The German History Society is pleased to be able to offer supplemental funding for exhibitions dealing with German History.

We are pleased to announce that the following four recipients have been awarded funding for their brilliant, varied projects on German History: Click on the pages below to see all of the projects.

Internment during the First World War: The Global German Experience

‘During the First World War, German civilians were interned as ‘enemy aliens’ in British Empire locations around the world. The biggest internment camp was Knockaloe on the Isle of Man, holding 22,000 prisoners. British citizens, white and non-white, were interned in Ruhleben camp near Berlin as a retaliatory measure, bringing the global experience of internment back to the German home front as well. For civilian internees across the world, long periods of isolation caused mental health problems in the form of the ‘barbed wire disease’. Humanitarian support came from the Spanish and the Swiss governments, as well as the Red Cross. The exhibition focuses on these global themes, opening up new perspectives and formats for presenting the history of wartime internment. Alongside eighteen panels, a Virtual Reality Experience will give viewers an immersive experience of Fort Napier Camp in South Africa.‘

The exhibition Behind the Wire and Virtual Reality Experience will be shown in the German Historical Institute London until 30 June 2023. Academic lead contacts are Professor Stefan Manz (Aston University Birmingham; [email protected]) and Professor Matthew Stibbe (Sheffield Hallam University; [email protected]). The exhibition will run for eight weeks.

To attend the opening evening,on 26th April 2023, click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/internment-during-the-first-world-war-the-global-german-experience-tickets-574698638097

You will need to sign up to come in person, but the event will also be live streamed and audio recorded for those who cannot come in person. And the exhibition itself will run for eight weeks.