Veldenstein Circle

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The Veldenstein Circle for Research on Extremism and Democracy is a panel of contemporary historians, political and social scientists who are closely related to the Dresden Hannah Arendt Institute for Research on Totalitarianism (HAIT) and who are dedicated to research into extremism and democracy in the past and present. According to his own statement, the main focus is on the National Socialist dictatorship, the SED regime and the extremist movements of the 20th and 21st centuries. The Veldensteiner Kreis is organized by Eckhard Jesse ( TU Chemnitz ), Uwe Backes (Hannah Arendt Institute for Totalitarian Research, Dresden) and Werner Müller ( University of Rostock ).

history

The discussion group took its name from Veldenstein Castle in Neuhaus an der Pegnitz , where the first meeting took place in 1990. It was jointly founded in November by Uwe Backes, Eckhard Jesse and Rainer Zitelmann under the name “Veldensteiner Circle on the Past and Present of Extremism and Democracy”. Since then it has been meeting twice a year at different venues. For example, meetings were held in Prague or - at the invitation of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Wendgräben or the Academy for Political Education in Tutzing . The 47th conference took place from April 11th to 13th, 2014 at Wendgräben Castle.

Self-image and goals

The participants associate the discussion rounds with the aim of “promoting comparative extremism research” and “getting involved in the democratic constitutional state”. According to its own statements, the group invokes “the ideas of human rights, tolerance and liberalism”. It sees itself as a non-partisan forum in which a broad spectrum of opinions and views should be expressed. The meetings are intended to promote interdisciplinary cooperation and dialogue between different generations of researchers and to counteract “camp thinking”.

According to critics, the circle is striving for a conservative hegemony in the humanities. Approved personnel from this network are to be established at universities and research institutions in Germany.

Speakers

Speakers from the Veldensteiner Kreis included:

These speakers are presented as follows: “Quite a few of the named are employees of state institutions such as the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution or individual state authorities, the Gauck and Birthler authorities and various federal and state centers for political education . Their publications are mostly regarded as standard works in schools and independent educational institutions. Often the members of the discussion group are also authors of the yearbook Extremism & Democracy published by Uwe Backes ( Technical University Dresden ) and Eckhard Jesse ( Technical University Chemnitz ) . Some work as journalists in media such as the FAZ and Die Welt . "(From the self-portrayal)

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ^ Hannah Arendt Institute for Research on Totalitarianism V.
  2. a b Veldenstein Circle .
  3. Yearbook Extremism and Democracy 1991 , p. 424.
  4. Merkel is more dangerous than the AfD for thought leaders for the protection of the constitution. In: Migazin . February 2, 2016, accessed February 19, 2016 .