Jan Philipp Reemtsma


Jan Philipp Fürchtegott Reemtsma is a German literary scholar and political activist.

Biography

The son of Philipp Fürchtegott Reemtsma and Gertrud Reemtsma, he studied German literature and philosophy at the University of Hamburg, where he has been active as a professor of German literature since 1996.

Activities

Reemtsma founded the Arno-Schmidt-Stiftung, or Arno-Schmidt Foundation in 1981. In 1984 he founded the Hamburger Institut für Sozialforschung, or Hamburg Institute for Social Research and the Hamburger Stiftung zur Förderung von Wissenschaft und Kultur or the Hamburg Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Culture.
Reemtsma and HIS produced two exhibitions about war crimes of the Wehrmacht collectively known as the Wehrmachtsausstellung, or the Wehrmacht Exhibition. The first exhibition opened in 1995, and traveled to 33 German and Austrian cities. Reemtsma has also written a bestselling account of his experiences during a 1996 kidnapping. As a result, Reemtsma has become known to a wider public. In Germany in the 21st century, his views are frequently referred to in public debates.

Hamburger Institut für Sozialforschung or Hamburg Institute for Social Research

Reemtsma has been the director of the Hamburger Institut für Sozialforschung since he founded it in 1984. The three research units of the HIS are: Theory and History of Violence, The Society of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Nation and Society. Reemtsma also headed the working group that conceptualized the Institute’s 1995 umbrella project In the Light of Our Century: Violence and Destructiveness in the Twentieth Century. Within this framework, two exhibitions were realized:
Reemtsma advises and supports cultural and scholarly institutions in various positions, for example as a member of the board of trustees of the Cultural Foundation of the German Federal States.

Awards

In German