Frank Trentmann
Germany at a crossroads – Deutschland am Wendepunkt

Book presentation & discussion

Tue, 21.01.2025
5:00 PM - 19:00 Goethe-Institut Finnland

Germany used to be known for its economic strength, democratic stability and culture of remembrance (Erinnerungskultur). Now the country is undergoing an identity crisis. Germany is divided on the issue of the war in Ukraine and in the Middle East, the economy is in recession, populism has been on the rise, and the “welcome culture” has given way to attempts to restrict immigration.

This public event uses the publication of the Penguin paperback of Frank Trentmann’s book on the Germans – Out of the Darkness – as an opportunity to discuss the country’s major fault lines: democracy and populism, migration and diversity, and war and peace.

The panel discussion is in English and question can be presented in English, German and Finnish.
 

Panel:

Seppo Hentilä, Professor Emeritus, University of Helsinki
Oula Silvennoinen, Associate Professor, University of Helsinki
Frank Trentmann, Professor of History, University of Helsinki and Birkbeck, University of London
Moderated by Hanna Mahlamäki, Journalist at Helsingin Sanomat

The discussion will be followed by refreshments and a chance to purchase the book.

The event is organised in collaboration with Centre for Consumer Society Research/University of Helsinki, Goethe-Institut Finnland, Penguin Books and S. Fischer Verlag.

Frank Trentmann: Out of the Darkness
Frank Trentmann’s Out of the Darkness: The Germans, 1942-2022 was simultaneously published in English and German and has been widely discussed, with forthcoming editions in French, Dutch and Chinese. It was one of the ‘Books of the Year’ in The New Yorker, Der Spiegel and the Daily Telegraph, and the number one political book of the year by the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Out of the Darkness is shortlisted by the Wolfson History Prize 2024.