Since the 1970s, deindustrialisation has fundamentally changed Western societies. Interestingly, Luxembourg has confronted the decline of its steel industry in a particular way. The CONDE project seeks to explore deindustrialisation in a systematic historical perspective and place it in wider political, economic, social and cultural contexts. The project is led by the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ) in Munich.  C²DH is one of nine collaborating institutions. C²DH historians...

Since March 2020, the Warlux project at C²DH has been delving into the experiences and narratives of Luxembourg's 'forced recruits' and their families during the Second World War. The aim is to break with the traditional historiography surrounding the 'forced recruits' and to critically examine established narratives within the country's overarching historical discourse. Rather than treating these young men as a homogeneous group, the project explores the personal experiences of the soldiers,...

The Minett Stories virtual exhibition explores the history and identity of the Minett, the industrial region in southern Luxembourg, in 21 stories. For a century (approx. 1870-1970) the Minett was shaped by iron ore mining and the iron and steel industry. Rapid economic and population growth, urbanisation and labour migration had a major impact on the history of the region, which has also been shaped by economic crises, environmental pollution and precarious housing and living...

For the C²DH, 2022 was a particularly fruitful and intense year for our ongoing research on Web archives: two year-long projects came to an end, one in partnership with the DataLab of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, entitled Buzz-F, and another with the Canadian Archives Unleashed team, AWAC2, which looked at Web archives related to the COVID-19 crisis. In autumn 2022, the final conference of the WARCnet project (2020-2023) was also held in Aarhus, Denmark. Finally, the HIVI project (A...

In all humanities disciplines, scholars find themselves confronted with the rapidly increasing availability of digital resources, new technologies to interrogate and analyse them, and the question of how to engage with these developments. The field of Jewish studies is no exception. The C²DH aims to use the potential of digital technology to foster research in Jewish studies. Various projects have been carried out in recent years, including the launch of the websites #DHJewish and the...

One hundred years ago, the Luxembourg-based steel giant ARBED – today ArcelorMittal – inaugurated its Brazilian subsidiary in the State of Minas Gerais. Hundreds of Luxembourgish migrants settled in João Monlevade to work at the plant, bringing their social and cultural mores with them. An innovative transmedia documentary traces the history of the city and its inhabitants as well as the links forged between Brazil and Luxembourg. C²DH historian Dominique Santana and film producer Bernard...

History shapes towns and cities and the people who live in them. Esch-sur-Alzette has an extremely rich, sometimes forgotten history, one that is reflected in its buildings and heritage and above all in the lived experiences of its residents. Thomas Cauvin, head of the “Public History and Outreach” research area, and Joëlla van Donkersgoed, a post-doctoral researcher at the C²DH, spoke to Hanna Siemaszko, the producer of the SciLux podcast on science in Luxembourg, about the challenges of the...

The DEMA (“Doing Experimental Media Archaeology”) project studies the potential of hands-on experimentation as a means of better understanding and experiencing the materiality and use practices of old media technologies. Musician Aleksander Kolkowski, media historian Tim van der Heijden and C²DH Director Andreas Fickers spoke to Hanna Siemaszko, the producer of the SciLux podcast on science in Luxembourg, about their experiences and their thoughts on experimental media archaeology as a...