Start of the 23rd Round of the German History Competition
Everybody has neighbours. They live next-door, on our streets or in our quarter, in a nearby village or in the neighbouring country. As a result of immigration and emigration, city planning, transportation projects, political and social conflicts as well as shifting boundaries, neighbourhoods have constantly changed.
In which ways did neighbours deal with each other during the past? And to what extent did economic or political changes and ethnic or social conflicts influence neighbourhood life? On the one hand, neighbours were able to help each other and celebrated together. On the other hand, proximity can constrict one’s freedom and may lead to conflicts.
On a European level, relations between neighbours are even more important, for – as the past has shown – a lack of good relations might lead to wars and prejudices against strangers may result in exclusions. If you do not get along with your neighbours, you usually have the opportunity to move away to solve this problem, while neighbouring countries always have to negotiate.
Historical forensics may help us to show how neighbours tried to deal with support and conflicts, with individual freedom as well as social control in neighbourhoods, with strange and familiar aspects within their surroundings.
Young Germans aged 21 years or younger are currently asked to take a historical perspective on the subject. Until 28 February 2013, they will be able to hand in their works. In this competition round, two special initiatives focus on bi-national relations among neighbours: Students who research German-French or German-Polish neighbourhood life after 1945 have the opportunity to win additional prizes. While the latter initiative combines two national competitions of the EUSTORY network, namely the German Federal President’s Competition and the Polish Competition “Historia Bliska”, the German-French initiative was introduced in order to recall the 50th anniversary of the German-French Élysée Treaty.