Leibniz Research Alliance Value of the Past

What value does the past have for societies both in the past and the present? And how is this value produced and communicated? These questions are the focus of a new, interdisciplinary Leibniz Research Alliance approved by the Senate of the Leibniz Association. It will examine – in German, European and global dimensions – how historical evidence is shaped by language, mediality and digitality, how notions of space and time contour images of history, and how the resource of the past is used for communal processes and identity conflicts as well as on an increasingly large history market.

The Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History (ZFF) coordinates the cooperation of 21 Leibniz institutes and Leibniz research museums, as well as numerous international partners. The new research alliance continues the work of the Leibniz Research Alliance "Historical Authenticity" and has commenced its work on 1 September 2021. In March 2025, the Senate of the Leibniz Association decided in favor of a second funding phase, starting in September 2025.