Conference: ‘Colonial History and Historical Culture: Attitudes and Historical-Political (Educational) Perspectives’

What role does the colonial past play in our culture of remembrance and educational practice? This question was the focus of the conference ‘Colonial History and Historical Culture: Attitudes and Historical-Political (Educational) Perspectives’, which took place on 26 and 27 March 2026 in the Senate Hall of the University of Münster.

The conference brought together national and international experts on the subject of remembrance culture and educational practice in relation to the colonial past.  Members of the Centre for Empire Studies (CES) were also involved in organising the conference:

Holger Thünemann (Münster/CES) opened the conference and chaired the keynote address by Bernd-Stefan Grewe (Tübingen) on the topic ‘Colonial Legacies – German Culture of Remembrance and the Colonial Era’.

Johannes Jansen (Münster/CES) presented the findings of a representative study on the German population’s attitudes towards the colonial era. Sarah Albiez-Wieck (Münster/CES) contributed an academic commentary to the panel discussion.

Furthermore, Philipp Erdmann (Münster City Archives/CES) and Felicity Jensz (CES) led a historical-critical city tour exploring sites in Münster associated with colonial history, such as the Train Monument and the Ketteler Monument.

The event concluded with an interdisciplinary roundtable discussion that explored the possibilities and limitations of historical and political education in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The conference took place as part of the collaborative project ‘Colonial History, Historical Culture and Historical and Political Education in North Rhine-Westphalia’. It was funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia and the State Agency for Political Education of North Rhine-Westphalia.