Lecture on peace education in conflicts of interpretation at Hambach Castle at the colloquium of the Leibniz Institute of European History

Peace education in conflicts of interpretation at Hambach Castle.

Action research on polarizing conflicts about the history of democracy.

Colloquium of the Leibniz Institute of European History

19.5.2026 - 4 pm in Mainz

The disputes surrounding Hambach Castle are an example of how historical events are reinterpreted and appropriated in contemporary political conflicts. Since 2018, protests with authoritarian-populist positions have been taking place there around the anniversary of the Hambach Festival of 1832. Local civil society and local political actors fear that these interpretations undermine the pluralistic-emancipative meaning of the site.

The lecture examines these disputes as contemporary conflicts of interpretation about history. On the basis of an action research project with local activists and educational actors, it will show how different understandings of democracy, peace and history become effective in these conflicts. By reflecting on this diversity in learning spaces and working with it in practice, a typology of peace education perspectives emerges that reveals different ways of dealing with politically contested history.

The article understands action research as a methodological approach to the question of how history becomes politically effective in educational and practical contexts. Against this background, the lecture discusses points of connection for historical studies and historical-political education: How do we research, teach and remember conflictively interpreted historical events? What role do educational and research methodologies play in stabilizing or shifting interpretations of history? And how do education and research become politically powerful - for example through the reproduction or deconstruction of understandings of peace and democracy?

Speaker:
Annalena Groppe is a research assistant at the Peace Academy Rhineland-Palatinate, where she is responsible for peace education. In her doctoral project, which is nearing completion, she is investigating conflicts of interpretation surrounding democracy at Hambach Castle. With a disciplinary background in peace and conflict research, social psychology and religious studies, she combines onto-epistemic, historical-political and relational perspectives - with a particular focus on local practical and experiential references.