“On Trying To Be a Historian of Eastern Europe”: A Migratory Interim Balance. Part 1

Abstract

This autobiographic (and thus highly subjective) text asks what motived a non-East European, born in 1955 in West Germany, to become a historian of Eastern Europe. The answers are, on the one hand, an interest in (Slavic) languages and (Cold War) politics, and, to a lesser extent, family background, and on the other, coincidence and, not the least, fellowship opportunities. Part 1 of the article traces the author’s biography from his high-school years in Baden-Württemberg to universities and research institutions in Tübingen, West Berlin, Sofija, Skopje, and Bloomington, Indiana, from 1969 to 1981 – including his first modest academic achievements. Part 2 covers his professional path till retirement in 2021.

Keywords

• eastern europe
• east-central europe
• south-eastern europe
• hugh seton-watson
• matthias bernath
• charles and barbara jelavich
• györgy ránki
• free university of berlin
• institute of national history in skopje
• university of indiana
• sofia university “st. kliment ohridski”