8th symposium in the “Historical Judgement” series
Germany – Russia – USA
12 November 2026
Deutsches Historisches Museum
Pei Building
Relations between Germany, Russia, and the United States are undergoing a fundamental transformation, with long-standing alliances and ties increasingly being called into question. In the eighth symposium in the “Historical Judgement” series, the DHM joins Karl Schlögel in exploring the historical relations between these three countries – not in the form of an encyclopaedic overview or a definitive account, but through an examination of characteristic situations that reveal the full complexity of this three-way relationship as it has evolved over generations.
The participants include Kate Baldwin, György Dalos, Alexander Etkind, Hope M. Harrison, Anne Hartmann, Eleanor Jones Harvey, Oliver Lubrich, Jan-Werner Müller, Lawrence A. Scaff, Karl Schlögel, Odd Arne Westad, Katherine Zubovich
The contributions appear in the new edition of the magazine “Historical Judgement”.
#HistoricalJudgement
Participation
Registration by Sunday, 1 November 2026:
Participation is free
The symposium will be recorded and made available online later.
Programme
9.00 am – 9.30 am
Registration
9.30 am – 9.45 am
Introduction
Welcome
Raphael Gross
Scenes from German-Russian-American Relations
Karl Schlögel
10.30 am – 12 noon
Emigration and Flight
Home – A Dream: Russian Germans and Their Emigration to the United States
György Dalos, Sächsische Akademie der Künste
The Splendour and Misery of Life in Exile: German Émigrés in California and Moscow
Anne Hartmann, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Chair: N.N.
12 noon – 1.30 pm
Lunch Break
1.30 pm – 2.30 pm
Stones, Walls, Blocks
Building in Stone: Neoclassical Facades in Washington, Moscow, and Berlin
Katherine Zubovich, University at Buffalo
Three Vignettes from the Cold War
Hope Harrison, The George Washington University
Chair: Julia Voss, Deutsches Historisches Museum
2.30 pm – 3.30 pm
The Sociologists’ Perspective
Timely Reflections: Max Weber between America and Russia
Lawrence Scaff, Wayne State University
“After-Thoughts”: Notes towards Du Bois’s Historical Judgement
Kate Baldwin, Tulane University
Chair: Hans-Peter Müller, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
3.30 pm – 4.00 pm
Coffee Break
4.00 pm – 5.00 pm
Alexander von Humboldt visits the Tsar and the President
Writing between the Lines: Alexander von Humboldt in Russia
Oliver Lubrich, Universität Bern
Humboldt and Jefferson: An Encounter, 1804
Eleanor Jones Harvey, Smithsonian American Art Museum
Chair: Daniel Morat, Deutsches Historisches Museum
5.00 pm – 5.45 pm
Russia and the United States as a “Grossraum” à la Carl Schmitt
In Conversation
Alexander Etkind, Central European University & Jan-Werner Müller, Princeton University
Chair: Tae-Yeoun Keum, UC Santa Barbara/ Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
5.45 pm – 6.15 pm
A new European Balance?
Germany, Russia, and the United States after the Ukraine War
Odd Arne Westad, Yale University
Chair: Karl Schlögel
6.15 pm
Closing Remarks
Raphael Gross & Karl Schlögel
Subject to change
The „Historical Judgement“ lecture series is funded by Dr. Christiane and Dr. Nicolaus Weickart.
Contact
Christina Behrendt and Jenny Jakubik
tagungsbuero@dhm.de
Photo: Exchange of agents on the Glienicker Bridge between West Berlin and Potsdam, 11 February 1986 © Allied Museum, B 2018/01.10114 (U.S. Army photograph)