Welcome to the website of the Institute for Economic and Social History!

Economic and social history is a genuinely interdisciplinary research area, to be understood both as a sub-discipline of historical research and as a transdisciplinary historical economic and social science.

As a historical social science it is characterized by the critical use and reflection of the methods and theories of economics, demography, sociology and many disciplines in business studies to explore the economic and social dimensions of the past. As such, it can be understood as central to a socio-economic teaching and research program. At the institute, we are mainly dedicated to research and teaching on long-run developments in the world economy and individual economies as well as on banking and financial history.

A special organizational section of our institute is dedicated to business history. Our Philosophy Division goes beyond the interdisciplinary agenda of economic and social history and engages in research and teaching on, among other things, the conditions and limits of knowledge as such.  Additionally, our division for research on university history explores, in close cooperation with the University Archives, the history of this university itself within the wider context of university history research.

Some recent news from the institute and its staff:

EHES Conference 2023

We are pleased to announce that we will host the 15^th annual conference of the European Historical Economics Society (EHES), taking place from the 1 to 2 September 2023.

The European Historical Economics Society was established in 1991 with the goal of promoting research, training, and collaboration in the field of economic history. The society brings together distinguished scholars from top European universities and research institutes. To facilitate cooperation and serve as a platform for scholarly exchange, the society publishes the European Review of Economic History and organizes an annual conference. Currently, the society is led by Univ. Prof. Dr. Markus Lampe, who serves as its president from 2021 to 2023.

For more details, please visit the official conference homepage: https://ehesconference.org/