Collage aus 3 Fotos: 1. Gefangennahme jugendlicher deutscher Soldaten durch US-Truppen ohne weitere Angaben März/April 1945, 2. Ehemalige sowjetische Kriegsgefangene entfernen den Stacheldraht im von der US-Armee befreiten Kriegsgefangenenlager Stalag VI in Hemer. Datum der Aufnahme: 29. April 1945, 3. Mädchen vor eingerüsteten Häusern auf dem Alten Markt in Warschau, 1953

Photo credit:

Rechte vorbehalten: dpa/Privatarchiv Joseph R. Carr, USA / Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung

1945: End of the War, Liberation, Occupation

Copernico brings history to life

Organizations from the field of science and who work with communication and education around cultural heritage have joined to present information about the common history and the shared cultural heritage in Eastern Europe in a way that is both attractive and scientifically sound.

About us

Eine künstlerisch bearbeitete Fotografie einer Gebirgslandschaft im südlichen Polen

Childhood and Youth

Background Article
A Little Mole and So Much More
Children’s Media in Socialist Czechoslovakia
What role did children's media play in Czechoslovakia? To what extent were socialist views of the individual and society, or even political events, reflected in them? A small creature living in the soil can provide information about this.
Martina Winkler
Background Article
Still a Child or Already an Adult?
Experiencing Childhood and Youth in Upper Silesia During the Second World War
For children and adolescents, growing up during a time of armed conflict often means a loss of innocence and facing difficulties on various levels. The role of young Polish people in Upper Silesia changed significantly during the Second World War and often involved abstaining from education and...
Izabela Paszko
Background Article
Flirting on the ice
German-Baltic Memoirs About Ice-Skating in the 19th and Early 20th Century
By the 19th century, ice skating had developed into a fashionable pastime for the upper classes. The skating rink became an important public space, where social hierarchies, moral values and notions of gender manifested themselves. In the Baltic states too, skating was an integral part of the lives...
Anja Wilhelmi
Background Article
“Widdewidde wie sie uns gefällt” – “Just how we like it”.
How Authors from Kazakhstan are Creating New Identities Through Children's Books
Children’s and young adult books play a special role in their adolescent readers’ search for identity. The example of Kazakhstan shows how positive social visions for a country and its diverse society can be created and communicated especially in fantastic and fairytale-like works.
Nina Frieß
Background Article
“Feminine Virtues” and “Untamable Masculinity”
Sex Education for Polish Youth, as it was and as it is Today
Historically, Sex Education has primarily been a subject that teaches important basic knowledge about human reproduction and health. However, by making both indirect and direct statements on gender roles, it also acts as a lens through which we can examine underlying societal values and images that...
Elisa-Maria Hiemer

On the Road to Freedom

The struggle for liberation in Eastern Europe 1989–1991

To the storymap

Menschen auf dem Baltischen weg halten sich an den Händen und schwenken litauische Flaggen

(Post)colonial Eastern Europe

Introduction
Colonialism, Racism and Eastern Europe
Problem definition
Eastern Europe continues to occupy a marginal position in debates on (post-)colonialism and racism. At the same time, the example of Germany demonstrates how long-standing the tradition of devaluation is, and the influence it continues to have to this day. An extension of our perspective on...
Hans-Christian Petersen
Background Article
"Wherever the Russian settles in Asia, the country immediately becomes Russian." (Dostoevsky)
The “civilizing mission” of the Russian Empire in Central Asia in the 19th century
The Russian Empire's conquest of Central Asia began with the capture of the city of Tashkent in 1865. Numerous reasons have been put forward for the gradual but continual expansion that followed, but the term “civilizing mission” stands out in particular. What was the intention behind this...
Antonia Schlotter
Background Article
Entangled Narratives of Colonialism
Promoting Overseas and Continental Expansion in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany’s eastern expansion has meant the Nazi goal of Lebensraum (living space) is often solely associated with Eastern Europe. However, the justifications for claiming overseas colonies by colonial enthusiasts during the Third Reich were often strikingly similar to the narratives of those...
Rachel O'Sullivan
Background Article
Warsaw, Monrovia and London
Polish Colonial Ambitions in Liberia in the 1930s and the British Reactions
In the 1930s, as part of a Polish colonial movement, Poland briefly pursued a colonization project in Liberia. The Warsaw government supported the project, while Great Britain looked on with skepticism. Ultimately, Poland’s efforts to become a colonial power proved unsuccessful.
David X. Noack
Background Article
Decolonization in the Russian Federation
The Art Exhibition Өмә [ome]; Bashqort for “Collective Self-Help Practices”, Kunstraum Kreuzberg, 11.03.-29.05.2023
In spring 2023 the Өmә exhibition took place in Kreuzberg, Berlin and received a great deal of media attention. The exhibition not only exposed the reproducibility of Russian imperialism, describing the war in Ukraine as colonial, but also made political demands regarding territorial independence.
Marina Gerber | Alexey Markin

From our blog

Literary awareness of the crisis

A Sense of Crisis Among German-language Authors
and Russia’s War Against Ukraine

Reproduktionen aus der Bilderserie "Pagulaselu Saksamaal" / "Exilleben in Deutschland"

Call for Contributions: “At home in the diaspora”

A Future in Ruins or the War on Education

§de= Der Konflikt um die Ukraine im Blickpunkt §en= Focus on the conflict in Ukraine

Interpretive Knowledge and Russia’s War of Aggression against Ukraine

Call for Contributions: Childhood and Youth in Eastern Europe

Die Leichen von sechs Zivilisten hängen auf dem Balkon einer Schule in der Swerdlowstraße, wo sie von deutschen Truppen hingerichtet wurden. Auf den Schildern, die um ihre Hälse hängen, steht "Bestrafung für die Sprengung eines Sprengstofflagers". Copyrig

“Boys, boys, as you came, so you will leave here”

The beginning of the war and the Nazi occupation of Kharkiv in memoirs and oral histories

Data Are Never Neutral

The Impact of Russia's War Against Ukraine on Digital Source Criticism

Die Ukraine befreit sich von ihren Fesseln: ein Transparent auf dem Unabhängigkeitsplatz in Kyiv, Juni 2017

Creating a Space of Freedom

The Museum of the Revolution of Dignity in Kyjiw

Backup Ukraine

Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage one volunteer at a time

"Eine Taube hat ihre Flügel ausgebreitet und bittet um Frieden" (1982), Gemälde von Marija Prymatschenko

ICOM4Ukraine on the Protection of Cultural Property in Wartime

An interview with ICOM Germany President Beate Reifenscheid-Ronnisch

Biographical Short Films: Notable Figures from Eastern Europe

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Biographical Short Film
Vlad Dracula - The Impaler?
Few historical figures have captured the imagination of later generations as much as the Wallachian prince Vlad III Drăculea (* c. 1431). He is the historical model for the vampire lord Dracula - the world-famous protagonist of countless films and books, not least Bram Stoker's (1847-1912) novel...
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Biographical Short Film
Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884): Czech Composer, National Hero
Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884) is one of the most important composers in the history of European music. His work is directly related to the Czech national movement and takes up motifs and themes of Czech mythology, history and topography in a variety of ways. Probably most famous to this day is the...
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Biographical Short Film
The Copernican Turn of Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) is one of the most important philosophers in history and one of the most important protagonists of the German-speaking Enlightenment. His creative period is divided into two phases: A first „pre-critical“ period and a later „critical“ period, in which the main...
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Biographical Short Film
Marie Curie (1867–1934): Natural Scientist, Double Nobel Laureate, Genius
Marie Curie is one of the most famous and important people in the history of science. She was a natural scientist, a double Nobel Prize winner, and made a name for herself primarily with her work on radioactivity. She was born Maria Salomea Skłodowska in 1867 in Warsaw, which was then part of the...
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Biographical Short Film
Kafka's language(s)
July 3, 2023, marks the 140th anniversary of the birth of the writer Franz Kafka, and June 3, 2024, marks the 100th anniversary of his death. There are many good reasons to take a closer look at this outstanding figure in the history of German-language literature. But how did Kafka come to write in...

Our youngest thematic focus sections

Migration stories around Steinort / Sztynort Castle

Biographies of people, places and things

17 portraits that tell of the fate of the last lord of the castle, Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff, his family and the villagers - before and after 1945. And of enthusiasts who are bringing the dilapidated castle back to life.

All articles

1945: End of the War, Liberation, Occupation

Copernico brings history to life

Childhood and Youth

A Little Mole and So Much More

Still a Child or Already an Adult?

Flirting on the ice

“Widdewidde wie sie uns gefällt” – “Just how we like it”.

“Feminine Virtues” and “Untamable Masculinity”

On the Road to Freedom

(Post)colonial Eastern Europe

Colonialism, Racism and Eastern Europe

"Wherever the Russian settles in Asia, the country immediately becomes Russian." (Dostoevsky)

Entangled Narratives of Colonialism

Warsaw, Monrovia and London

Decolonization in the Russian Federation

From our blog

Literary awareness of the crisis

Call for Contributions: “At home in the diaspora”

A Future in Ruins or the War on Education

Interpretive Knowledge and Russia’s War of Aggression against Ukraine

Call for Contributions: 1945: End of the War, Liberation, Occupation

War Narratives, Literature and Reality

Westsplaining or Understanding

The Narrative of Our Changing Times

Writing in Wartime

Call for Contributions: Childhood and Youth in Eastern Europe

“Boys, boys, as you came, so you will leave here”

Data Are Never Neutral

Creating a Space of Freedom

Backup Ukraine

ICOM4Ukraine on the Protection of Cultural Property in Wartime

Biographical Short Films: Notable Figures from Eastern Europe

Vlad Dracula - The Impaler?

Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884): Czech Composer, National Hero

The Copernican Turn of Immanuel Kant

Marie Curie (1867–1934): Natural Scientist, Double Nobel Laureate, Genius

Kafka's language(s)

Our youngest thematic focus sections

1945: The End of the War, Liberation, Occupation

German narratives on Russia's war in Ukraine

Childhood and Youth

Eastern Europe (post)colonial

Jewish life in Eastern Europe yesterday and today

Ukraine

Migration stories around Steinort / Sztynort Castle