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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

    Peter Haslinger beim Kolloquium des Osteuropa-Kollegs NRW

    Mit dem Vortrag "Sprache, Staat und Politik in einem mehrsprachigen Reich: Österreich-Ungarn 1867-1918" ist unser Direktor Prof. Dr. Peter Haslinger am 13. Mai 2026 zu Gast im Kolloquium des Osteuropa-Kollegs NRW "Zwischen Imperium und Nation. Sprache, Raum und Gewalt in Osteuropa", Sommersemester 2026 an der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsbibliothek, Raum 1/09
    • Vernetzung

    Launch of the Luxembourgish U-CORE Interview Collection

    The U-CORE project (Researching the Collecting, Preserving, Analysing and Disclosing of Ukrainian Testimonies of the War) is launching its interview collection with Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons on May 13, 2026. Prof. Machteld Venken will open the event with a presentation of a new integral digital workflow for testimonies of persons at risk developed in Luxembourg within the U-CORE project. She will, among others, explain how that workflow was applied to nearly 100 recorded hours comprising 81 transcribed interviews with 52 narrators from Luxembourg.
    • Neu erschienen

    Neuer Lesestoff im Blog des Leibniz-Forschungsverbundes "Wert der Vergangeheit"

    Im Blog des Leibniz-Forschungeverbundes "Wert der Vergangenheit" wurden kürzlich die Beiträge der Tagung “Deutsche Geschichte, europäische Zukunft?” veröffentlicht. Der Beitrag "Deutsche Geschichte als Problem und Ressource. Zum gesellschaftlichen Orientierungswert historischer Forschung außerhalb der Universitäten" von Joachim Berger und Gregor Feindt diskutiert Fragen, welche bei der Tagung aufgeworfen wurden und leitet eine Blogserie zur Gründung und Neuorientierung außeruniversitärer Forschungsinstitute in der BRD nach 1945 und 1989 ein.

Current events

At the Herder Institute

  • 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
  • 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
  • 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