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»Leipzig as a scientific centre takes a stance against anti-democracy and right-wing extremism: For academic freedom, human rights and democracy«

The academic institutions in the region of Leipzig, including the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO), are taking a firm stand against attacks on our democracy. Respect for the dignity of all people, the free and democratic basic order, plurality, tolerance, international exchange and diversity are prerequisites for our coexistence on campus, for successful research and the best study conditions.

A recent study published in »Communications Earth & Environment« suggests that volcanic activity in the mid-14th century set off a chain of events that ultimately contributed to the devastating spread of the Black Death across Europe. The study was carried out in collaboration between our colleague Martin Bauch from the GWZO and Ulf Büntgen’s group at the University of Cambridge. The researchers combined climate archives with historical documents to reconstruct the most comprehensive picture yet of the complex sequence of factors that led to millions of deaths and profound societal upheavals. The research illustrates how closely interconnected global networks, environmental conditions and health risks were, demonstrating the cascading effects that natural events can have on human societies.

On 13 January, we welcomed Edita Gzoyan, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Yerevan (second from right in photo), to the GWZO. Our director Maren Röger (2nd from left) and the heads of the junior research group »Global Armenia/ns« Katja Castryck-Naumann (right) and Bálint Kovács (left) presented the diverse research and activities of the JRG. The visit was connected to the opening event of the JRG »Global Armenia/ns« (14–15 January 2026). The scientific conference focused on the Entangled Histories of Central and Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. The conference programme can be found at the following link.

Archaeological research in the German–Polish border regions not only offers new insights into prehistoric and early medieval fortifications but also reveals the deep entanglement of archaeology with political upheavals, national conflicts and scholarly antagonisms. In her recently published doctoral thesis, our GWZO colleague Dr. Karin Reichenbach examines hillfort archaeology within the fraught field of German–Polish relations. Through an analysis of archaeological infrastructures and interpretative discourses, she demonstrates how closely archaeological interpretations were intertwined with national politics of history – from the interwar postulate of Germanic continuity and cultural superiority to the narrative of Slavic–Polish reappropriation after 1945.
The book has been published as volume 63 in the GWZO series »Forschungen zur Geschichte und Kultur des östlichen Mitteleuropa« by Sandstein Verlag.

Prof. Dr. Arnold Bartetzky, Head of the Department »Culture and Imagination«, has been appointed to two advisory committees: On January 15, he was ceremoniously presented with the certificate of appointment as a member of the Saxon Monument Council, representing the universities. Among those present were State Secretary Sören Trillenberg, Andreas Baumert on behalf of the Rector of Leipzig University, Eva Inés Obergfell, as well as our Deputy GWZO Director, Prof. Dr. Julia Herzberg.
The Monument Council advises the state government on matters of monument protection and conservation.
Already in November 2025, Arnold Bartetzky, who also serves as an honorary professor of art history at Leipzig University, was appointed by the Leipzig Cultural Foundation as a member of the City of Leipzig’s Design Forum. This expert body provides advice to the mayor and city administration on urban development projects of architectural significance

In 37 chapters, this newly published annotated German translation from Yiddish offers a comprehensive overview of Jewish culture and Jewish life in Romania from the late nineteenth century to shortly after the Second World War. At the heart of the book are 47 biographical portraits of significant figures, along with numerous literary texts translated into German for the first time. The volume was published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht and edited by our GWZO colleague Gaëlle Fisher together with the Romanian literary scholar Francisca Solomon. The translation was completed by Martin Wiesche.

How did the events of the twentieth century shape the emergence of humanitarian aid? This question is at the heart of the newly published edited volume »Humanitarian Mobilization in Central and Eastern Europe«, which examines the actors, practices, and meanings of humanitarianism in Central and Eastern Europe during the twentieth century.
Dr Michal Frankl (Head of the Department »Knowledge and Participation«), together with Dr Doina Anca Cretu, serves as co-editor of the volume. With its focus on East Central Europe, the collection adds an important regional perspective to existing research on modern humanitarianism. The contributors not only reconstruct a wide range of historical constellations and their protagonists, but also bring together international, national, and local actors. In doing so, they challenge the often one-sided, West-to-East and asymmetrical perspective on donor–recipient relationships in humanitarian processes. The book has been published by Manchester University Press.

Professor Johannes Fried (1942-2026) passed away on 18 January 2026. A medieval historian at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, he was internationally renowned for his studies on the educational and political history of the European Middle Ages. He was a member of the GWZO's Scientific Advisory Board from 2003 to 2012. In this role, he advised research groups on the early history of Eastern Central Europe and the Jagiellonian period. He was also one of the moderators of the transition in the directorship from Winfried Eberhard to Christian Lübke.

His pioneering research and commitment will be remembered for a long time at the GWZO and within the field of medieval studies.

Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Ukraine's cultural heritage has also suffered immense losses. Kyiv architectural historian Dr. Semen Shyrochyn, in collaboration with the GWZO, has curated the English-language online exhibition »Destroyed Ukrainian Heritage. Ukraine's Built Heritage since February 24, 2022. A Record of Destruction«. It uses 40 selected examples from across Ukraine to show the extent and scope of the systematic destruction of Ukraine's built heritage. A podcast with further detailed information can be found here. Between June and December 2025, an analogue roll-up version of the digital exhibition toured Leipzig’s district libraries.

The latest publication in the Jena Series on Prehistory and Early History presents the so-called Hungarian Collection from the holdings of the Chair of Prehistory and Early History at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, supplemented by several antiquities originating from Hungary. The volume is co-edited by our GWZO colleague Orsolya Heinrich-Tamáska. This book presents the first publication of the Hungarian antiquities preserved in the referenced collections. Through their antiquarian analysis, the studies offer profound insights into the biographies of the objects, shedding light on the antiquities trade at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In the winter semester of 2025/2026, two colleagues from the GWZO were appointed to visiting professorships: Professor Orsolya Heinrich-Tamaska was appointed to an interim professorship at the Institute for Prehistory and Historical Archaeology at the University of Vienna, where she teaches courses on topics such as the »Archaeology of Equestrian (warrior) Nomadism«. Dr. Alexandr Osipian has been appointed to the Faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), where he holds the interim professorship »Entangled History of Ukraine«. We congratulate both of them and wish them much success!

In mid-January, we had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Davit Poghosyan, Director of the History Museum of Armenia, to the GWZO. In discussions with our Deputy Director, Prof. Dr. Julia Herzberg, and Dr. Bálint Kovács, Co-Head of the Junior Research Group (JRG) »Global Armenia/ns«, the focus was primarily on the existing collaboration between the institutions and on future academic cooperation.
In October, the museum in Yerevan will open an exhibition on the medieval Armenian capital of Ani, for which research on the site as a »Lost City« is partially conducted at the GWZO. Of particular note is the invitation extended to members of our JRG »Global Armenia/ns« to deliver public lectures at the museum and to publish contributions in its journal.
The visit concluded with a public lecture by Davit Poghosyan entitled »The History Museum of Armenia: A Journey from Resilience to Perspectives«.