CfP: Flight, Exile and Emigration in Germany’s Age of Extremes: Biographical Perspectives

Our crises-ridden present is marked by multiple wars, economic disruption, and political persecution. These issues have brought questions of flight, exile and emigration back into focus. Millions of individual lives across the globe are being disrupted and upended by external events often beyond individuals' control. Indeed, the current crisis of liberal democracy in many Western countries conjures up a scenario in which such predicaments are no longer confined to inhabitants of the Global South. It is now conceivable that in the not-too-distant future, groups and individuals in what were previously stable Western liberal democracies may experience political persecution and exile once again. The violent and turbulent first half of the 20th century seems closer to our present than at any time in recent memory.

This contemporary context informs an international workshop that seeks to provide a historical perspective on flight, exile and emigration in 20th century Germany, focusing on the 1920s-1950s. The workshop is part of an increasingly transnational and global orientation in the historiography of the 20th century. At the same time, it reflects a turn toward writing history biographically that is currently underway in German history and beyond. It recognizes that the lives of many Germans did not unfold within the confines of national borders. Thomas Mann's dictum in exile, 'Where I am is Germany', can thus be applied to many individuals who were forced to leave Germany due to political persecution. Some chose to return after 1945, while others did not.

This workshop aims to bring together junior and senior scholars from both sides of the Atlantic who are currently conducting research on flight, exile or emigration in 20th century Germany, incorporating biographical approaches. One aim of the workshop is to identify patterns or similarities that transcend the idiosyncrasies of individual lives and point to more general insights regarding experience of flight, exile and emigration. The workshop aims to stimulate conversation and exchange, and to facilitate a joint publication.

We are particularly interested in proposals that address the following questions: Why and when did people leave and what determined where they chose to go? What structural conditions or markers (social class, gender, ethnicity, race, religion, nationality, age etc.) determined their trajectories? How did particular places, people, and experiences shape individuals’ political commitments or shifts in political attitudes? Which ideologies or set of ideas were particularly useful in maintaining a coherent sense of self in a period of often catastrophic disruption? How did major political events (the Russian Revolution, the rise of fascism, the emerging Cold War) affect the intimate details of private lives? And how did private life provide a resource to manage and survive political catastrophes? What skills or bodies of knowledge were particularly important in surviving political ruptures and/or forced displacement.

The workshop will be jointly funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the BMW Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University, and the German Historical Institute in Washington, D.C.. We will cover associated travel costs and accommodation.

Proposals (500 words), along with a short CV, can be submitted until March 1, 2026 at https://app.smartsheet.eu/b/form/019c05bd39cb7ad195ce758c8df93edb