Interview studies

In the interview study “Generation 1975: Entering the new Germany at age 14”, 26 eyewitnesses from East and West Germany were interviewed about their memories of a divided and reunified Germany. This generation, which has received little attention to date, as well as the mutual perspectives on their own and the other social systems, open up new topics and target groups for the field of German division history. The life history interviews were analyzed using qualitative methods to examine narrative styles in the East and West.  

Trailer (German) Generation 1975

Together with Prof. Dr. Jan Assmann and Prof. Dr. Aleida Assmann, Assistant Professor Dr. Christiane Bertram at the University of Konstanz secured funding from the Dr. K.H. Eberle Foundation for the “Gemeinsinn” project. This funding supported, among other things, the second interview project with eyewitnesses born in East and West Germany in 1961. They, too, were asked about their memories of a divided and reunified Germany. While the interviews with the “Generation 1975” were conducted before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic—a time when, especially in Baden-Württemberg, the world was (still) in order—the project is now, in 2021 and 2022, delving deeper into perceptions of current political crises (the COVID-19 crisis, climate crisis, and crisis of democracy) in the West and East: How were these crises experienced and managed against the backdrop of their differing life histories?

Trailer (German) Generation Wall Construction