Research Areas
Literary Studies/Linguistics
The research area of Literary Studies is concerned with the development of German-language culture in South East Europe from the end of the 17th century up until today. At the focus is the study of the living conditions and regional self-perception of the Germans in the Danube region as well as cultural interaction and interconnections in the multinational and multicultural environment.
Modern History
The research area studies migration in its many and varied manifestations in the period from the 17th to the 19th century. The focus lies on the causes and consequences of migration – from individual and collective action in the migration process to migration management by the state to the impacts of migration on society and culture in the Danube and Carpathian region. .
Contemporary History
With Europe as a whole and in particular South East Europe and its interrelationships with Germany and especially south-west Germany in the modern era and contemporary history in mind, three keywords shape research work in this area: Migrations, minorities und memories.
Order Change and Cultural Diversity
This research area focuses on the diverse social orders and changes in order in Southeastern Europe. The focus is particularly on multicultural regions of the former Yugoslavia in the 20th century.
Finished Research Areas
Historical Settlement Research
The research area “Historical Settlement Research” is concerned with the historical development of territorial and population structures in present-day and former German (Danube Swabian) settlement areas in East Central Europe and South East Europe. The title should be understood in the broader sense of settlement and cultural landscape research.
Demography/Social Geography
The research area deals with historico-demographic questions, historical anthropology, economic and social history as well as historico-geographical topics related to migration history in the 18th and 19th centuries together with social geography issues. The focus is on “homo migrans” in his specific lifeworlds within the multi-ethnic and multi-denominational environment in the Kingdom of Hungary.