We are looking for a PhD candidate highly motivated to work on this topic.

Job announcement (only in German)

Further information about the FSO can be found at: https://www.forschungsstelle.uni-bremen.de/en/

The editors are: Wolfgang Merkel (Berlin Social Science Center, WZB), Raj Kollmorgen (University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz), Hans-Jürgen Wagener (European University Viadrina Frankfurt/Oder)

Michael Rochlitz can draw upon an outstanding scientific career at international Universities. He studied economics and political science in Paris (Sciences Po) and Scotland (St. Andrews), development economics at SOAS in London, and Russian language at the Lomonossow University Moscow. He obtained his doctoral degree in economics in Italy at the Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca (2009 to 2013). After this, he was an assistant professor at the National Research University - Higher School of Economics Moscow (2014 to 2017). From 2017 to 2019, he was active in the research area and master program “East European Studies” at the Ludwig Maximilians University Munich. His research interests are institutional economics, political economy, and comparative economics.

We warmly welcome Michael Rochlitz at the University of Bremen, and we are looking forward to cooperate in research and teaching.

Together with members of her team, Jutta Günther will engage in the BIGSSS activities especially in the context of the Mod-Block-GDR project. It deals with the long term socioeconomic effects of socialism and transition in East Germany, such as the impact on entrepreneurship behaviour until today and the long lasting effects of transition strategies on the structural weaknesses in East Germany. The affiliation also fits to the close cooperation with the Research Center for Eat European Studies, Professor Heiko Pleines who is a BIGSSS faculty member and Mod-Block-DDR project partner. The doctoral students Jarina Kühn, Mareike zum Felde, and Charlotta Cordes will work on their dissertation in close connection to the BIGSSS.

We thank the members of the BIGSSS, and we are looking forward to the future scientific cooperation!

In the research project "Obstacles to Modernization in the economy and science of the GDR", professor Ludwig contributes his expertise above all to sub-project 1. Therein, he deals with the modernization blockades in the GDR and with the productivity gap of the GDR in comparison to the FRG. Udo Ludwig is a macroeconomist and has analysed the reconstruction of the East German economy since the beginning in the 1990ies. In addition, he is also valued as an experienced partner for discussions concerning other areas of the project.

Tuesday, May 21 st, 2019 04:15 to 05:45 pm
Faculty of Business Studies and Economics
Max-von-Laue Str. 1, WiWi 2 Building
Room: F2340 (2nd floor)

About the ZDF Contribution

Jutta Günther heads a research network on the topic of the "Obstacles to Modernization in the Economy and Science of the GDR", which is funded by the BMBF with 3 million euros over several years. In this network, scholars from the University of Bremen, the TU Berlin, the University of Jena and the Europa-Universität Viadrina dedicate themselves to the question of the economic heritage of socialism and transformation.

Mareike zum Felde and Charlotta Cordes started on May 1, 2019 as research assistants and doctoral students as part of subproject 7: "Political Strategies & Actors of Economic Transformation. Different path dependencies and long-term consequences for the GDR (East Germany), Poland and the Czech Republic". Ann Hipp has been working on subproject 1: "Modernisation blockades in the GDR and productivity disparities in comparison with the Federal Republic of Germany and neighbouring countries in Eastern Central Europe" since the 1st of June 2019. The Bremen project work is carried out by the Department of Economics (working group Prof. Dr. Jutta Günther) in close cooperation with the Research Centre Eastern Europe (Prof. Dr. Heiko Pleines) and in cooperation with the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS).

Jutta Günther heads the research network on "Modernisation Blockades in Industry and Science in the GDR", which is initially funded by the BMBF with 3 million euros for four years. In this network, scientists from the University of Bremen, TU Berlin, the University of Jena and the European University Viadrina are working on the question of the economic heritage of socialism and transformation.

We are pleased to have won Ann Hipp, Mareike zum Felde and Charlotta Cordes for the project and wish them a successful start.

Scientists from the joint project Mod-Block-DDR from Bremen and Frankfurt (Oder) also took part in the kick-off conference in order to promote the exchange and scientific cooperation between the joint projects.

Jutta Günther heads the research network on "Modernisation Blockades in Industry and Science in the GDR" (Mod-Block-DDR), which is initially funded by the BMBF with 3 million euros for four years. In this network, scientists from the University of Bremen, TU Berlin, the University of Jena and the European University Viadrina are working on the question of the economic heritage of socialism and transformation.

Within the scope of this project, we assign topics for the preparation of master theses.

Topics for download

In this course, which took place on July 25-26, she presented about the theoretical foundation of system transformation, empirical insights about the transition of former socialist countries and lessons to learn from the East German experience. In this course, she also referred to the ongoing research activities related to the recently launched project “Mod-Block-DDR”. The Summer School teaching offered a unique opportunity to discuss in an excellent scientific environment the long term economic effects of socialism with respect to institutional change.

Listen to the interview [in German]

Michael Rochlitz was appointed to the University of Bremen in April 2019 and is a renowned expert in the fields of post-socialism research, development economics, and institutional change. His international academic career led him to the Higher School of Economics in Moscow for several years as a junior professor.

Gabor Steingart is a journalist, author, and editor of the "Morning Briefing". From 2010 to 2018, he was first editor-in-chief and then editor of the Handelsblatt.

Heiko Pleines, head of sub project 7 "Political Strategies and Actors of Economic Transformation", was present as a lecturer. He supervised a workshop and presented the first results of his project on identity and self-censorship of Ukrainian journalists. Mareike zum Felde and Charlotta Cordes presented the subproject and their respective dissertation projects on the GDR (or NBL) and Poland in the 1990s. In the workshop, they were able to discuss and examine their perspectives and methodological approaches to "post-socialist transformations", policies of "modernization" and their long-term consequences in an enriching way.

The interview [in German]...

Michael Rochlitz was appointed to the University of Bremen in April 2019 and is a renowned expert in the fields of post-socialism research, development economics, and institutional change. His international academic career led him to the Higher School of Economics in Moscow for several years as a junior professor.

Behind the PhD-Students lies an informative orientation week in which they dealt, for exampel, with questions of academic integrity. The Prep Forum also began this week with a kick-off event on fundamental questions of methodology. As part of this offer, the new Fellows will attend further introducing seminars on various methods, from case studies to mixed-methods approaches, in the coming weeks.

The BIGSSS is an international graduate school run jointly by the University of Bremen and Jacobs University in Bremen. It is one of the leading international graduate schools in the field of empirical social science research in Germany. The head of the research consortium Prof. Dr. Jutta Günther and the co-director of the Research Centre for East European Studies Prof. Dr. Heiko Pleines are members of the faculty. They contribute to the work of the BIGSSS together with members of their team within the framework of the Mod Block project. The recent admission of the project team members, whose research projects will benefit in many ways from the support of the BIGSSS, stands in this context.

During her research stay this year, Ksenia Gonchar visits the consortium meeting within the framework of the project "Mod-Block-DDR", which took place on 16 September 2019 at the Technical University of Berlin. In the future, she will work as a cooperation partner in subproject 1 on the analysis of the productivity gap in East Germany. Participation in the consortium meeting enabled her to introduce herself to the research network and then to discuss joint research work with the team of subproject 1.

At the beginning, the members of the research consortium presented the design and preliminary results of their subprojects. The questions and comments of the participants demonstrated the internal connection potential and the benefits of the interdisciplinary orientation of the research project. The constructive dialogue stimulated a deepening and expansion of cooperation between the research teams. There were also already signs of the advantages that a long-term perspective and an extension of the reference system, such as to socialist Poland, could provide for a better understanding of East German development.

Building on on this basis, the scientists discussed the questions of the kick-off meeting and discussed them in an enriching way with the other participants, including Ksenia Gonchar and the advisory board member Dr. Johannes Staemmler. They controversially discussed the scientific usefulness of the modernization concept with its multitude of definitions and references, as well as its ideal-typical and deterministic connotations. The participants noted that the development in the GDR could be regarded as one of the many paths into "modernity". The project members also shared the perspective that it makes sense to openly examine the processes in the GDR and to ask how the relationship between economy and science had functioned in the GDR. This allowed both "potentials" and "blockades" to be identified, and then the question of the significance of transformation policies in reproducing, changing and eliminating the "GDR heritage" could be examined.

In addition to organizing two conferences in Gdansk and Berlin in 2020, which will carry the debate and previous results of the research consortium in science and public, the further task of the consortium is to combine the results of the subprojects in order to enable an overall interpretation and, if necessary, re-evaluation of the "GDR" and the transformation process.

The working groups of Michael Rochlitz and Jutta Günther – both closely connected to Higher School of Economics Moscow – will organise the event. The workshop will take an interdisciplinary perspective on questions such as leadership, corruption, education, public opinion, and their relation to economic development in post-socialist countries. It will also give a chance to present current research about East Germany and its long way to converge with West Germany (Mod-Block-DDR project). Well known keynote speakers are invited from Kings College London (Gulnaz Sharafutdinova) and from the University of Gothenburg (Marina Nistotskaya).

ICSID is the “International Center for the Study of Institutions and Development”, led by Andrei Yakovlev (HSE Moscow) and Timothy M. Frye (Columbia University), specialising in institutional and comparative economics as well as international political science. Researchers at ICSID come from the Institute for Industrial and Market Studies (IIMS) of the National Research University Higher School of Economics Moscow and the Harriman Institute (Columbia University) as well as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Emory University, the George Washington University, and New York University Abu Dhabi.

The Expert Commission for Research and Innovation is a panel of experts appointed by the Federal Government and made up of six professors working in the field of innovation economics. Once a year, the EFI submits its report on the analysis and evaluation of the German innovation system, including innovation policy recommendations, to the Federal Government. The EFI office and scientific staff are located in Berlin.

It is discussed to what extent new borders were drawn between East and West after the fall of the Berlin Wall and whether these can be traced back to disappointed expectations. Are new East/West identities emerging and who is authorized to design them and speak on their behalf?

You can find the interview (in German) from minute 11:43 on under this link

Ann Hipp gave a presentation entitled “East Germany’s resilience in the context of productivity and innovation: What are historical legacies, what lies ahead?” (co-authors: Jutta Günther und Udo Ludwig). The research results were developed in the realm of the project “Obstacles to Modernization in the Economy and Science of the GDR” (Mod-Block-DDR): https://www.uni-bremen.de/modernisierungsblockaden-in-wirtschaft-und-wissenschaft-der-ddr/.

Anna Steinkamp and Jarina Kühn together held a lecture on the topic: "Entrepreneurial Habitus in East Germany - the Aftermath of Socialism?". Therein, they explained different concepts of entrepreneurial habitus in the context of systemic change.

The research of Anna Steinkamp and Jarina Kühn is embedded in the project "Obstacles to Modernization in Economy and Science of the GDR" (Mod-Block-DDR). Both scientists research on the entrepreneurial habitus dispositions of the transitional generation (sub-project 6). It looks at entrepreneurial habitus and identity constructions of founders and managers in East Germany, as well as in the old federal states and Poland.

Jarina Kühn is doing her doctorate in the research project "Modernisation Blockades in Economics and Science of the GDR". As a qualitative researcher, it is important to her and her colleagues to deal with questions of data management and to plan the possibilities for long-term archiving and further usability of collected data at an early stage.

His political-economic and international comparative research makes use of modern methods, including natural and controlled field experiments. The inaugural lecture was attended by members of the rectorate, the Bremen Ministry of Science, the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics, the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS), the Research Center Eastern Europe and many other guests.

Michael Rochlitz was appointed at the University of Bremen on April 1, 2019 coming from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. Previously, he was a junior professor at the National Research University - Higher School of Economics in Moscow. His doctorate was awarded at the Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca in Italy. He studied economics and political science in Paris (Sciences Po) and Scotland (St. Andrews), development economics at SOAS in London and Russian at Lomonossow University in Moscow.

The professorship was newly established by the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics in close connection with the research association Mod-Block-DDR (Modernization Blockades in Economics and Science of the GDR). The research network, which is initially financed by the BMBF with several million euros for four years (2018 to 2022), is headed by Jutta Günther at the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics at the University of Bremen.

The start of the joint meeting in the Contemporary History Forum in Leipzig was marked by an evening event, which was opened by the State Secretary Prof. Dr. Wolf-Dieter Lukas from the BMBF with a keynote speech. He emphasised that the future can only be shaped if one knows the past. The subsequent panel discussion on the topic "Perspectives of GDR Research" made reference to this by discussing questions of historical and contemporary scientific work with members of the research projects. On the following day, the 14 alliances presented themselves. In addition, thematic workshops on transfer issues, promotion of young researchers and data collections were offered.

Jutta Günther (Bremen), Dagmara Jajeśniak-Quast (Frankfurt/Oder), Udo Ludwig (Halle-Leipzig), Konrad Walerski (Frankfurt/Oder) and Michael Wyrwich (Jena) from the joint project "Mod-Block-DDR" were represented. Jutta Günther presented the joint project "Mod-Block-DDR" with its seven subprojects and gave a keynote speech on the topic of "Science Communication" in one of the workshops.

The research work will be presented at the scientific conference "Transformation Research: Poland and East Germany in Comparison", which will be hosted by members of the Mod-Block-GDR network on 18-20 June 2020 at Gdańsk, Poland.

Thore Sören Bischoff is a PhD student at the Institute of Economics for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Handicrafts at the Georg-August-University of Göttingen (ifh). His research focuses on the institutional factors influencing innovation processes.

Charlotta Cordes is a research associate in the joint project Mod-Block-DDR and her dissertation deals with the mental construction of the Lausitz since the 1970s. The historical (industrial) region has been confronted with structural change not only since the coal phase-out. The project examines how political actors from socialism to the market economy perceived and shaped it. The dissertation project is being carried out in cooperation between the Department of Business Studies and Economics (Prof. Dr. Jutta Günther) and the Research Centre for Eastern Europe (Prof. Dr. Susanne Schattenberg).

BIGSSS is an international graduate school jointly run by the University of Bremen and Jacobs University in Bremen. It is one of the leading international graduate schools in the field of empirical social science research in Germany.

The Bremen team (consortium leadership) has therefore taken the initiative, also at the request of the partners, and has set up an online colloquium. This will give all scientists and cooperation partners involved in Mod-Block-DDR the opportunity to present their research results and work-in-progress in short formats and to discuss them with the entire team. The meetings will be compact and last a maximum of 60 minutes with rotating moderation by the members of the consortium.

The online colloquium will kick off on 28 May 2020, and will be held on Tuesdays in 14-day intervals from then on. We look forward to the exchange and wish all participants a productive cooperation and many creative ideas.

Contact: Jarina Kühn and Mariia Shkolnykova

BIGSSS is an international graduate school jointly run by the University of Bremen and Jacobs University in Bremen. It is one of the leading international graduate schools in the field of empirical social science research in Germany. Since 2019, Jutta Günther is a faculty member of BIGSSS.

Mareike zum Felde's dissertation is part of work package 7 of the joint project Mod-Block-DDR, which deals with the strategies and actors of transformation and is led by Prof. Dr. Heiko Pleines (Research Centre Eastern Europe).

BIGSSS is an international graduate school jointly run by the University of Bremen and Jacobs University in Bremen. It is one of the leading international graduate schools in the field of empirical social science research in Germany. Jutta Günther, Heiko Pleines and Michael Rochlitz are faculty members of the BIGSSS.

As the colloquium was very well received due to valuable lectures and lively discussions, it is to be retained for the research association Mod-Block-DDR – a necessity has turned into a virtue. In the next semester, colleagues from the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder) will take over the organisation of the colloquium, before the TU Berlin and the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena will take over the organisation in the coming semesters.

A list of the lectures can be found here.

The DGO is the largest professional association for research on Eastern Europe in the German-speaking world, to which researchers from various social science disciplines belong. Within the "Junge DGO", the junior researcher organization within the DGO, the application to establish a regional group in Bremen was successful. The initiative came from Josephine Assmus (Institute for Intercultural and International Studies, University of Bremen), Mareike zum Felde (Research Center Eastern Europe & Faculty of Business Studies and Economics at the University of Bremen), Caroline Finkeldey (Bavarian State Library) and Olga Masyutina (Faculty of Business Studies and Economics at the University of Bremen).

The Bremen Regional Group, which is led by Mareike zum Felde and Caroline Finkeldey, will hold regular meetings (Osteuropa-Stammtisch) for Bremen DGO members and people interested in Eastern Europe to discuss current developments in Eastern Europe and to organize joint events. A concrete field of topics, which the group will deal with in different event formats, are environmental and climate policy issues, which have so far been little studied and discussed with regard to Eastern Europe. Examples will be used to introduce climatic and related social changes into the debate. For example, a photo exhibition on the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe, a film screening on nature conservation along rivers and a panel discussion on grassroots activists for environmental protection in various countries of Eastern Europe are planned.

The regional group cooperates closely with the Research Center for Eastern Europe and the University of Bremen. Furthermore, the regional group plans to intensify its cooperation with non-governmental organizations (e.g. Klimawerkstadt) in Bremen and Lower Saxony as well as with institutions in Eastern Europe, for example the Higher School of Economics Moscow. Everyone interested is very welcome.

Contact: Mareike zum Felde, Email: jungedgo-bremenprotect me ?!dgo-onlineprotect me ?!.org

A rich mixture awaits you with discussion events, readings, lectures as well as film and theatre performances at various locations in Bremen, and a panel discussion in Leipzig. The events are addressed to the interested public in order to bring research results and scientific discourses into wider society and to take up new impulses.

At the start on 29 September 2020, 6:00 pm, the Czech Ambassador Tomáš Kafka, the Polish journalist Adam Krzemiński and the Russian historian Irina Scherbakowa will talk in conversation with Susanne Schattenberg about their thoughts on foreign and domestic policy changes in reunited Germany.

The programme and much more information is available online: https://ost-nach-west.uni-bremen.de/

All interested are warmly invited!

However, an adjustment in the patent level was not achieved due to the less favorable starting position of the GDR. With regard to the technology classes, the GDR and the FRG hardly differed in 1950 and at the end of the 1980s, i.e. the focus of inventor activities was very similar. Despite the obvious technical backwardness of the capital stock and the infrastructure of the GDR, there was a lively inventive activity.

This research report examines the universality of innovation activity and seeks to stimulate discussion of the fact that the GDR developed human resources and technical skills that could be tapped into after the system collapse. This ambivalent technological legacy of the GDR has so far received little attention in the studies on the catch-up process of the East German states.

Report for download

Presented are the first qualitative interview results with two East German entrepreneurs with regard to Bourdieu's habitus concept and Lettke's approach of a changeable secondary habitus. They conclude that some elements of an entrepreneurial habitus were already created in the GDR and persist during the transformation phase (as primary habitus), such as self-confidence, the will to perform, and problem-solving skills. Other elements of the habitus, however, show changes (secondary habitus), also due to the disruptive character of the transformation phase, as can be seen in the examples presented in a changed relationship with employees and stronger self-control.

A link to the article from November 2020 in the Online Deutschland Archiv (German Archive) of the Federal Agency for Civic Education can be found here.

The trio of researchers forms the sub-project of the BMBF-funded project network Mod-Block-DDR on entrepreneurial habitus and identity constructions.

Due to the pandemic situation, the lecture was recorded and is available to all interested parties: https://www.hausderwissenschaft.de/Innovationen-in-der-DDR-2.html

The vast majority of them returned to their country of origin after German unification in 1990 due to expired residence permits and increasing xenophobia. There they are now called "Madgermanes" and some have been fighting for decades to get their outstanding wages paid.

This relatively unknown chapter of GDR history was the subject of an online event organized by the joint project Mod-Block-GDR and the Research Centre for Eastern Europe in cooperation with the Schwankhalle Bremen on 17 November 2020. The event was moderated by Mareike zum Felde, research assistant in the joint project Mod-Block-GDR.

The author Birgit Weyhe presented parts of her graphic novel "Madgermanes" (avant-verlag 2016) in an online reading and reported from interviews with former contract workers. Emiliano Chaimite, former contract worker and now a nurse in Dresden, then spoke as a contemporary witness about his experiences in the GDR, during the transformation, the path to his right to stay after 1990, and his current commitment to integration.

Readings and interview with the contemporary witnesses are available in German at the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONnQePFzn6Q&feature=youtu.be

PD Dr. Kamil Marcinkiewicz from the University of Hamburg introduced the topic of the evening with a lecture on the current state of the (constitutional) judiciary in Poland and the development of the Polish party system since 1989. Afterwards, Mareike zum Felde and Kamil Marcinkiewicz together answered questions from the moderator and the audience based on the current state of research and observations from everyday life in Poland.  The topics of the evening ranged from Polish-Transatlantic and German-Polish relations to the effects of a strongly divided Polish society and the role of history in the rhetoric and politics of the current government.

Mareike zum Felde is a research assistant in subproject 7. Her PhD project deals with Polish higher education policies after 1989.

We warmly recommend this podcast, especially to listeners who find the more than one-hour discussion too lengthy. It captures the voices of Christa Luft, Johannes Ludewig, Rudolf Hickel and Udo Ludwig in a representative way. The lively and controversial discussion is brought to the point. All this is commentated by music from the late 1980s and early 1990s and thus enriched with the former atmosphere and further perspectives.

Listen to the podcast on MDR Aktuell [in German]...

This spring marks the 10^th and 35^th anniversary of the two worst nuclear accidents in the human history – the disaster in Japanese Fukushima in 2011 and the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. Despite potential dangers of atomic energy, 412 reactors are still active worldwide, with 6 of them located in Germany. Moreover, faced with challenges of climate change and the shortage of natural resources, some countries are contemplating further development of their nuclear energy programs. So where do we now stand with regard to atomic energy use, given different historical experiences of European countries?

Sonja Risteska (expert from Agora Enegiewende thinktank), Carsten Rau (filmmaker of "Atomkraft Forever" documentary) and Sergej Sumlenny (head of Heinrich Böll Foundation Kiev bureau) offered their expert opinion on the topic, with a regional focus on Eastern Europe.

The recording of the panel discussion can be found here.

A follow-up event about the problem of nuclear waste storage in Germany will be held on April 26^th, 2021.

In addition to the mutual visits of project-organized workshops, research forums and public events, a continuation of the scientific exchange is planned via a regular discussion meeting. Furthermore, the joint organization of a panel within the framework of an international conference was discussed - for the joint transfer of the respective research discussions to the scientific stage.

We are looking forward to the further promising cooperation!

We cordially invite you to the online event on 11 May 2021 at 4 pm on the ZOOM platform. The lecture is organised by our cooperation partner Prof. Michael Rochlitz and takes place within the framework of the Economic Colloquium of the IERP Institute at the University of Bremen.

If you are interested, please register for the event via Lydia Krautwald: ierp.office.klarlprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de

Zoom link: https://uni-bremen.zoom.us/j/97976983939?pwd=YlI0RGROSTFFN1RkeWg3RVF1bzNHZz09

We congratulate you very much!

For more information on the award, please see the press release of the University of Bremen.

In the summer semester of 2021, several Mod-Block sub-projects also presented new research outcomes within the network for discussion. In addition, the cooperation partners Till Düppe (CIRST/ Montréal) and Till Hilmar (University of Bremen) presented their research projects. For more information, see our colloquium schedule in the summer semester 2021...

In the forthcoming winter semester 2021/22, the colloquium will be organised by the project members of TU Berlin.

Founded in 2010, the board is composed of experts from politics and academia who exchange views on selected topics related to state unification issues. Reflection on the German unification process seeks to learn from the experience gained in Germany for the rapprochement efforts on the Korean peninsula.

Mod-Block-DDR is a research consortium involving about 30 scientists at four university locations in Germany (Berlin, Bremen, Frankfurt/Oder, Jena) and at locations of the cooperation partners (Bydgoszcz, Montreal, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Warsaw). The research is dedicated to investigating the causes of the socio-economic disparities between East and West Germany that persist until today, as well as the role of science and innovation under state socialism, during the transformation period, and today. The interdisciplinary network started its work on December 1, 2018 and is funded by the BMBF in the first funding period until November 2022. The research consortium is particularly engaged in promoting young researchers.

Jarina Kühn and Mareike zum Felde presented papers in the sessions Entrepreneurship and Knowledge Circulation. Jarina Kühn presented first research results in her presentation: "Entrepreneurship in the Transformation Phase and its Influence on Entrepreneurial Identities in East Germany" and Mareike zum Felde gave insights into her analytical steps in her presentation titled "Parliamentary Debates on Higher Education Policy in Poland after 1989".

The spectrum of topics - interdisciplinary as the Mod-Block-DDR consortium is - ranges from economics to political science, sociology and economic history. In addition, our circle of participants has grown considerably, so that some external interested persons also visit our colloquium, join in the discussion or give a presentation. If you like the programme, please come and visit us.

Contact person: Jarina Kühn (Jarina.kuehn@uni-bremen.de), 0421-218-66637

For almost three years, the Center for Interdisciplinary Polish Studies has been contributing the Polish perspective to the BMBF-funded joint project "Obstablec to Modernization in the Economy and Science of the GDR". At the Center's annual conference in Gdansk, organised by Dr Falk Flade, Dr Anna M. Steinkamp, Konrad Walerski and Susanne Orth, the research partners presented and discussed interim results.

Poland and East Germany in comparison

Due to East Germany's particular position and its reunification with the Federal Republic of Germany, studies on the system and social transformation usually compare with West Germany. Poland, on the other hand, is mainly compared with other Central Eastern European countries. So who could be better placed than researchers from the Centre for Interdisciplinary Polish Studies at the Viadrina University on the German-Polish border to stimulate an East German-Polish comparison?

The individual contributions to the conference were discussed from five perspectives: Productivity, Innovativeness, Entrepreneurship, Knowledge Circulation and Modernisation. In the process, many macro studies confirmed what Professor André Steiner, a historian at the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Research in Potsdam, problematised right at the beginning: the figures are by no means unambiguous and comparable with each other. A wide variety of survey methods, presumably adapted to plan specifications and administrative reforms, pose challenges. On the other hand, intersections also crystallise that demand further research: regional differences endure just as much as individual habitus. Thus, the "GDR effect" is probably less intense than initially assumed. In addition, because of current political developments, the question was whether anti-democratic systems could carry out modernisation "from above" at all in the long term.

A place of responsibility

Like no other place in Poland, Gdansk stands for the beginning of the upheavals and thus as a forerunner of the transformation in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly the Gdansk shipyard, where the Solidarność workers' movement was founded. This heritage is actively cultivated by the Gdansk European Solidarność Centre (ECS), led by Basil Kerski. Historical education here goes hand in hand with a great commitment to an open urban society and a pro-European Poland. This commitment was recently recognised with the prestigious "Europa Nostra" award in Venice. "This place shows us that we bear responsibility, not only academically," appealed Professor Dagmara Jajeśniak-Quast, Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Polish Studies. "German-Polish cooperation is not easy at the moment. It is all the more important that we promote it with this conference," affirmed Dr Przemysław Ruchlewski from the ECS.

Return to the Round Table

The fact that the conference went beyond purely academic became apparent during a visit to the exhibitions in the Solidarność Centre and the neighbouring Museum of the Second World War. At the latest on Thursday evening, when five contemporary witnesses and actors of the Polish and German transformation from business and politics came together for a discussion at the "Round Table". In addition to Bogdan Lis and Wolfgang Templin as civil rights activists and participants in the 1989/90 Round Tables, entrepreneurs Barbara Sergot-Golędzinowska and Dr Zbigniew Canowiecki, as well as the economist Professor Dariusz Filar also took part in the discussion. Canowiecki convinced the audience with wit and eloquence, as he probably did foreign investors and lenders in the early 1990s. International experience and contacts were decisive at the time, according to Sergot-Golędzinowska, who returned to Poland from the USA in 1989 for the first free elections on 1 June. The fact that transformation is a multi-dimensional, ambivalent and simultaneous process was illustrated by Wolfgang Templin from his perspective, in contrast to the thriving entrepreneurial stories. He took a self-critical look at the GDR citizens' movement, which had its principles but too little pragmatism and too much naivety. "Reunification should have gone differently," he stated. Social division and the shift to the right did not come from anywhere. That the transformation process would take a long time was already clear to him at the time - he had estimated about 40 years. "Today, I think it will take at least 60 years.

Beyond science

"We only have to look out of the window to see the transformation," said Dagmara Jajeśniak-Quast. In this spirit, the conference ended with an exciting tour of the shipyard, which allowed the participants to experience the transformation of the shipyard from a production facility for the Prussian navy to a nationally owned enterprise to post-industrial cultural conversion.

The delegation from Frankfurt, including the delegation accompanying the conference with Mayor René Wilke, the Head of the Department for Culture, Education and Europe, Milena Manns, and Viadrina President Professor Julia von Blumenthal, will take with them not only scientific but also urban design inspiration for a possible future centre for European transformation and German unity at the Oder.

Text: Antje Wilke
Translated into English by: Iryna Tkachivska

An einem historischen Ort kritisch zurückschauen und verantwortungsbewusst nach vorn denken: Vom 23. bis 24. September 2021 kamen in Danzig, am Entstehungsort der Solidarność-Bewegung, zahlreiche Sozial-, Geschichts-, Politik- und Wirtschaftswissenschaftler:innen zusammen. „Wie verliefen die Transformationen in Polen und Ostdeutschland?“ und „Welche Faktoren und Bedingungen beeinflussten den Wandel von Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft und Politik?“ waren die Grundfragen der Konferenz, die vom Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Polenstudien in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Europäischen Solidarność-Zentrum (ECS) in Danzig organisiert worden war. Abgesehen von den Organisatoren wurde die Konferenz vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) sowie dem Johann-Gottfried-Herder-Forschungsrat finanziert.

Seit fast drei Jahren bringt das Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Polenstudien die polnische Perspektive in das vom BMBF finanzierte Verbundprojekt „Modernisierungsblockaden in Wirtschaft und Wissenschaft der DDR“ ein. Auf der Jahreskonferenz des Zentrums in Danzig, die Dr. Falk Flade, Dr. Anna M. Steinkamp, Konrad Walerski und Susanne Orth organisiert hatten, konnten nun die Forschungspartner:innen Zwischenergebnisse präsentieren und diskutieren.

Polen und Ostdeutschland im Vergleich

Durch Ostdeutschlands Sonderstellung und die Wiedervereinigung mit der Bundesrepublik Deutschland stellen Untersuchungen zur System- und Gesellschaftstransformation meist Vergleiche mit Westdeutschland her. Polen wiederum wird vor allem mit anderen mittelosteuropäischen Ländern verglichen. Wem also könnte es näherliegen als Forscher:innen des Zentrums für Interdisziplinäre Polenstudien der Viadrina an der deutsch-polnischen Grenze, den ostdeutsch-polnischen Vergleich anzuregen?

Die einzelnen Beiträge der Konferenz wurden aus fünf Perspektiven diskutiert: Produktivität, Innovativität, Unternehmertum, Wissenszirkulation und Modernisierung. Dabei bestätigte sich in vielen Makrostudien, was Prof. Dr. André Steiner, Historiker am Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung in Potsdam, direkt zu Anfang problematisierte: die Zahlen seien keineswegs eindeutig und miteinander vergleichbar; verschiedenste Erhebungsverfahren, vermutlich an die Planvorgaben angepasste Zahlen und administrative Reformen, stellen die Herausforderungen dar. Andererseits kristallisieren sich auch Schnittmengen heraus, die eine weitere Erforschung verlangen: regionale Unterschiede überdauern ebenso wie individueller Habitus. So ist der „DDR-Effekt“ wohl weniger stark als zunächst angenommen. Außerdem ging es auch angesichts aktueller politischer Entwicklungen um die Frage, ob antidemokratische Systeme überhaupt langfristig Modernisierung „von oben“ durchführen können.

Ein Ort der Verantwortung

Wie kein zweiter Ort in Polen steht Danzig für den Beginn der Umbrüche in Polen und damit als Vorreiter der Transformation in Mittel- und Osteuropa; insbesondere die Danziger Werft, wo sich die Arbeiterbewegung Solidarność gründete. Dieses Erbe pflegt aktiv das Danziger Europäische Solidarność-Zentrum (ECS) unter Leitung von Basil Kerski. Historische Bildung geht hier einher mit einem großen Engagement für eine offene Stadtgesellschaft und für ein pro-europäisches Polen. Dieses Engagement wurde jüngst mit dem renommierten Preis „Europa Nostra“ in Venedig anerkannt. „Dieser Ort zeigt uns, dass wir Verantwortung tragen, nicht nur wissenschaftlich“, appellierte Prof. Dr. Dagmara Jajeśniak-Quast, Leiterin des Zentrums für Interdisziplinäre Polenstudien, in ihrer Eröffnungsrede. „Die deutsch-polnische Zusammenarbeit ist aktuell nicht leicht. Umso wichtiger ist es, dass wir sie mit dieser Konferenz vorantreiben“, bekräftigte Dr. Przemysław Ruchlewski vom ECS.

Rückkehr an den Runden Tisch

Dass die Konferenz über das rein Wissenschaftliche hinausging, offenbarte sich beim Besuch der Ausstellungen im Solidarność-Zentrum und im benachbarten Museum des Zweiten Weltkrieges, spätestens jedoch am Donnerstagabend, als fünf Zeitzeug:innen beziehungsweise Akteur:innen der polnischen und deutschen Transformation aus Wirtschaft und Politik zum Gespräch am „Runden Tisch“ zusammenkamen. Neben Bogdan Lis und Wolfgang Templin als Bürgerrechtler und Teilnehmer an den Runden Tischen 1989/90 diskutierten auch die Unternehmer:innen Barbara Sergot-Golędzinowska und Dr. Zbigniew Canowiecki sowie der Wirtschaftswissenschaftler Prof. Dariusz Filar. Mit Witz und Wortgewandtheit überzeugte Canowiecki das Publikum wie wohl auch Anfang der 1990er-Jahre ausländische Investoren und Kreditgeber. Internationale Erfahrungen und Kontakte seien damals maßgeblich gewesen, so Sergot-Golędzinowska, die 1989 zu den ersten freien Wahlen am 1. Juni aus den USA nach Polen zurückkehrte. Dass Transformation ein multi-dimensionaler, ambivalenter und gleichzeitig stattfindender Prozess ist, illustrierte im Gegensatz zu den erfolgreichen Unternehmergeschichten Wolfgang Templin aus seiner Perspektive. Selbstkritisch blickte er auf die DDR-Bürgerbewegung, die zwar ihre Prinzipien, aber zu wenig Pragmatismus und zu viel Naivität gehabt hätte. „Die Wiedervereinigung hätte anders laufen müssen“, konstatierte er. Soziale Spaltung und Rechtsruck kämen nicht von irgendwoher. Dass der Transformationsprozess lange dauern würde, sei ihm schon damals klar gewesen – er habe etwa 40 Jahre geschätzt. „Heute denke ich: mindestens 60 Jahre.“

Über die Wissenschaft hinaus

„Wir müssen nur aus dem Fenster schauen, um Transformation zu sehen“, so Dagmara Jajeśniak-Quast. In diesem Sinne endete die Konferenz mit einem spannenden Werftrundgang, der die Transformation der Werft von einer Produktionsstätte für die Preußische Kriegsmarine über einen volkseigenen Betrieb bis hin zur post-industriellen kulturellen Umnutzung erleben ließ.

So nehmen die Frankfurter:innen, darunter auch die Konferenz begleitende Delegation mit Oberbürgermeister René Wilke, der Kultur-, Bildungs- und Europa-Dezernentin Milena Manns und der Viadrina-Präsidentin Prof. Dr. Julia von Blumenthal nicht nur wissenschaftliche, sondern auch stadtgestalterische Inspiration für ein mögliches Zukunftszentrum für Europäische Transformation und Deutsche Einheit an die Oder mit.

A comprehensive work has been produced with the co-operation of Udo Ludwig and Knut Richter that promises new insights into the economic history of the GDR and Poland. The history of ideas places the concepts of East German and Polish economists in their historical, political and institutional context. The book is therefore not only recommended for historians, but also for economists and political scientists.

In the winter semester 2022/23, several Mod-Block subprojects presented their research results for discussion in the consortium. In addition, the program was enriched by external speakers who we had invited specifically due to internal debates. For example, Philip Manow (University of Bremen) gave a presentation on the question of whether and to what extent the transformation in Eastern Germany influences current electoral behavior in the region. And Lucyna Błażejczyk-Majka (University of Poznań) and Nikolaus Wolf (HU Berlin) presented their solutions for dealing with economic data collected in the GDR.

More information is available in the colloquium schedule of WiSe 2021/22.

We are looking forward to the next colloquium in the summer semester!

If you are interested in participation, please contact Jarina Kühn.

Call for Participation: Young Scholars Conference for GDR Research.

The network aims at a research exchange between the different perspectives of innovation systems. After a welcome speech of Jutta Günther and an introductory talk of Ann Hipp, Heike Belitz, Tom Brökel, Michael Fritsch, Maria Greve, Björn Jindra, Martin Kalthaus, Petrik Runst und Michael Wyrwich presented their current research on the dynamics of national and regional innovation systems, complexity issues and internationalization patterns. The findings were intensively discussed by all network members and enriched through keynotes by Cristina Fernandes und Alba Marino.

We thank all network members and keynote speakers for their participation and look forward to our next meeting on October 27th and 28th, 2022 at ifh Göttingen. The second meeting will shed light on the determinants of innovation system dynamics and extends our view to technological and sectoral aspects.

For further information, see: https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/dfg-network-the-dynamics-of-innovation-systems.

The event will be streamed live:

German: https://europa-uni-de.zoom.us/j/89578089691?pwd=dHJubUlSV0VRRXZ6N1RYb2tWU1BMZz09

Polish: https://vimeo.com/event/2038320

Time: Wednesday, May 25, 2022, 11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

Małgorzata Bieniaszewska is the CEO of MB Pneumatyka, a family business in the automobile industry. She is a member of the Council of Entrepreneurs of the President of the Republic of Poland and a recipient of the Forbes "BrandMe CEO 2020" award.

Students and lecturers from the following universities, among others, will participate in the public hybrid event: Opole University (Department of Management and Public Policy), Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznan (Department of Economic History), University of Lodz (Faculty of Management), Kazimierz Wielki University of Bydgoszcz (Department of Law and Economics) and Karazin Kharkiv National University (Faculty of Economics) from Ukraine.

More information about the event…

The dataset contains all patent applications and grants in the GDR published by the Office for Inventions and Patents (later: German Patent and Trademark Office/DPMA) in the period between 1.1.1939 (application before, but granted in the GDR) and 29.06.2006 (application in, but granted after the GDR). The core dataset covers the years from 1949 to 1990. The dataset entails 24 variables with manually cleaned and prepared information on all patents in the GDR. The data was prepared for the purpose of research on inventor activity in the GDR.

This dataset is now available for use at GESIS by quoting the following:

Hipp, Ann; Fritsch, Michael; Greve, Maria; Günther, Jutta; Lange, Marcel; Liutik, Christian; Pfeifer, Beate; Shkolnykova, Mariia; Wyrwich, Michael (2022). Patentdaten der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (DDR) (1949-1990). GESIS, Köln. Datenfile Version 1.0.0, https://doi.org/10.7802/2423

The dataset as well as the methods report can be downloaded here: https://doi.org/10.7802/2423

Contact person: Dr. Ann Hipp, Email: ann.hippprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de

The Postdoc-Network "Learning (from) Transformation" will ask the following questions within regular meetings, the so-called “coffee breaks”: Given today's pressure to transform, what can modern politics, economy, and society learn from past transformation processes? How can transformation succeed, given the various uncertainties and socio-economic obstacles? Finally, which lessons can be learned from the cases of post-socialist transformation for the challenges ahead?

We aim to bring together economists, historians, political scientists, sociologists, and colleagues from any further discipline from the University of Bremen and its affiliated institutions to discuss the above (and related) questions. The network emerged based on the work in the BMBF-funded project Mod-Block-GDR and is now funded by BYRD for several years.

For further information, please see:https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/byrd/postdocs/postdoc-network-groups

If you are interested in joining the network activities, please contact:

• Dr. Ann Hipp (ann.hipp@uni-bremen.de)
• Dr. Mariia Shkolnykova (mariia.shkolnykova@uni-bremen.de)

More than 30 scientists took part in the interdisciplinary conference by and for doctoral students and post-docs from the fourteen large GDR research networks funded by the BMBF. The conference will certainly have a lasting effect. In addition to the enrichment for their own research projects and the individual contacts established among the experts, there are initial thoughts about creating joint forums and repeating the conference format.

Neither the character nor the output of the conference could be summed up in a nutshell. However, it can be stated: The unusual format seems to have been extraordinarily fruitful. The encounter and open communication led to lively discussions across seemingly disciplinary boundaries. Subject-specific expertise was continually linked with the major questions of GDR history, the transformation process and its aftermath.

For further information:

News on occasion of the Call for Participation: https://www.uni-bremen.de/kksb/news-1/ddr-nachwuchswissenschaftlerinnen-aufgepasst-mod-block-ddr-organisiert-mit-erbe-89-konferenz-am-14-15722-in-leipzig-1

Announcement of the conference in the Leipziger Volkszeitung: https://www.l-iz.de/veranstaltungen/tipp-buehne/2022/07/eh-schon-alles-klar-32-jahre-nach-untergang-der-ddr-noch-vieles-offen-und-streitbar-460229

Conference Programme

Homepage of Mod-Block-DDR: https://www.uni-bremen.de/mod-block-ddr

Homepage of Erbe 89: https://www.erbe89.de/

Abstract: This paper documents the generation and the content of the Comprehensive Patent Database (CPDB) of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) (1949-1990), Version 1.1, which is freely available at GESIS doi.org/10.7802/2423. The database contains all patents granted in the GDR and published by the Office of Inventions and Patents (AfEP, later: German Patent and Trade Mark Office/DPMA) in the period between 1 January 1939 (application before but granted in the GDR) and 29 June 2006 (application in but granted after the GDR). The core database covers the years 1950 to 1990 and contains 24 variables with manually cleaned and processed information on a total of 261,822 unique patents of the GDR. The data was collected and prepared for the purpose of research on innovation activity in the GDR.

Download

Mod-Block-DDR is a research consortium involving around 30 researchers at four university locations in Germany (Berlin, Bremen, Frankfurt/Oder, Jena) and at locations of the cooperation partners (Bydgoszcz, Montreal, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Warsaw). The projects are dedicated to researching the causes of the socio-economic disparities between East and West Germany that persist to this day, as well as the role of science and innovation under state socialism, during the transformation and today. The interdisciplinary network began its work on 1 December 2018 and is funded by the BMBF in the first funding period until 2022. The research consortium is particularly concerned with promoting young academics.

In the book, Professor Wolfgang Marschall examines the pros and cons of promoting microelectronics in the GDR and thus provides interesting insights into an economically relevant area of economic policy at the time that was worth billions. In addition, he outlines development perspectives for the industry that were realised in a very similar form in the following years and decades.

The work, provided by the project with a short introduction, is freely available under a public domain licence as a PDF document at the following quotable web address https://doi.org/10.26092/elib/1809.

We hope all the interested readers will enjoy the read!

The book publication, created as part of Mod-Block-DDR, is based on the annual conference of the Center for Interdisciplinary Polish Studies, which took place in Gdansk in the spring of 2021. The 15 single studies are dedicated to the substantial upheavals on the basis of different societal subareas. Taken as a whole, they contribute to a deeper understanding of the diversities of transformation by comparing Poland and East Germany.

We of Mod-Block-DDR wish you an insightful and thought-provoking read!

You can access the full pdf document here:

https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-euv/frontdoor/index/index/docId/1253

The authors and invited experts met in Berlin on 16 March 2023 to discuss the synthesis and articles. Because of their inspiring and critical comments, we would like to thank the dedicated reviewers: Rainer Karlsch, Florian Peters, Robert Geisler, Uwe Müller and Korneliusz Pylak!

After incorporating the enriching input, we can look forward to the forthcoming product "Roadblocks to the Socialist Modernisation Path and Transition. Evidence from East Germany and Poland".

Jutta Günther spoke on the challenge of the shortage of skilled workers in East and West Germany, which has long been a European issue as well. In addition to the structural peculiarities of the eastern German states, the question was also discussed as to whether and to what extent the "east-west" reference is still appropriate more than 30 years after unification. The conclusion was that even if the differences in development can be explained analytically and rationally from an economic point of view, they still give rise to discussion at the societal level - a fact that cannot be ignored in policy-making.

ZDF shows all this with eyewitness and expert statements in the Terra X feature "Erfolgsake Ost - Was die DDR überlebte" (Successful East - What Survived the GDR). Jutta Günther's interview contributions relate to the research of the BMBF-funded collaborative project Mod-Block-DDR (2018-24). The project explores the long-term consequences of socialism and transformation. It asks what consequences modernization blockades of the GDR still have today in the East German states: https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/obstacles-to-modernization-in-the-economy-and-science-of-the-gdr-mod-block-ddr

To the TV contribution (in German): https://www.zdf.de/dokumentation/terra-x-history/erfolgsakte-ost--was-die-ddr-ueberlebte-100.html

This book examines how different economic systems impacted the development of East Germany and Poland. Through comparing these countries while they were centrally planned socialist economies with the periods when they transitioned to capitalism, the inability of socialist economies to modernize effectively and produce sustained economic growth is highlighted. Particular attention is given the role of technological progress and economic growth, institutions, the creation and transfer of knowledge, and post-socialist transformation.

You can use this link for access: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-37050-2

We are pleased to continue the research activities in social, economic and historical research in five subprojects at the locations Bremen, Jena and Frankfurt/Oder from October 1^st, 2023 and wish all participants a successful 2nd funding phase!

Our next event will take place on 20.03.24 from 17-19:30 pm in Berlin (Representation of the State of Brandenburg to the Federal Government), where the latest publications of Mod-Block-GDR will be discussed together with Carsten Schneider and Prof. Dr. André Steiner. Interested parties can register for participation until 15.03.24 here (https://forms.europa-uni.de/form/provide/1605/).

The German-Korean Consultative Committee regularly discusses the German reunification and the possible lessons for the Korean peninsula. The committee comprises people from the Korean and German sides from politics, academia and civil society organizations. Once again this year, the German and Korean delegates discussed economic, educational and research policy issues as well as the comparability and transferability of Germany's experiences to Korea.

The German-Korean Consultation Committee is based in Berlin at the Chancellery, under the Federal Government Commissioner for East Germany, Carsten Schneider. In South Korea, responsibility lies with the Ministry of Unification Affairs.

You can download the podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/mod-block-ddr

Our researchers took part in a panel titled “Polish” and “Ukrainian” Cases of the Socialist Model of Modernization: Case Study of Formal and Informal Behavior after 1945, where they presented the following papers:

1. Konrad Walerski, M.A.: The New Society of the Western and Northern Territories of the People's Republic of Poland as a Laboratory of Formal and Informal Behavior
2. Prof. Dr. Dagmara Jajeśniak-Quast: From Culture to Shock Therapy. Economic Ideas in the Pages of Parisian "Kultura" (1947-2000) during the Long Period of System Transformation
3. Prof. Dr. Sławomir Kamosiński: The Importance of the Act of December 23, 1988 on Economic Activity for the Transformation of Private Owners

Their presentations were met with great interest and sparked lively discussions among the conference participants, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to studying the history and social transformations of Central and Eastern Europe after 1945.

"The implementation of the Soviet model of development in Poland encountered an unforeseen problem of strong socio-cultural conditions. Considering this fact, we would like to draw attention to the "Polish case", which has its roots in many centuries of specific shaping of social attitudes and behaviors. It can be assumed that their origin result from the entanglement of religious, national, political factors and entrepreneurial behavior. The "Polish case" understood in this way became the basis for the thesis that the socialist model of modernization did not achieve its goals due to strong informal institutions. Tradition, culture and religion permeating the family intergenerationally, are strengthened in the local environment and in the wider social life. They were some of the reasons for the instrumental, even selective, treatment of the official assumptions of socialist modernization by the Polish society. Thus, the so-called "Polish way of perceiving reality" became visible against the background of the countries of the socialist camp. Similarly interesting is the issue of Ukrainian society, which within the USSR formally co-created the socialist path of modernization, and at the same time – informally – referred to the idea of its nationalism and built its identity on the basis of Polish or even more multicultural heritage".

Full Call for Paper

List to the podcast here https://soundcloud.com/mod-block-ddr

Program

The documentary will be broadcast on ZDFinfo on October 22, 2025, at 8:15 p.m. and can already be viewed in the media library: https://www.zdf.de/dokus/ddr-genial--100

The scientific findings presented in this documentary were developed as part of the Mod-Block-DDR project: https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/obstacles-to-modernization-in-the-economy-and-science-of-the-gdr-mod-block-ddr