Joint Lecture

Ute Frevert

The Power of Emotions in German History

1 March 2023

(0:47 h)

Joint Lecture

Ute Frevert

The Power of Emotions in German History

GHIL Joint Lecture, in co-operation with the Modern German History Seminar, IHR, given 1 June 2022

Everyone knows from experience that emotions are powerful: they motivate us to act in a certain way, they colour our experiences and shape our memories. But what impact do they have on history? What do we learn about history from looking through the lens of emotions? And what do we learn about emotions by applying a historical perspective? The talk explores those questions with regard to Germany in the twentieth century, a period of dramatic changes that deeply affected people’s lives, mindsets, and feelings.

Ute Frevert is Director of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, where she founded the Center for the History of Emotions in 2008. She has previously been a professor of modern history at the universities of Berlin, Konstanz, Bielefeld, and Yale. She is a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. Her book Powerful Emotions in German History will be published by CUP later this year.

Don't miss the accompanying interview: GHIL Research Fellow for Modern History Ole Münch and PR Officer Kim König talk to Ute Frevert, the new president of the Max Weber Foundation, about the research behind her lecture on ‘The Power of Emotions in German History’.