmalerei im Hauptgebetsraum, D. Maksymchuk / AI MAINZ 2025

    Optimizing 3D models of endangered Cultural Heritage (Opt3D)

    This project explores how 3D digital tools can help preserve and study historical buildings, particularly Jewish heritage sites from early modern Poland-Lithuania. Many of these structures have endured significant changes due to conflicts and renovations, making their histories complex to document.
    • Infrastructure project
    • Research project
  • Logo

    GenDem – Interconnection of anti-feminisms

    What do anti-feminism, democracy, and authoritarian tendencies have in common? This question is the focus of the new LOEWE research center “GenDem.” For the first time, this research project is conducting a comparative study of anti-feminist mobilizations in various countries in Eastern and...
    • Research project
  • Die Kolossalstatue „Mutter Heimat“ auf dem Gelände des „Nationalen Museums der Geschichte der Ukraine im Zweiten Weltkrieg“ in Kyiv. Foto: National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

    Documenting Russia’s war against Ukraine

    Since Russia attacked Ukraine, events have been recorded in real time with the help of a wide variety of actors. Chat messages, social media posts, georeferenced satellite images, eyewitness interviews, and photo documentation are coming into focus as a means of researching the events. This has led...
    • Research project