First nucleus professor at Universität HamburgHistorian Establishes Center for the History of Values and Health

31 August 2020, by Christina Krätzig

Photo: University of Kent

At the University of Kent, Prof. Ulf Schmidt headed the Centre for the History of Medicine, Ethics and Medical Humanities. He will establish a similar center at Universität Hamburg.

Prof. Dr. Ulf Schmidt will become the first nucleus professor at Universität Hamburg at the beginning of September. With its calls for applications for these professorships, the University aims to attract leading researchers and to advance the development of research areas, such as Infection Research. The application calls for nucleus professorships (nucleus is Latin for “kernel”) are being advertised within the scope of the Excellence Initiative of the Federal and State Governments.

Prof. Schmidt, as a professor of modern and contemporary history, you have worked on very different topics—for example, the history of chemical and biological warfare agents, the history of propaganda, and the history of human experimentation in medicine. What is the common denominator among these topics?

The history of medical ethics is at the center of my work. Until now, this subject area has been dealt with by philosophers or physicians; it is new for a historian to tackle it. I look at the topic in the context of its respective era and social background. In the context of the project “Taming the European Leviathan: The Legacy of Post-War Medicine and the Common Good,” funded by the ERC Synergy Grant, I will also deal with this topic intensively over the next 6 years. Two colleagues and I acquired this grant in order to investigate the importance of health in various European countries in the postwar period. This question seemingly makes it possible to identify common European values and to answer the question of what actually holds Europe together—across the system boundaries between the former Eastern bloc and the capitalist-oriented countries of the West. However, I would like to emphasize that I personally do not find my research interests that diverse. For me, the topics merge into one another, and one often results from the other.

You did your undergraduate degree at Universität Hamburg, but then you went to England and have studied and worked at the Universities of Oxford and Kent (in Canterbury) since 1994. What attracted you to the United Kingdom?

I am fascinated by the tension between German and Anglo-American historiography. In Germany, researchers focus strongly on source criticism. By contrast, in the United Kingdom and the United States, they often take a more essayistic, even narrative, approach and focus on people’s everyday experiences. In my work, I always try to bring these traditions together.

You have dealt intensively with German history, from the Weimar Republic to the Nazi era to East Germany. Will it change your perspective if you no longer do this from the United Kingdom but live and research in Hamburg?

I believe that a certain distance can be an advantage for a historian. On the one hand, there is the temporal distance—even in modern history, you need an interval of at least around 30 years in my opinion. This, by the way, means that historical research into East Germany, with all its contradictions, makes an increasing multiperspectivity possible. But spatial distance can also be helpful. You are not part of the system to the same degree and, for example, do not have to consider political factors to a great extent or national sentiment and related taboos when particularly sensitive issues are touched upon, as was often the case in my research. So I am sure that the change in my place of residence will lead to a change in perspective, but without being able to predict exactly how this will manifest itself.

What does it mean to you to take up a nucleus professorship? And what are you particularly looking forward to about your return to Universität Hamburg?

It is exciting that the nucleus professorship will enable me to once again build an interdisciplinary research center and thus establish a basis for different people and disciplines to cooperate. In Kent, I headed the Centre for the History of Medicine, Ethics and Medical Humanities. At Universität Hamburg, I would like to initiate something similar. I am also impressed with what the University has achieved in the Excellence Initiative and am looking forward to participating in it from the fall. My future colleagues gave me an extremely warm welcome during our initial talks, and I am also very much looking forward to working with them.