The UMN Department of German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch is hosting an event this coming Tuesday (09/30) Make sure to check it out!

Our friends down in New Prague at the Czech & Slovak Cultural Center of Minnesota have a super intriguing event coming up next week. Make sure to check it out!! More info at www.cs-center.org

Available for pre-order now. Recommend to all of your friends who think of WWI only in terms of the Western Front! The results of two hugely talented historians co-authoring a book.

Remembering the black history of Weimar Berlin: www.the-berliner.com/politics/bla...

‘He should be known as a film music revolutionary’: revitalising the legacy of Czech composer Zdeněk Liška

We are one month away from this year's Kann Lecture co-organized with @umnpremodern.bsky.social, "How the East was Lost: Triumphal Rulership and the Failure of Integration in Carolingian Central Europe."

Spain’s 20th century was shaped by one man in particular: dictator Francisco Franco (1892–1975). Why does his legacy remain so hard to confront? ➡️ Join @casanovahistory.bsky.social from @unizar.es and Judit Carrera at this year's #VHF to learn more: www.humanitiesfestival.at/casanova

Please join us and the @umnpremodern.bsky.social for our annual Kann Lecture on October 17th (in person and via Zoom): cla.umn.edu/austrian/new... This year's Kann Lecture will be given by Professor Helmut Reimitz (Princeton). More details can be found below.

How did a functional, if flawed, democratic machinery hand absolute power over to Hitler, someone whom the conservative political class regarded as a chaotic clown with a violent following?

In other wonderful publishing news: Rex Levang, former Classical Music Director at Minnesota Public Radio, has translated Theodor Fontane's "Count Petöfy" into English. More details on the translation (appearing with Camden House) can be found here: boydellandbrewer.com/book/count-p...

"Bruno Kreisky's Foreign Policy: A Reassessment" has been published with Berghahn Books as part of our Center's Austrian and Habsburg Studies book series: www.berghahnbooks.com/title/Bischo...

From our colleague in the Department of History, David M. Perry

Join us Sept 17 for a timely webinar on Birthright Citizenship and learn from the experts @unlawfulentries.bsky.social @skantrow.bsky.social @cnacken1.bsky.social William Jones and Cecilia Marquez. Register z.umn.edu/BirthrightCitizen @umn-amst.bsky.social @umnlawschool.bsky.social

“Genocide prevention is not about trials after the fact. It’s about political leadership at the moment of crisis. And in Bosnia, the world failed that test.”​

"The longlist features authors representing four continents and nine countries: Albania, Canada, Hungary, India, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, the UK and USA."

Wondering how to respond to partisan & right-wing Freedom of Information requests at your university? Look no further! The Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom has a resource just for you—check out their action report & guidelines here⬇️ www.aaup.org/sites/defaul...

David Pressman, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Hungary from 2022 to 2025 issues a dire warning: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...

Wichtiger Etappensieg für das @doew.at. @akranebit.bsky.social: „Die Definition von Rechtsextremismus ist nicht Sache der Beobachteten. Nur weil unsere wissenschaftliche Expertise manchen nicht gefällt, können und müssen wir uns Schmähungen [...] nicht gefallen lassen.“ www.ots.at/presseaussen...

From May: a brief interview with Martin Tschiggerl (formerly Fulbright Visiting Professor in CSCL at the University of Minnesota) @eltschiggolo.bsky.social www.oeaw.ac.at/en/news/hist...

Wie heißt es so schön, in eigener Sache: Ich habe gerade die Druchfahnen meines neuen Buches durchgesehen. Es wird Anfang September bei Böhlau erscheinen und stellt den Abschluss meines "Trümmerfrauen"-Projekts dar:

Impressions from the first #CEH-H @univie.ac.at A wonderful gathering of up to 500 scholars from around the globe – interesting, inspiring, and thought-provoking. #Habsburg #SEEES #CentralEurope #History @cas-umn.bsky.social @oeaw.bsky.social @czechacademy.bsky.social

Save the dates: for those working in German and Austrian Jewish Studies, the 8th Biennial German Jewish Studies Workshop will take place February 15-17, 2026 at the University of Notre Dame.

"Material success alone cannot help a person who lacks the ability to form a clear, informed vision of what is true, good and beautiful. But this vision is something our students both want and need." www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/o...

I wrote a brief report on @milwelfhist.bsky.social's fourth International Conference, held last week in Austria. It covers MWHN’s work, highlights key moments, and shares insights from my presentation for anyone interested in reusing elements or case studies. 👍🏽 medium.com/@cecilechemi...

Come to the Thursday, July 17 "East Central Europe in a Global Context" panel at 3pm in honor of Pieter Judson, featuring Mate Rigo, Anca Cretu, Franz Fillafer, Maureen Healy, + Matthew Rampley, where Peter Becker will hint to time constraints + foster discussion. ceh-c.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/us...

The 2026 Austrian Studies Association Conference will take place in Salzburg, and the call for proposals has just been announced: www.austrian-studies.org/conference/c...

#CEH-C 🤩 We are very excited to participate in the first Central European History Convention @univie.ac.at @czechacademy.bsky.social @cas-umn.bsky.social @oeaw.bsky.social @botstiberinstitute.bsky.social @utcreees.bsky.social @ualberta.bsky.social

Incredible photos from this past weekend in Budapest www.npr.org/2025/06/28/n...

"It’s created such wreckage to have implied that history and humanities are luxury goods, rather than essential services... more to the point, the idea that only science really matters has been enormously destructive." There is no research infrastructure without a full research infrastructure.

Around 100,000 people defied a government ban and police orders on Saturday to march in what organizers called the largest LGBTQ+ Pride event in Hungary’s history in an open rebuke of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government.

If any of our followers will be in New York during the summer, the Neue Galerie has two exhibitions opening this week: www.neuegalerie.org/exhibitions

From our colleague in the Dept. of History, @lollardfish.bsky.social www.startribune.com/what-should-...

The American Friends of the @doew.at and @thegsa.bsky.social are seeking submissions for the 2025 Radomir Luza Prize, which awards outstanding work in Austrian and/or Czechoslovak studies. More information can be found on the prize website: www.austrianresistance.org?p=614

Canada and EU inch closer together on defence https://on.ft.com/3G0Bq07

"In an atmosphere that encourages political retribution and violence, seeks to silence disagreement and opposition at levels that reach the highest ranks in government, we should all be concerned."

Join us on 27 June for a lecture by @timothysnyder.bsky.social, IWM Lesya Ukrainka Permanent Fellow, as he explores modern authoritarianism through the Belarusian regime. A cooperation between the @iipvienna.bsky.social, Wien Museum and the IWM Vienna. www.iwm.at/news/timothy...

"Earlier this week Donald Trump called for a second civil war at a US military base. This scenario can be resisted and prevented, if we have the courage to listen, interpret, and act. And this Saturday we will have the occasion to act." snyder.substack.com/p/trumps-civ...

@onthemedia.bsky.social provides important insights, and speaks with Hungarian and American journalists about what we can glean from Hungary www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

Congratulations are in order for incoming CAS Director, Professor @alicelovejoy.bsky.social, who received the Artis Bohemiae Amicis (Friends of Czech Art) Medal. The prize is awarded by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic for long-term, significant contributions to Czech culture.

"On Tyranny" free resources to use and to share, now or any time snyder.substack.com/p/on-tyranny...

A recent op-ed (in German) by Dr. Martin Tschiggerl - Minnesota's 2025 Fulbright Visiting Professor in @derstandard.at www.derstandard.at/story/300000...

If you have 35 minutes in your day, this interview with @timothysnyder.bsky.social is an important one. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pcx...

"[Orwell will] be standing right there, frozen in bronze, with his words carved in the side of the building: 'If liberty means anything at all, it means telling someone something that they don't want to hear.'" www.youtube.com/live/FcWa-wX...

EU-Länder fordern härteres Vorgehen gegen Ungarn#Ungarn#Pride-Parade#Verbot

The international conference “Jazz – Word – Play” (Vienna, May 21–23, 2026) is calling for proposals exploring intersections of jazz, literature, and wordplay through cultural and historical developments from its start to the present. Presentations should be in English or German. Details below:

If this bill passes, it will not simply marginalise Hungary’s independent voices – it will extinguish them, we told @theguardian.com. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

How are you benefitted by studying a second language? (Hint: it opens doors far beyond translation work.) Read the article at https://www.startribune.com/learn-new-second-foreign-language-resume-job-earning-affordable-duolingo-rosetta-stone/601349849?utm_source=gift @umncla.bsky.social

An interesting op-ed from Cas Mudde (Professor of International Affairs at the University of Georgia) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Center for Austrian Studies is mourning the loss of Professor Michael Lower (Morse Alumni Distinguished University Teaching Professor of History at the University of Minnesota).