Establishment of an oral history research centre

The research centre focuses on the "East German experience". The research centre takes up the specifics of the GDR and transformation period and discusses the methodology of oral history in this context. As a central institution of this kind in the East German states, the research centre is to be developed into a supra-regional centre and its structure is to be an innovative component of the nationwide network of contemporary witness institutions. Currently, there is a much-discussed social tension between the narratives of contemporary witnesses and academic research on the memory of the GDR and the subsequent transformation phase. The research centre develops and establishes a concept for a respectful and fair dialogue that also deals with questions of power and participation. Finally, the research centre also sees itself as a centre of excellence and transfer body for researching, communicating and archiving eyewitness-based knowledge. The aim is to make oral history sources accessible for educational and mediation tasks beyond the research process. For this purpose, oral history interviews are conducted, but also existing interview stocks are archived and processed in order to develop specific training offers for various social institutions and actors (schools, retirement homes, associations, church communities, etc.).