The specificity and originality of conceptions of Europe derive primarily from the way in which they determine the centre of Europe, divide it into zones and define its limits. All three parameters have undergone considerable changes over the course of history.

What people perceive to be the centre and what they perceive to be the periphery in Europe is largely determined by external relations. It is an arduous but nonetheless exciting and worthwhile task to keep track of the shifts of centres and of force fields in Europe on the basis of historiography in a transnational context.

The extent to which Europe appears to be fragmented in political or cultural terms depends on geopolitical factors, on its inherent gravity and on the gravity of its continental neighbours. This raises the question of Europe's external borders. Conceptions of Europe differ radically when the issue of external borders is raised, as the example of contemporary Turkey clearly shows. Those who defend both inclusive and exclusive positions have recourse to historical arguments and make use of the medium of textbooks to this end. This perspective opens up a field of research and work that will presumably continue to occupy the project area as well as the entire institute for many years to come.

This following projects are currently planned in this project area:

Internet Platform EurViews

Lost in Translation?

Colonialism - A European Site of Memory. Coming to Terms with the Past in Textbooks of the Twentieth Century

'Acoustic Memory' - An Obstacle on the Path to a Common European Collective Memory?

In the Mirror of Africa. A Comparative Exploration of German and English Textboooks from the Second World War to the Present Day