Chair of War Studies
2026 Semester Opening Ceremony
This year’s opening ceremonial to the semester will take place on October 9, 2026.
We will welcome the new cohorts to the MA War and Conflict Studies and MA International War Studies programs.
We will also bid farewell to students who are either embarking on the second leg of their studies—a semester in Dublin—or who have completed their degrees. Furthermore, this year we are able to award several scholarships, made possible primarily by the Military History Chair’s Friends Association. The presentation of the Best Student Award, which recognizes students’ outstanding achievements, is also possible again thanks to the Friends Association.
After the official portion of the event, we’ll wrap things up in a relaxed atmosphere on the beautiful historic terrace of the university building, overlooking the Neues Palais. Over drinks and snacks, new students will have the opportunity to chat with one another and make initial connections, including with graduates from previous years and other invited guests.
You can find the flyer with the program for the start of the semester here.
Please register in advance.
Summer Party and 10th Anniversary of the “War and Conflict Studies” Program at the Pan Am Lounge
On Thursday, July 23, 2026, the department celebrated not only its annual summer party but also the 10th anniversary of the “War and Conflict Studies” program. The Pan Am Lounge provided the perfect setting for this special occasion: high above the rooftops of Berlin, we celebrated the summer semester with outstanding service, lively conversation, and a unique atmosphere. Students from all graduating classes to date, as well as faculty members from the Chair and the Institute of History at the University of Potsdam, came together. As in previous years, the guests invited by Professor Neitzel—representatives from the press, politics, the Bundeswehr, and civil society—enriched the event as a special highlight and facilitated valuable networking opportunities and stimulating conversations.
There was music (many thanks to Oliver Günther and his family), conversation, feasting, and dancing late into the night.
Our thanks go to the Military History Support Association, whose financial support made it possible to choose this outstanding venue.
The celebration marked the conclusion of a successful summer semester as well as the first academic year for the current cohorts of the “International War Studies” and “War and Conflict Studies” programs. The IWS class is now heading to Dublin, while many students in the WCS program have exciting semesters abroad ahead of them or are already beginning their master’s theses.
In October, we look forward to welcoming a new class. Before then, however, the department will take a well-deserved summer break, and the 2026–27 academic year will begin with the planned semester kickoff event on October 9.
The chair as host for the SHOW Conference 2025
In November 2025, the Chair of War Studies, together with the Society of the History of War (SHOW) and the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the German Armed Forces (ZMSBw), hosted the annual SHOW conference. This event was a special highlight in the Chair's annual program and was prepared with great care. From November 27 to 28, 2025, more than 170 participants from all over the world gathered in Potsdam for a professional exchange on the topic of “Cultures of War and Violence.” The Show promotes interdisciplinary dialogue on the history and conduct of wars in order to understand their profound impact on society, culture, and historical change. However, the event not only serves as a forum for sharing new research findings, but also promotes a global network of experts dedicated to addressing the ongoing challenges arising from the legacies of war and violence. The show's conferences have taken place in Amsterdam (2022), Lisbon (2023), Nicosia (2024), among other locations; this year, the University of Potsdam and the ZSMBW hosted the event. During the event, up to eight panels ran simultaneously. The keynote speech was given by Professor Beatrice de Graaf.
The event kicked off on November 27 at the ZSMBW. On the second day, participants gathered on the Am Neuen Palais campus.
On both days, dedicated students from the Chair of War Studies supported the event and helped ensure that everything ran smoothly.
The Association for Military History made a significant financial contribution to the event, without which, for example, the much-praised catering during the conference would not have been possible. Thank you very much! Combined with the equally excellent hospitality provided by the German Armed Forces, this contributed to the fact that the discussions in the panels could take place in an extremely productive atmosphere from early in the morning until late in the evening.
Participants commented positively on the hospitality of the University of Potsdam and the breadth of the panels on offer.
The conference dinner, with its fantastic three-course menu, was repeatedly mentioned as a highlight, rounding off the event. We would therefore like to express our sincere thanks also to the cafeteria at the New Palace.
The Chair of War Studies is the only one of its kind in Germany. It is dedicated to military history and to the cultural history of violence, and is a central venue of liaison between the university and other research institutions investigating military history, between different methodical approaches within this varied discipline, as well as for the transfer of academic knowledge at both a national and international level. We seek to contribute to making Potsdam, with its history and its orientation towards to the future, more visible internationally as a centre of interdisciplinary war studies.
The Chair addresses military history and the cultural history of violence from the Early Modern Period to the present. It examines the foundations, dynamics and consequences of violent conflicts on the national and international stage. Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches, the Chair analyses how state, society and armed forces interact with one another. Its principal research focus is the nineteenth and twentieth century.
Located at the Chair, moreover, are two study programmes at Master level that are unique in Germany.FAQ Both are interdisciplinary, international and practice-orientated: The MA in War and Conflict Studies is a single degree at the University of Potsdam, in which predominantly German and European students research violent phenomena in the past and the present in small groups. The MA in International War Studies is a double degree programme with University College Dublin, which offers students the possibility of forming networks in the Anglo-Saxon world of war studies and which is aimed above all at an international audience.
Both study programmes combine the ambition to explore the subject of war and conflict in the past and the present from a multitude of different professional and national perspectives. Alongside concrete armed conflicts, the interactions between war and violence, security and stability, conflict and development are hereby illuminated. Our range of courses therefore offers a broad selection from history, political science, sociology and international law: from Clausewitz to cyber wars.
The work of the Chair profits enormously from a variety of partners located both in Potsdam itself and in nearby Berlin. Among the most important academic partners are the Centre for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr (ZMSBw), the Federal Archives and the Federal Military Archives. Good working relations exist with the Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS), as well as the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and the Bundeswehr’s own consulting agency. Think tanks, political foundations and the Berlin-based media actively support us with teaching events and internships. An exceptional relationship continues to exist with the Federal Ministry of Defence, but also with the Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, which approach the subject of war and conflict from very different perspectives.
The Chair’s online presence is designed to illustrate the entire thematic diversity of the work of the Chair described above. If you are interested in any aspect of our work, do not hesitate to contact us.
