Ostforschung (; "research on the east") is a German term dating from the 18th century for the study of the areas to the east of the core German-speaking region. At its core, Ostforschung postulated that Germans were responsible for bringing civilization to eastern regions like the Baltic, and that Germans was superior to other groups like Poles.The German Minority in Interwar Poland By Winson Chu page 43-44. October 2012 Cambridge University Press Concepts of German superiority, and Prussian stereotypes about various eastern european peoples, were core beliefs to this field of research.The German Minority in Interwar Poland By Winson Chu page 44. October 2012 Cambridge University Press
History The area gained particular interest in Germany after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Proponents of Ostforschung, with instutional support, wanted to undermine the historical legitimacy of the new eastern nation states created by the treaty, such as Estonia, and support Germany's claims to dominance over the region. The idea underlying Ostforschung (as opposed to more standard studies of eastern european regions) was that German colonists were the predominant source of civilization to areas like the Baltic, and therefore held a legitimate dominance over the regions. At the same time the German settlers also maintained a unique connection with the rest of German Reich. Such ideas contributed to Nazis plans for conquering of Baltic states, legitimizing such attacks as a return to the historical subordination of the Baltic people to the Germans.
Prominent scholars of Ostforschung worked closely with the Nazi regime to establish it as the main historical method for examining the lands east of the Elbe river, and thereby provide academic support for Nazi genocidal policies, ethnic cleansing, and anti-semitism. A prominent example is Albert Brackmann, general director of the Prussian State archives. Brackmann and several other Nazi and nationalist historians and anthropologists co-ordinated Nazi German research on Eastern Europe, mainly the Second Polish Republic. The research conducted in this field, as well as works done by groups like the Ahnenerbe, was instrumental in the planning of ethnic cleansing and genocide of local non-German populations in the Generalplan Ost.
Traditional Ostforschung has fallen into disrepute with modern German historians, as it often reflected Western European prejudices of the time towards Eastern Europeans. The term Ostforschung itself remained in use in the names of some journals and institutes throughout the Cold War, but was replaced by more specific terms by the 1990s (e.g., the journal Zeitschrift für Ostforschung, established in 1952, was renamed Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung in 1994). Since the 1990s, Ostforschung itself has become a subject of historical research.
See also Drang nach Osten Generalplan Ost Volksdeutsche
References
Sources
Józef Szłapczyński, Tadeusz Walichnowski, „Nauka w służbie ekspansji i rewizjonizmu (Ostforschung)”, Interpress, Warszawa 1969. Drożdżyński Aleksander, Zaborowski Jan, „Oberländer: Przez „Ostforschung”, wywiad i NSDAP do rządu NRF”, Warszawa 1960. „Organizacje przesiedleńców oraz tzw. Ostforschung – narzędzia rewizjonizmu”, „Ost-Mittel Europa” w programie odwetowym „Ostforschung” [w:] „Bezpieczeństwo Europy a groźba militaryzmu zachodnioniemieckiego; materiały międzynarodowej konferencji naukowej Praga 23-27 maja 1961”, Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych, Warszawa 1961. Wróblewski Seweryn Tadeusz, „Ewolucja „Ostforschung” w Republice Federalnej Niemiec”, 1969-1982 (Studium niemcoznawcze Instytutu Zachodniego), Instytut Zachodni, 1986 . „Deutsche Ostforschung und polnische „, Wydawnictwo: Poznańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk Poznań 2002, . Wacław Długoborski, „Śląsk w oczach zachodnioniemieckiej Ostforschung”, Milan Myška, „Ostforschung w NRF a dzieje Czechosłowacji”, Śląski Instytut Naukowy, Katowice 1962. German Scholars and Ethnic Cleansing, 1919-1945 by Michael Fahlbusch and Ingo Haar, Berghahn Books, 2005