Former Fellow

Norbert Frei

Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Director of the Jena Center for 20th Century History

Research project:
“Nobody wants to have been a Nazi”. The aftermath of the Third Reich
(“Nobody wants to have been a Nazi.” The Aftermath of the Third Reich)

Abstract
This monograph in progress is the final volume in the seven-volume series “The Germans and National Socialism”, which has been published by C.H. Beck Munich since 2015 under the editorship of Norbert Frei.

Events:
January 24, 2019, 6:30 p.m.
Public lecture
“Nobody wants to have been a Nazi.” Reflections on the post-history of the “Third Reich”

January 25, 2019, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Masterclass
Germans and the Nazi past since 1945 Refusal, commitment and fatigue in the “service of remembrance”

25 February 2019, 7.30 p.m.
Book presentation
Zur rechten Zeit: Wider die Rückkehr des Nationalismus
With Dr. Christina Morina (Friedrich Schiller University Jena), Dr. Franka Maubach (Friedrich Schiller University Jena) and Dr. Maik Tändler (Friedrich Schiller University Jena)

  • Biografische Angaben

    Prof. Dr. Norbert Frei is Chair of Modern and Contemporary History at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Director of the Jena Center History of the 20th Century. From 1979 to 1997, he was a research associate at the Institute of Contemporary History in Munich, and subsequently held the Chair of Modern and Contemporary History at the Ruhr University Bochum until 2005. Prof. Frei has held numerous fellowships and visiting professorships, including at Harvard University, the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and the Hebrew University Jerusalem. In 2010/11 he was Theodor Heuss Professor at the New School for Social Research in New York. He was a member of several historical commissions, including the Independent Commission for Research into the History of Bertelsmann and the Commission on the History of the Federal Foreign Office appointed by Joschka Fischer in 2005.
  • Publikationen

    Der Führerstaat. Nationalsozialistische Herrschaft 1933 bis 1945. Zuerst erschienen 1987, in 13 Sprachen übersetzt, 8. Auflage München 2013 Vergangenheitspolitik. Die Anfänge der Bundesrepublik und die NS-Vergangenheit. (= Habilitationsschrift 1996) 4. Auflage München 2012 1945 und wir. Das Dritte Reich im Bewußtsein der Deutschen. München 2005, erweiterte 4. Auflage München 2009 1968. Jugendrevolte und globaler Protest. München 2008 (erweiterte und aktualisierte Neuausgabe 2017, 2. Auflage 2018)

News from the research center

Event
10.02.2027 | Frankfurt am Main

Shifting Visions of Peace and Security

Panel Discussion, Lecture Series

Podiumsdiskussion im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung “Peace and Security in Post-Liberal Times” mit Lisbeth Zimmermann (Goethe University/Normative Orders), Antonia Witt (PRIF), Siddarth Tripathi (University of Erfurt). Moderation: Jonas Wolff (Goethe University/PRIF/Normative Orders).

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Event
03.02.2027 | Frankfurt am Main

AI, War, and Big Tech

Lecture Series, Lecture

Vortrag von Ingvild Bode (University of Southern Denmark)im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung “Peace and Security in Post-Liberal Times”.

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Event
16.12.2026 | Frankfurt am Main

International arms control in a world of uncertainties

Lecture Series, Lecture

Vortrag von Malte Göttsche (TU Darmstadt/PRIF) im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung “Peace and Security in Post-Liberal Times”.

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Event
02.12.2026 | Frankfurt am Main

Enabling Authoritarianism: UN Peacekeeping and the Politics of Authoritarianism

Lecture Series, Lecture

Vortrag von Sarah von Billerbeck (University of Reading) im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung “Peace and Security in Post-Liberal Times”.

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Event
25.11.2026 | Frankfurt

Deterrence in “Post-Liberal Times“

Lecture Series, Lecture

Vortrag von Maria Mälksoo (Copenhagen University) (Goethe-Universität/PRIF/Normative Orders) im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung “Peace and Security in Post-Liberal Times”.

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Event
18.11.2026 | Frankfurt am Main

The Case for (Neo)colonialism: Neotrusteeship in International Relations as the ‘Imperial Mind’ of the ‘Colonial Present’

Lecture Series, Lecture

Vortrag von Nick Lemay-Hébert (Manchester University) im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung “Peace and Security in Post-Liberal Times”.

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Event
28.10.2026 | Frankfurt am Main

Postliberal vs. liberal Perspectives on Peace and Security and Crises

Lecture Series, Lecture

Vortrag von Prof. Dr. Christopher Daase (Goethe-Universität/PRIF/Normative Orders) im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung “Peace and Security in Post-Liberal Times”.

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Event
02.02.2027 | Frankfurt

Klassenjustiz, race und abolitionistische Demokratie

Lecture Series, Lecture

Vortrag von Prof. Dr. Daniel Loick (Amsterdam) im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung "Ist das Recht am Ende?" im Wintersemester 2026/2027. Organisiert von Klaus Günther und Benno Zabel.

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Event
19.01.2027 | Frankfurt

Nach der Normativität. Zum Verhältnis von Politik und Recht unter komputationalen Bedingungen

Lecture Series, Lecture

Vortrag von Prof. Dr. Sabine Müller-Mall (Frankfurt am Main) im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung "Ist das Recht am Ende?" im Wintersemester 2026/2027. Organisiert von Klaus Günther und Benno Zabel.

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