Verband der Historiker und Historikerinnen Deutschlands

History

The "First Meeting of German Historians" with scientists and educational practitioners took place in Munich at Easter in 1893 to present a united voice of opposition to Prussia's new 1892 history curriculum, which, at Kaiser Wilhelm II's behest, sought to constrain the school subject into a nationalistic and anti-socialist direction. In 1895, the Verband Deutscher Historiker was founded in Frankfurt am Main, encouraged by, among others, Ludwig Quidde. Scholastic issues still played only a subordinate role within the Association, leading teachers to found the Verband Deutscher Geschichtslehrer ("German History Teachers' Association") in 1913. In the time of the Third Reich, the Historians' Association was led first by Karl Brandi from 1932 to 1937, and thereafter by Förderndes Mitglied der SS Walter Platzhoff.

Under Gerhard Ritter's leadership, a "founding committee" on which sat Hermann Heimpel, Hermann Aubin, and Herbert Grundmann, initiated the Association's revival, with a new name, in late 1948. The Historians' Association, founded in 1949 under Ritter's chairmanship, continued to place great importance on a "German nationally defined historical consciousness". The Historians' Association could claim until the mid-1950s to be a pan-German organization, but in 1958 in East Germany, the Historiker-Gesellschaft der DDR was established as a breakaway organization. In September 1990, the three-decade-long double existence of institutionalized historical studies in Germany came to an end with the Vereinigungs-Historikertag ("Unification Historians' Conference") in Bochum.

With the Resolution des Verbandes der Historiker und Historikerinnen Deutschlands zu gegenwärtigen Gefährdungen der Demokratie ("Resolution of the Association of Germany's Historians on Present Threats to Democracy"), passed on 27 September 2018, the VHD positioned itself openly for the first time on current political developments.

In 2021, the first digital Historikertag was held, as the COVID-19 pandemic prevented a public gathering.

Inclusion of women academics

As early as the 1950s, the odd woman academic was allowed to make a speech at the VHD, but it was not until the 1980 Historikertag in Würzburg that two women led sections of the conference: Irmgard Hantsche led a section on "History in Primary School", while Maria Alföldi led one on "Social History of Roman Imperial Times". Nevertheless, even today, men are predominant, and the VHD never had a chairwoman (as opposed to a chairman) until well into the 21st century (2016).

Conference of Historical Studies

Every other year, the VHD holds the Tag der Geschichtswissenschaft ("Conference of Historical Studies") in cooperation with the Verband der Geschichtslehrerinnen und -lehrer Deutschlands e. V. ("Association of Germany's History Teachers"; VGD). The hosts are representatives of the subject of history at various German universities. With its more than 2,500 participants, this Historikertag is Germany's biggest professional conference and also one of Europe's biggest. Because of its size and importance for the field of history, the Historikertag regularly attracts great public interest. The keynote speech is often given by prominent politicians, such as the current Federal President or the Chancellor (Walter Scheel spoke in 1976, and Helmut Schmidt in 1978). Many specialist sections, panel discussions, working groups, and a place- and theme-specific supporting programme promote scientific exchange and networking among teaching and researching staff at universities, non-university research institutes, schools, and more. Within the framework of the academic congress, three prizes are awarded: the Hedwig-Hintze-Preis, the Carl-Erdmann-Preis, and the Peter-Haber-Preis.