Closing Conference: “The ‘Emsland Camps’ as a Conflict Landscape in Transformation” on 24 and 25 September 2026
By Imke Selle & TEAM NGHM · Originally published on nghm.hypotheses.org
The project “The ‘Emsland Camps’ as a Conflict Landscape in Transformation. Research-Based Learning at the Intersection of University Teacher Education, Memorial Site Pedagogy, and Participatory Digital Public History” is concerned with the digital documentation and analysis of the historical sites of the Emsland camps and their transformation from sites of National Socialist camp history to the present day. Central to the project is the question of how the spatially dispersed former camp sites, their material remains, and their varying degrees of visibility and invisibility can be digitally documented, represented, and communicated.
The project was carried out as a cooperative endeavor between the Chair of Contemporary History and Historical Migration Studies at the University of Osnabrück and the Chair of History Education at Kiel University (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel).
The closing conference takes these questions as its starting point and presents the digital resources developed within the project as well as further research findings. Both the historical sites themselves and the processes of their interpretation and mediation are examined. The conference brings together perspectives from historical scholarship, history education, and memorial site work, and asks what possibilities digital formats open up for engaging with historical sites and what challenges are associated with them.
The conference opens with a panel addressing the question of how the “Emsland camps” can be read as a conflict landscape. This is followed by a presentation of the dissertation “Practices of the Digital Production of Historical Culture Using the Example of the ‘Emsland Camps'”, which is being developed as part of the project. The second panel, entitled “Digitality & Participation,” is dedicated to the possibilities of digital formats for participatory approaches to historical sites and their significance for research, education, and memorial site work.
As part of a public evening event, the digital resources developed within the project will also be presented. A conversation with students from the project seminar and a subsequent poster walk will provide insights into the various areas of work within the project and the results produced therein.
The second day takes participants on an excursion to the Lager Dalum memorial site. In addition to visiting the memorial site and the cemetery, practical questions of digital documentation will also be a focus. A subsequent workshop is devoted to the further processing of digitized materials into digital 360° virtual tours.
The conference thus aims not only to present the results of the project, but also to create space for professional exchange on cultures of remembrance, digitality, participation, and historical education work.
If you are interested in attending, please register by 13 September 2026 by email at imke.selle@uni-osnabrueck.de.
Programme:
Day 1 | 24 September 2026
EW Building | Seminarstraße 20, 49074 Osnabrück | Room 15/130
13:00–13:15 Arrival
13:15–13:30 Welcome & Project Introduction | Prof. Dr. Christoph Rass (University of Osnabrück) and Prof. Dr. Lale Yildirim (CAU Kiel)
13:30–14:30 Panel 1: Reading the Emsland Camps as a Conflict Landscape | Chair: Lea Horstmann (University of Osnabrück / Esterwegen Memorial); Panel: Prof. Dr. Christoph Rass (University of Osnabrück), Dr. Sebastian Weitkamp (Esterwegen Memorial), Dr. David Reinicke (Stiftung niedersächsische Gedenkstätten), Prof. emeritus Dr. Dietmar von Reeken (Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg)
14:30–15:00 Break
15:00–15:45 Presentation of the dissertation developed within the project: “Practices of the Digital Production of Historical Culture Using the Example of the ‘Emsland Camps'” | Imke Selle, M.Ed. (University of Osnabrück)
15:45–16:15 Break
16:15–17:15 Panel 2: Digitality & Participation | Chair: Imke Selle, M.Ed. (University of Osnabrück); Panel: Prof. Dr. Lale Yildirim (CAU Kiel), Jacqueline Meurisch, M.A. (Esterwegen Memorial), Dr. Andreas Hübner (CAU Kiel), Dr. Henning Wellmann (Arolsen Archives)
17:15–18:00 Break
18:00–20:00 Public Evening Event | Introductory remarks / Welcome / Acknowledgements (Room 15/128); Conversation with students from the project seminar; Reception and poster walk in the foyer of the extension building
Day 2 | 25 September 2026
Excursion to the Lager Dalum Memorial Site | Am Wasserwerk 8, 49744 Geeste
08:30 Meeting point at the bus
08:45–10:15 Travel to Dalum
10:45–11:45 Excursion to Lager Dalum | Visit to the memorial site & cemetery, digitization at the cemetery; Imke Selle, M.Ed. (University of Osnabrück), Dr. Martin Koers (Esterwegen Memorial)
11:45–13:15 Return journey to Osnabrück
13:15–13:45 Lunch break
13:45–15:15 Workshop: From Digitized Materials to 360° Tours
15:15–15:45 Closing Round
Find the original post at Abschlusstagung: “Die ‘Emslandlager’ als Konfliktlandschaft in Transformation” am 24. und 25. September 2026 on nghm.hypotheses.org.
This post was automatically translated from the German original.
