In 2021, the Institute celebrates...
...its 50th anniversary. We would like to use the year to look back on the eventful history of the IFSH and at the same time take a look at current challenges and developments. What are the central security policy debates today and how can our work contribute to peaceful coexistence? In short: what constitutes peace research today?
Established as a foundation on 11 June 1971 in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the Institute can look back on many years of dealing with questions of peace and security. From the very beginning, the Institute's work has focussed on the interplay between research and the concrete handling of current security policy challenges.
Peace and security research
Our research provides orientation in a time of profound upheaval and crisis. For the IFSH’s focal topics are directed towards the central societal challenges of our time, be it the question of why we are experiencing increasing societal polarisation and why societal cohesion is increasingly being called into question, or what security risks technological change brings with it and why we may experience a new global arms race in the future; or what the consequences of climate change are for security and peace; or how international organisations can secure peace worldwide and, above all, whether the European peace project can still have a future – and what that future will be.
Independent research is more indispensable than ever
Especially today, analyses and evaluations by independent scientists and scholars are indispensable in informing political and social debates. For we are facing complex challenges in all these fields. Our researchers contribute to addressing these challenges in the interest of a security policy that is consistently compatible with peace. Since the IFSH’s founding, the focus of our research has been on a comprehensive approach to security policy issues.
Prof. Dr. Ursula Schröder
Director of the IFSH
Im Mittelpunkt unserer Forschung steht dabei seit Gründung des IFSH die übergreifende Bearbeitung sicherheitspolitischer Fragestellungen: Wir haben einen gesamteuropäischen Blick, der Fragen der inneren wie äußeren Sicherheit Europas einbezieht; unsere Forschung ist interdisziplinär, um Erkenntnisse aus den Sozial- und Naturwissenschaften zusammenzuführen; und wir arbeiten problemorientiert, um ganz konkrete und aktuelle Problemlagen und Lösungsmöglichkeiten zu identifizieren.
Viele Themen blieben, neue kamen hinzu
Manche der Themen, die das Institut bearbeitet, sind seit Jahrzehnten geblieben, andere wiederum kamen neu hinzu. Eine Erkenntnis aber ist uns geblieben: Frieden und Sicherheit sind keine Selbstverständlichkeit. Ihre komplexen Grundlagen zu erforschen bleibt daher auch zukünftig die Aufgabe des IFSH – um weiterhin Orientierung bieten zu können und einen konkreten Beitrag zu Bearbeitung sicherheitspolitischer Herausforderungen zu leisten.
Frieden und Sicherheit gehen uns alle etwas an. Ich möchte Sie daher in unserem Jubiläumsjahr einladen, sich ein Bild unserer Forschung zu machen, an unseren Veranstaltungen – ob digital oder in Präsenz – teilzunehmen und sich über unsere Geschichte und aktuelle Arbeit auf unserer Website und in unseren Publikationen zu informieren.
Ihre Ursula Schröder
Watch online: Armed Forces for Peace: The Past, Present and Future of Innere Führung
An event with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, co-hosted by the Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation and the IFSH
50 Years of Peace Research in Hamburg – Impressions from the Celebration
The grand ballroom of the Hamburg City Hall normally hosts guests from both home and abroad, or is laid out for the Feast of Saint Matthias, the world’s oldest feast. But it was there that the red carpet was rolled out for the IFSH on 11 June 2021. Hamburg’s Second Mayor and Senator of Science, Katharina Fegebank, hosted a Senate reception on the occasion of the Institute’s 50th anniversary. Our camera captured the event’s most special moments.
Niels Annen, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office and member of the German Bundestag, and IFSH Director Prof. Dr Ursula Schröder have a quick chat before the Senate reception.
The hostess, Second Mayor of Hamburg Katharina Fegebank, greets Prof. Dr Ursula Schröder and Niels Annen.
Everyone strictly adhered to the Hamburg City Hall hygiene measures before, during and after the event. Model attendees: Senator Katharina Fegebank and Niels Annen (MP).
Hamburg’s Second Mayor and Senator for Science Katharina Fegebank payed tribute to the IFSH as an institute that conducts peace research at the highest international level.
The Hamburg Senate only opens the doors of the City Hall’s spectacular grand ballroom on very special occasions. Just a few people were permitted to be in the ballroom due to the hygiene regulations – most guests were able to watch the Senate reception via livestream.
Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Dieter Lenzen, President of the University of Hamburg, addressed the IFSH in a video appearance.
In her opening remarks, IFSH Director Prof. Dr Ursula Schröder expressed her appreciation for the festive reception at the Hamburg City Hall.
Video of friends of the IFSH sharing their congratulations was played during the event. Seen here: Dr Sibylle Bauer of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Wolfgang Ischinger, ambassador (ret.) and Chair of the Munich Security Conference, congratulated the IFSH on its anniversary and wished all of the IFSH employees continued success.
Niels Annen, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office and member of the German Bundestag, emphasised in his speech how important the IFSH’s work is for knowledge sharing with policymakers.
Ole von Uexküll, Executive Director of the Right Livelihood Foundation, said in his speech that more people in our society should once again work to support peace and security in the world. He joined the reception live via video feed from Stockholm.
Prof. Dr Ursula Schröder opens the panel discussion with Niels Annen and Ole von Uexküll.
Where do policymakers see a particular need for exchange with the scientific community? What are the major issues that will continue to require our attention? Prof. Dr Ursula Schröder, Niels Annen, and Ole von Uexküll discussed these and other questions.
Issues such as disarmament and arms control weren’t really discussed for years but are now back on the political agenda, Niels Annen said.
Prof. Dr Ursula Schröder has been Director of the IFSH since 2017.
Group photo with important attendees of the Senate reception (l. to r.): Niels Annen, Katharina Fegebank, Ole von Uexküll, and Prof. Dr Ursula Schröder.
Congratulations also came from, among others, Prof. Dr Nicole Deitelhoff and Prof. Dr Christopher Daase of the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF).
Prof. Dr Ursula Schröder and Niels Annen say goodbye following a successful Senate reception.
A wonderful time was had by all! You can watch the recording of the Senate reception on the IFSH’s YouTube channel.
Historical Photo Gallery
Wolf Graf von Baudissin was the first Director of the IFSH. This photo shows him in his private office in 1969.
Wolf Graf von Baudissin during a panel discussion.
Wolf Graf von Baudissin in the NDR tv-studio.
Wolf Graf von Baudissin was followed by Egon Bahr. The former Federal Minister headed the IFSH from 1984 to 1994.
In 1993, OSCE Ambassador of the USA John Kornblum and US Ambassador Jonathan Dean met with the Institute Director Egon Bahr at the IFSH (from right to left).
The IFSH team on a naval vessel in 1991.
On 7 May 1997, at the invitation of the IFSH and the Association for the Promotion of the Institute for Peace Research (VFIF), former Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt spoke at the University of Hamburg on the topic of "Globalisation and its effects on the economy and democracy".
On 11 March 1992, the former Soviet Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Mikhail Gorbachev visited the IFSH. In this picture he is talking to the then Institute Director Egon Bahr.
The former Institute Director Egon Bahr (left) during a picnic in the garden with his staff.
The former institute building at Falkenstein (Blankenese, Hamburg) with its large garden offered enough space for barbecues.
The IFSH was the first institute in Germany to introduce a Master's programme in Peace and Conflict Studies (MPS) in the winter semester 2002/2003.
MPS Graduation Ceremony 2017
Every year in October, MPS students celebrate their graduation.
Every two years the IFSH participates in the "Night of Knowledge" in Hamburg.
IFSH researcher Dr Margret Johannsen lectures on the Middle East conflict at the "Night of Knowledge" 2017.
OSCE Academy 2002
The IFSH prepares representatives of OSCE participating States for the OSCE Chairmanship of their country. This picture is showing such a training in Hamburg in June 2008.
In 2019, the IFSH was awarded the contract for the research project "Arms Control and New Technologies" by the Federal Foreign Office. The official start of the project was celebrated in the presence of Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas with a ceremony in Hamburg City Hall.
International researchers are regular guests at IFSH. In July 2007, IFSH researchers Dr Frank Evers (left), Dr Wolfgang Zellner (4th from left) and Dr Anna Kreikemeyer (4th from right) received a delegation from Asia.
Some colleagues relaxed by playing soccer. They founded their own team. Their matches against the team of the Bundeswehr Führungsakademie are still considered legendary today.