Evaluation of the project “Shared History, Living Present"

Even 35 years after reunification, there remain gaps in communication, misunderstandings, gaps in knowledge and potential for conflict between people from the ‘East’ and the ‘West’. The association Mehr Demokratie e.V. (Berlin, website: https://www.mehr-demokratie.de/) aims to create spaces for communication in which East and West Germans can develop new perspectives on German history, both individually and collectively.

To this end, dialogue events are organised at local level, focusing on the exchange of personal accounts, observations and memories. The ‘Speaking & Listening’ dialogue format developed by Mehr Demokratie provides a safe space for this. This accessible format creates spaces where citizens can meet and discuss controversial topics. The local dialogues focus thematically on various aspects of the division of Germany, the history of the DDR, reunification and the subsequent transformation.

The project aims to build on existing town twinning relationships and structures between the towns of Meiningen and Neu-Ulm, as well as Hildburghausen and Würselen. The meeting spaces aim to deepen the relationships between the citizens of the twin towns.

The format and its implementation in this specific project will be supported by a team of researchers from the University of Erfurt (Oral History Research Centre, Dr Agnés Arp, website: https://www.uni-erfurt.de/philosophische-fakultaet/seminare-professuren/historisches-seminar/professuren/neuere-und-zeitgeschichte-und-geschichtsdidaktik/forschungsstellen/oral-history-forschungsstelle) and evaluated by Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (TRAWOS Institute, Prof. Raj Kollmorgen, Renke Scholz).