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The Stiftung Ettersberg is legally established foundation, located in Weimar, Germany. Its mission is the comparative study of European dictatorships and their transition to democracy. The foundation administers the Memorial and Education Centre Andreasstrasse, a museum housed in the former Stasi prison in Erfurt. [1]
The idea for the creation of the Stiftung Ettersberg goes back to the Spanish writer and dramatist Jorge Semprún. As a former prisoner of Buchenwald Concentration Camp he suggested in 1994, on the occasion of the Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels award, to make use of the Ettersberg, on which Buchenwald Concentration Camp and afterwards the Soviet Special Camp No. 2 had been set up, as a point of reference symbolizing Germany’s double experience of dictatorship. He encouraged to take advantage of it with a European perspective in order to further the idea of democratic development in Central and Eastern Europe and of a European integration. The then minister-president of Thuringia, Dr Bernhard Vogel, took up this idea. On his initiative the Thuringian state government established the Stiftung Ettersberg, located in Weimar, in spring 2002 and the appointment of the executive board and the advisory council of the foundation.
The foundation is devoted to the comparative study of European dictatorships in the 20th century as well as their democratic transition. Its object is to contribute to the historical coming to terms with and the comparative analysis of dictatorships of fascist, national socialist and communist provenance as well as authoritarian regimes; it is to elucidate their mechanisms of rule and their driving forces. Moreover, it is dedicated to reveal the significance of opposition and resistance against authoritarian and totalitarian suppression and it keeps alive the memory of the victims of dictatorial violence. Besides, it is concerned with the problems of “coping” with the past and questions of transition from dictatorship to democracy as well as the stability conditions of liberal democracies. Accordingly, it is the task of the Stiftung Ettersberg to prospectively pursue historical research which does not only perform work of memory but goes beyond this by making successive generations sensitive for the latent danger to freedom and democracy. The Stiftung Ettersberg attempts to foster the international and interdisciplinary dialogue between political scholars, historians, and researchers in the field of social and cultural studies in Europe. It endeavours to disseminate national experiences internationally and thereby to make a contribution to the stabilisation of liberal democracy throughout Europe. It also aims at being a platform of international encounters, reflection, remembrance, encouragement and last but not least of a critical analysis of contemporary developments.
From a European angle, the Stiftung Ettersberg organises international symposia, scientific conferences and colloquia, of which the results are issued in our own publication serial. In Thuringia, in the heart of Europe, the foundation promotes the dialogue between prolific university institutes, scientific and pedagogical institutions and other initiatives that operate in the field of dictatorship research and democratic transition processes. It organises exhibitions and initiates competitions for students on issues such as experience of dictatorship, stabilisation and endangering of democracy.
The Stiftung Ettersberg publication serial is titled „European Dictatorships and their Overcoming“. Since 2003, there have been published 15 volumes at Boehlau publishing house:
The Stiftung Ettersberg presents four touring exhibitions in various German and European cities:
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Simon Schwartz is a German illustrator, comic writer and cartoonist. His work is published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Die Zeit and other newspapers and magazines. He has written graphic novels including "drüben!" and "Packeis" and his work has been translated into French and English.
Ulrich Pfeil is a German historian based in France.
