2023-06-30-accounts - The German History Society

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Trustees’ Annual Report for the period

From 01/07/2022 Period start date To 30/06/2023

Charity name: The German History Society

Charity registration number: 1182341

Objectives and Activities

	SORP reference
Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document	Para 1.17	The German History Society (“the Society”) 1. Objects The Objects of the Society are, for the public benefit in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland: 1.1 To advance education in, and promote the study of, German history, including the history of German-speaking lands, in particular but not exclusively by: 1.1.1 Organising public conferences, lectures and events on topics relating to German history; 1.1.2 Creating and fostering links between academics, students, scholarly bodies and other individuals and organisations engaged with or interested in German history; 1.1.3 Producing and disseminating publications, online resources and other media to provide information relating to the subject and study of German history; and 1.1.4 Providing grants and bursaries for study or research into German history, and awarding prizes for exceptional academic work relating to German history, in particular but not exclusively to students and early career scholars. 1.2 Nothing in this Constitution shall authorise an application of the property of the Society for purposes which are not charitable in accordance with section 7 of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005

		and section 2 of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008.
Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.	Para 1.17 and 1.19	The Society promotes learning in the history of Germany and the German-speaking world. It does this, broadly, through events, publication/dissemination of print and online information, awarding grants for study/research and fostering a network of academics, students and other individuals and organisations interested in the discipline. The Society exists to benefit the public at large and many benefits are accessible to all. However, the Society encourages those with an interest in German history to become members and membership confers additional benefits. Membership is easy to obtain and affordable: the cost is £27/year for general membership and £8/year for student membership, which is a lower fee than that charged by many other membership organisations. Members of the Society can access various benefits, which are designed to promote their learning, including automatic subscription to the Society's own journal, eligibility to apply for bursaries/grants and free attendance at the Society’s annual conference and various other events. The Society’s journal,German History, includes articles/research and other information relevant the field and represents an excellent educational resource. In addition, the Society’s website includes a comprehensive list of links to relevant study and research resources, to assist students, scholars and other interested parties to develop their learning in the area. The Society’s annual conference and other events provide a platform for leading speakers in German history to showcase their work and educate attendees. These events also facilitate networking between those working, studying or interested in the discipline, thereby providing opportunities to advance education through the sharing of knowledge and ideas. Bursaries and grants allow students and early career scholars to fund items that otherwise may have been unaffordable to them, including study fees, research trips, attending or putting on conferences/events, amongst other things. These awards therefore broaden access to the field and promote learning. The Society also awards various prizes for outstanding work in the field of German history, including a postgraduate essay prize, EDI prize and undergraduate dissertation prize, which are open to students at UK and Irish universities, and a prize for the best article published each year in_German_ _History_journal. The Society exists to advance education in the history of Germany and the German-speaking world and is

		committed to activities that enable the public at large to become engaged in this discipline. Non-members can subscribe to the German History journal and attend the Society’s annual conference and other events, subject to payment of a fee. Therefore, many of the benefits enjoyed by members are available more widely at cost, and therefore contribute to the Society’s aims of advancing education in German history for the benefit of the public at large. Furthermore, membership of the Society is open to any person who is studying, teaching or researching German history, or who supports the aims of the Society or is simply interested in the topic. There is no limit on membership numbers. Therefore although members gain benefits by virtue of their membership, anyone with an interest in the area can become a member and therefore enjoy these benefits.
Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit	Para 1.18	The trustees, in making decisions, have had due regard to the commission's public benefit guidance when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant.

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

SORP reference Para 1.38 Policy on grant making Para 1.38 Policy on social investment including program related investment Para 1.38 Contribution made by volunteers

Other

Achievements and Performance

	SORP reference
Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.	Para 1.20	Annual Conference In 2022, the Society’s annual conference was held at Sheffield Hallam University (with the potential for additional online participation) from 8-10 September. The conference included around 70 participants (speakers, chairs, discussants) from across the globe, representing researchers at all levels from postgraduates and early career researchers to established senior scholars. Plenary lectures were given by Walter Sauer (University of Vienna), Hannah Murphy (King’s College London), and Gerhild Scholz Williams (Washington University in St. Louis). Members and non-members alike were able to attend the conference and broaden their knowledge of German history and culture. Other Events On 8 September 2022, prior to the GHS annual conference, two workshops were held for Postgraduates and Early Career Researchers on effective grant-writing and submitting publications respectively – these were very well-attended. The GHS also supported the annual ‘German History in the North’ conference, as well as the Wiener Library’s ‘Holocaust Letters’ virtual exhibition, launched in June 2023. An exhibition and virtual reality experience part-funded by the GHS entitled ‘Behind the Wire: Internment during the First World War’ was held at the German Historical Institute during spring and summer 2023.

GHS Ukraine Fellowship

In summer 2022, Dr Natalia Gromakova joined the University of Aberdeen’s Centre for Polish-Lithuanian Studies as part of the ‘Scholars at Risk’ Fellowship programme for Ukraine, sponsored by the German History Society in collaboration with the Royal Historical Society. Dr Gromakova specialises in the social and associational life of minorities, including Polish and German speakers in the nineteenth-century Ukrainian lands occupied by Austria and Russia after the Third Partition of Poland in 1795 up to the First World War. She fled her home in Bucha, around 20km north-west of Kyiv, with her daughter on March 11. Dr Gromakova had been working at the National Pedagogical University in Kyiv as a postdoctoral researcher. She and daughter Olena were able to evacuate the town, which had been under relentless shelling since the outbreak of war, but her husband remained behind to support those defending the country. The GHS contributed £5,000 to fund Dr. Gromakova’s Fellowship. Since then, Dr Gromakova has delivered several papers, including one at Cambridge, and the University of Aberdeen has matched the GHS/RHS funding to enable her to stay on the fellowship for a whole year, until the end of May 2023. Membership In May 2023, the Society had 175 members (125 waged, 50 unwaged). The Society’s expanded use of social media had an appreciable impact in this regard. Members of the Society are able to attend the annual conference without paying a fee, and are eligible for the Society’s prizes, grants, and bursaries. Membership of the Society also includes a subscription at significantly discounted rates to the internationally-acclaimed journal German History , which is published four times a year on behalf of the Society by Oxford University Press. Grants Applications for grants have seen a recovery since Covid which is encouraging. New web forms have helped to produce much better applications with fuller information on projects and research as a whole. The decision to uplift bursaries to £2500 and small grants to £1500 in light of inflation and rising challenges for

ECRs/postgrad has also been popular and helped students to consider more ambitious projects. For a full financial breakdown of expenditure on grants and bursaries, see the Financial Review section below. GHS Postgraduate awards 2022-3 Small grants and bursaries: Research travel: 11 grants were awarded Conference travel: 11 grants were awarded Most applications were for conference travel and we normally allow £150 but with the rising cost of inflation we allowed up to £250. Two other applications were received for research trips and we granted the full amount. All proposals bar one were of a high enough standard to be accepted during the course of this reporting period. Conference funding: We received one application which was granted in full (£1500). Language-course funding (DAAD): We received one application (match-funded with the DAAD). Exhibition Funding Scheme – funding was awarded to ‘Internment during the First World War: The Global German Experience’ (German Historical Institute London); ‘Britain’s response to the persecution of Jews under Nazism ’ (virtual interactive exhibition, University of Reading), and ‘Tanks on the Streets: The Uprising of 17 June 1953 in East Germany’ ( presented through posters and audio material created by students at the University of Chester and their Artist in Residence, Steph Coathupe, curated by Dr Richard Millington). Funding was also awarded to support the transformation of the Wiener Library’s ‘Holocaust Letters’ physical exhibition into a virtual exhibition, which was launched at a virtual panel event on the evening of 14 June 2023, in partnership with the German Historical Institute-London, German Historical Institute-Washington, and the Holocaust Research Institute, Royal Holloway University of London. Prizes RHS/GHS Postgraduate Essay prize The German History Society awards a prize of £500 to the winner of this annual essay competition. In

addition, the essays are considered for publication in German History journal. Winners of the 2023 Postgraduate Essay Prize: Anna McEwan (University of Glasgow / ZZF, Potsdam) - ‘Gendered Forms of State Assistance in the DFD-Beratungsstellen ’ (first prize). Harry Legg (University of Edinburgh) - ‘Stuck Inside the Volksgemeinschaft: The Social Lives of NonJewish “Full Jews” in Nazi Germany and Austria’ (runner-up). GHS Undergraduate Essay Prize The German History Society offers an annual prize of £300 for the best undergraduate dissertation on German History written by a student of history (single or joint honours, or in a cognate discipline) at a UK or Irish university. Runner-up prizes of £100 each may also be offered at the judges’ discretion. The prizes were awarded to: Orli Vogt-Vincent (University of Cambridge), ‘Prisoners as Perpetrators? Nazi Concentration Camp Brothels, Masculinity, and Memory’ . (first prize); Emily Calcraft (University of Sheffield), ‘The Natural and the Unnatural’: Antisemitic Portrayals of Jewish Gender and Sexuality in Weimar Germany’ (runner-up prize) and Michelle Kiessling (Sheffield Hallam University), ‘Perceptions and Representations of German WarNeurotics: A Study of Weimar Medical Literature, Art, and Media c. 1914-1933’ (runner-up prize). Equality and Inclusion Prize For the first time, the Society initiated an award for critical interventions in debates on gender, minorities, migration, ethnicity and equality, including research on critical race studies, LGBTQ+ and queer studies, and disability studies, related to any aspect of the history of Germany and the German-speaking world in its broadest global context. The prize was awarded for the first time in September 2022. The prize in the ECR category was awarded to Dr. Bodie Ashton (Erfurt) for his essay “The Parallel Lives of Liddy Bacroff: Transgender (Pre-)History and the Tyranny of the Archive in Twentieth-Century Germany". The prize in the undergraduate category was awarded to Chloe Marsden (Durham) for her essay " Neue Frau

and Die Freundin : The Formulation of Distinct Lesbian Identities and Subcultures in the Weimar Republic". German History Article Prize Each year German History 's editorial board awards a prize on the behalf of The German History Society for the best article published in the journal. The prize is intended to showcase outstanding work from scholars of German history whatever their career stage, and the winner is invited to receive their award at the annual meeting of the German History Society in September. The prize is worth £500, with an additional £250 of books provided by OUP. Oxford Journals makes the prize-winning articles freely available online. The winner of the prize in 2022 was Natalie R Cincotta, whose article ‘Ideal Men and Dream Women: Computer Matchmaking in twen during the West German Sex Wave, 1967–1970’, was published in German History 40(1), pp. 107-122. Journal The journal continues to experience a good flow of submissions, largely from early-career scholars based in the UK, US and Germany, although the regular submission of articles from further afield attests to the journal’s global reach. Four special issues are in development on churches in German warfare, climate change knowledge in the German-speaking lands, on German colonial history, and nineteenth-century German monarchy in transnational perspective. In terms of chronological range, they span early modern, modern and contemporary history. Publication slots are currently filled until spring 2026. While the majority of articles submitted are by early-career scholars, there is also a regular flow of submissions by more senior scholars. In terms of subjects, the articles submitted cover the full range of German history from the early Middle Ages to the present. The journal thus continues to fulfil its mission to be the pre-eminent English-language journal for German history and to command respect throughout the world, including the German-speaking lands. Book Series The German History Society has established its own book series, Studies in German History, in collaboration with its long-standing publishing partner Oxford University Press. The series reflects the German History Society’s longstanding mission to promote the best scholarship in the broad field of German history, and seeks to build

on the innovative directions established by the Society’s journal in recent years. Taking an open, expansive view of what German History is and where that history has been played out, it envisions a broad chronological and geographic scope that encompasses topics from the medieval period to the present day; it seeks to go beyond the traditional confines of German history by adopting a comparative approach or exploring themes that entwine the history of the German-speaking lands with that of other parts of the world; it aims to solicit titles that are intellectually ambitious, whether in their engagement with novel paradigms or their use of concepts and methods from other disciplines; and it seeks to publish work that reaches a readership beyond immediate specialists in a particular field. Above all, it seeks to publish work that engages with historical questions of wider relevance across German and other histories. The series has now published a total of twelve books, with two appearing during the reporting period: Prussia in the Historical Culture of the German Democratic Republic by Marcus Colla and Intervention and State Sovereignty in Central Europe , 1500-1780 by Patrick Milton.

Our contract with OUP is to publish 2-4 books per year. The slight slowdown in the rate of publication this year reflects the disruptiveness of the pandemic to academic life a couple of years ago. Outreach Jeff Bowersox and his committee worked on four outreach projects, all of which are ongoing. 1) Glimpses of German History: Working with a filmmaker based at UCL named Matt Aucott and camera-ready GHS members, we have made seven short films. All seven are now complete and hosted on our GHS website and YouTube channel, where we are getting good viewing traffic. Working with our communications officer we are promoting them, and partner organisations like the German Studies Association (USA) are sharing them more widely. 2) Creative research competition: Attached to the film series is a competition aimed at secondary school students in the UK and Ireland. To promote an interest in German history, language, and culture we are inviting students to submit a creative research project related in some way to the themes in the film series Glimpses of German History. The winner will win £250 for her/himself and

another £250 for the school to promote German history instruction. The second prize winner will take home £150. We have spread the word and are hopeful that we will get a good response, and I have already had expressions of interest and questions from a few teachers. We will promote the project further in the coming months. 3) Wiener Library events: The Wiener Library in London is very keen to work with GHS members to run events for students and teachers and to develop a programme that will run throughout the year, scheduled to align with anniversaries and commemorative months and the like. We have run two events so far this year: an October workshop on The Oppression of the Black Community under the Nazis (Robbie Aitken and Jeff Bowersox) and a February workshop on what Germans knew of Nazi crimes (Neil Gregor). We are inviting futher volunteers among the GHS membership to submit proposals for future workshops. 4) Mentorship for GHS members: As part of our remit to support GHS members at all career stages and especially those who come from backgrounds traditionally under-represented in our field, I have been working with professional organisations including the Society for the Study of French History (UK and Ireland), the Association for the Study of Modern Italy, and the Association for Contemporary Iberian Studies to set up a mentorship programme.

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

Achievements against objectives set Para 1.41

Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set	Para 1.41
Investment performance against objectives	Para 1.41
Other

Financial Review

Financial Review
Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period	Para 1.21	Please find the detailed end of year financial statement on the following pages.
Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held	Para 1.22	We continue to experience the longer impact of the pandemic. Some projects, conferences, postgraduate research plans involving travel, as well as the language courses that we support had been postponed, cancelled, or took place online, and we continued to support these projects if applicants wished to see the money transferred into a new financial cycle. We are proactively seeking to spend our reserves and have this year, for example, financed new initiatives such as the video series ‘Glimpses of German History’ and the ‘GHS Rethinking German History Prize’. We fund a very high proportion of the applications for funding we receive and continue to explore how to increase the future volume of applications.
Amount of reserves held	Para 1.22	See attached report.
Reasons for holding zero reserves	Para 1.22	N/A
Details of fund materially in deficit	Para 1.24	N/A
Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern	Para 1.23	N/A

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising)	Para 1.47

Investment policy and objectives including any social investment policy adopted	Para 1.46
A description of the principal risks facing the charity	Para 1.46
Other

Structure, Governance and Management

Description of charity’s trusts:
Type of governing document (trust deed, royal charter)	Para 1.25	Constitution
How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO)	Para 1.25	Learned Society
Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees	Para 1.25	2. Appointment of Trustees 2.1 For the purposes of this clause, a “year” shall mean a complete period of service between two AGMs. 2.2 The Trustees in office on the date of adoption of this Constitution shall remain in post until the expiry of their term of office as determined under the previous constitution (adopted on 1 September 2017), after which the provisions of this Constitution shall apply. 2.3 Officerships 2.3.1 The Members at AGM shall elect individuals to the Fixed Officerships and Further Officerships described in clausesError! Reference source not found. and Error! Reference source not found.of the Constitution each for a non-renewable term of three years. 2.3.2 After expiry of this three-year term, the Fixed Officerships and Further Officerships shall retire from these positions and shall not be eligible for re- election to them, provided that they shall be eligible for election to other Officerships or otherwise as Trustees, subject to the time limits on Trustee service under sub- clause 2.6. 2.3.3 The terms of office of the Chairperson and the

	Secretary shall not normally
	be co-terminous.
2.4	Ex-officio trustees
	2.4.1 The Editors of the GHS
	Journal and the Series
	Editors of Studies in German
	History for the time being
	(“the Ex-Officio Trustees”)
	shall automatically, by virtue
	of holding those offices, be
	trustees.
	2.4.2 If unwilling to act as a trustee,
	an Ex-Officio Trustee may:
	(a) before accepting
	appointment as a
	Trustee, give notice in
	writing to the Trustees
	of his or her
	unwillingness to act in
	that capacity; or
	(b) after accepting
	appointment as a
	Trustee, resign under
	the provisions
	contained in
	Constitution sub-
	clause Error!
	Reference source
	not found..
	2.4.3 The office of that Ex-Officio
	Trustee will then remain
	vacant until the office holder
	ceases to hold office.
2.5	If there are more
	applications/nominations for the role
	of Trustee than there are vacant
	Trustee positions, the Secretary shall
	prepare ballot papers for secret
	elections at the AGM and shall act as
	returning officer for the elections.
	Each Member returning a ballot
	paper at the AGM shall have as many
	votes as there are vacancies.
2.6	Except for the Ex-Officio Trustees, no
	Trustee shall serve for a period of
	more than nine years except where
	the Trustees determine that
	exceptional circumstances apply.
	Service accrued prior to the adoption
	of this Constitution shall not count for
	the purposes of this sub-clause 2.6.

2.7	The Trustees and the Members shall
	have regard to maintaining broad
	representation of the various
	chronological periods of German
	history in electing Trustees to the
	Committee.
2.8	Every Trustee after appointment or
	reappointment must sign a
	declaration of willingness to act as a
	charity trustee of the Society before
	he or she may act as a Trustee.
2.9	A technical defect in the appointment
	of a Trustee of which the Trustees are
	unaware at the time does not
	invalidate decisions taken at a
	meeting.

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

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Policies and procedures
adopted for the induction
and training of trustees Para 1.51
The charity’s organisational
structure and any wider
network with which the Para 1.51
charity works
Relationship with any related
parties Para 1.51
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Other

Reference and Administrative details

Charity name	The German History Society
Other name the charity uses	N/A
Registered charity number	1182341
Charity’s principal address	c/o Dr. Helen Roche (GHS Secretary) Department of History Durham University 43 North Bailey Durham DH1 3EX

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20	Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any)
	Karin Friedrich	Chair
	Helen Roche	Secretary
	Stefan Hanss Chris Dillon	Treasurer
	Stefan Bruhn	German Historical Institute Representative
	Kat Hill	Postgraduate Officer
	Anna Ross	Journal Editor
	Joachim Whaley	Journal Editor
	Neil Gregor	Book Series Editor
	Bridget Heal	Book Series Editor
	Jeff Bowersox	Schools and Outreach Officer
	Mark Jones
	Laura Kounine

– Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved

Director name

Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity

Trustee name Dates acted if not for whole year

Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

Description of the assets held in this capacity

Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects

Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets

Additional information (optional)

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Type of	Name	Address
adviser

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Exemptions from disclosure

Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details

Other optional information

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Full name(s) Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc) Date
	Helen Barbara Elizabeth Roche	Mark Hewitson
	Secretary	Chair
	26 March 2024
	26 March 2024

GERMAN HISTORY SOCIETY

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30TH JUNE 2023

	202	3
- - 800 101 570 72	GENERAL FUNDS £ 44,055 - - - 560	GERMAN HISTORY JNL
		£ 7,540
	44,615 9,512 - 11,925 5,815 - - 7,558 450 2,436 1,750 - - 363 1,543 -	7,540 4,614

	41,352	4,614
	3,263	2,926

GERMAN HISTORY SOCIETY

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30TH JUNE 2023

£ 128,309 1,000 8,415 20	£ 166,736 1,285 7,539 20	£ 175,560 - 540 22
570	- 540
153,451 3,263	159,176 5,725 -
		175,020
		153,451 21,569
21,569 2,926	15,106 6,463

		175,020

We have prepared, without audit, the foregoing accounts from the books and records of the Society and from the information and explanations given to us. In our opinion they give a true and fair view of the Societys affairs at 30th June 2023

Peacock Accountancy