Divided – United – Global: 30 Years ZMO

Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Its predecessor, the so-called Research Focus (FSP) on the Modern Orient (1992–1995), was established immediately after the end of the two-state system in Germany, and its history cannot be told without reference to this institution. ZMO itself has existed since early 1996. Twenty years later, in 2017, it was admitted to the Leibniz Association and is now a leading non-university research institute within the national and international academic landscape.

This development was accompanied by the continuous expansion of an extensive library and the institute’s unique special collection. These include, amongst other things, the pre- and post-mortem collections of former ZMO staff members, donations from researchers active in fields relevant to the ZMO, reproductions of archival material, and specific periodicals. Taken together, this collection not only reflects the institute’s history, with its growing international and interdisciplinary character; the holdings also offer insights into political and scientific developments beyond national borders.

The exhibition ‘Divided – United – Global: 30 Years ZMO’ revisits the title of the 2012 exhibition ‘Divided – United – Global’, which at the time commemorated the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Centre for Research in the Humanities on the Modern Orient. The current exhibition centres on the special collection of the ZMO Archive. Through selected items from the collection, it also examines academic careers in East, West and reunified Germany. The exhibition highlights both the international character of ZMO itself and that of its special collection, whilst also demonstrating the collection’s value through its local and global use in research, teaching, literature and the arts.

Visiting hours daily from 10 am till 4 pm.