Research on the GDR

Cultural heritage holds significant potential for shaping the future of society. Looking to the past is essential for understanding and addressing current social developments. This includes the academic examination of the history of the GDR and its lasting effects right up to the present day. Research into the history of the GDR.

The legacy of the GDR remains, to this day, an integral part of the debate surrounding the Federal Republic of Germany’s self-image. It features in discussions about right and wrong, in the image of the family, in debates on the compatibility of parenthood and work, and, not least, in the understanding of freedom and democracy, as well as in expectations of the state. The reappraisal of the SED dictatorship and its consequences remains a central socio-political task throughout Germany, even some 350 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification. The guidelines for funding research projects in the field of GDR research, issued in May 2017, served this purpose. Under this framework, a total of 14 research consortia, each spanning several disciplines and lasting between four and six years, were funded between 2018 and 2025. With this measure, the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) has invested nearly 50 million euros in research into the history of the GDR and its aftermath by the end of 2025. – Since 2023, a total of seven of these collaborative projects have been continuing their research on their respective topics in a follow-up phase until the end of September 2025. The collaborative projects under this first GDR-related funding guideline (see links below) addressed a wide range of topics and questions, ranging from the economic and media history of the GDR, through its school and education system, to the social and health impacts of political repression in the SED state, the history of medicine, and the historical legacy of the peaceful revolution of 1989.

With a new funding guideline published on 13 June 2025, for which applications could be submitted until 8 December 2025, the BMFTR is taking account of the continuing high relevance of the topic and the ongoing need for scholarly reappraisal of GDR history. The aim here is to continue examining the history of the GDR and to shed light on it within the sometimes contradictory and complex interplay between people’s everyday lives and the dictatorial mechanisms of state and society. In doing so, the GDR’s past and its aftermath should not be viewed in isolation, but rather situated within their interconnections across Germany, Europe and the wider world.  academic and societal, not least

Through the new funding guidelines, the BMFTR is offering universities in Germany start-up funding of up to five years for research professorships and junior research groups, enabling them to establish independent, sustainable research priorities on GDR-related topics. These research priorities are expected to commence from autumn 2026.

The Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) is thus supporting the stronger anchoring of GDR-related research within the German higher education and research landscape. At the same time, memorial sites, victims’ associations and museums are integrated into the funded projects as research, transfer and educational partners. Through close cooperation with educational institutions, the research findings will be made available for use in both school-based and out-of-school education. Research into injustices (for example in prisons, reform schools, the healthcare system or against those wishing to leave the country) and their lasting consequences for many people remains an important task – not least as a service to the victims of the GDR dictatorship and their rehabilitation.