Leibniz Institute of European History

The Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG) in Mainz is an independent research institute. Its purpose is to conduct academic research on European history. The Institute fulfils this purpose through the individual and joint research efforts of its staff and through the research scholarships and fellowships that it awards to academics both from Germany and abroad.

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In 2024, it started its new IEG Research Agenda: “Society”, “religion” together with “digitality” – and, in perspective, “environment” – will form the principal foci of the IEG’s research. The connection between these areas is maintained above all by the Europe Forum. Historical research on Europe in its cross-border and global interdependencies thus captures key processes that have had an impact in the past and continue to do so today. With a view to questions of social cohesion, religious plurality, climate change and digital transformation, they bring the insights of rigorous historical scholarship to bear on European options for action and their limits as well as suggesting alternative paths.
The research projects at the IEG jointly illuminate enduring issues from a long-term perspective. They deal with changes, ruptures and continuities and address memory and the use to which pasts are put. They are organised on a European basis, taking into account relationships and taking a comparative view of interactions on a local, regional, national, international and global level. By incorporating digital processes, historical methods are continuously expanded and conceptually developed. Scholars working at the IEG draw on their projects to contribute to the fields of society, religion and digitality. They also participate in the overarching activities and debates in the Europe Forum.