BKGE celebrates 25th anniversary with international conference

It was founded shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain: The Federal Institute for the Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe (BKGE) - an affiliated institute of the University of Oldenburg - is celebrating its 25th anniversary at an international conference.

"Limits of pluralisation? On the conflictual nature of religious identity formation and the culture of remembrance in Europe since the early modern period" is the theme of the conference, which will take place from 13 to 15 November. The conference is being organised by the BKGE together with Prof. Dr Dagmar Freist's Chair of Early Modern History as part of the project "Freedom Space Reformation".

The conference will look at both Western and Eastern Europe and focus on religious identity formation, the culture of remembrance and religious-political conflicts. The keynote speech on "Remembrance and identity formation in Islam" will be given by the Erlangen-based Islamic scholar Prof. Dr Georges Tamer on Friday, 14 November at 7 p.m. in the Festsaal of the Old Town Hall (Markt 1).

The Immanuel Kant Research Prize will be awarded on Thursday, 13 November at 6.30 p.m. at the BKGE (Johann-Justus-Weg 147a). With this award, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Minister of State Monika Grütters, honours outstanding dissertations and post-doctoral theses that deal with the culture and history of Germans in Eastern Europe.

The BKGE is part of the State Minister of Culture's portfolio. Its establishment in the 1990s coincided with the increasing political and academic co-operation between Germany and its eastern neighbours.

"European unification and especially the EU enlargement to East Central and South Eastern Europe have given new impetus to the study of the culture and history of Germans in Eastern Europe," explains BKGE Director Prof. Dr Matthias Weber. They have opened up shared perspectives that serve both the exploration of the past and the preservation of cultural assets. "These framework conditions characterise the activities of the BKGE and its numerous partner institutions at national and international level."