Maren Röger

Prof. Dr. Maren Röger serves as Director of the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) and holds a Professorship in Central and Eastern European History at the University of Leipzig since 2021. Previously, she was Junior Professor at the University of Augsburg (2015–2021) and Researcher at the German Historical Institute in Warsaw (2010–2015).

• Research Focus: History of violence, migration, political communication, and gender in East-Central Europe.
• Current Projects: Monograph on European history of intimate partner violence/femicide and comparative anthology on wartime sexual violence in Asia/Eastern Europe.

Academic Leadership: Spokesperson of Leibniz Research Network Central and Eastern Europe (since 2022), Board member of Max Weber Foundation (2023), and Trustee of Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (2025). Sits on advisory boards for institutions including Fritz Bauer Institute and European History Research Service (since 2017).

Recent Publications: 2023 monograph Karten in die Moderne (visual Bukovina history) and 2021 English edition of Kriegsbeziehungen (WWII occupation violence). Co-edited volumes on postcards, socialist games, and memory practices.

• Scientific Awards:
  • Fraenkel Prize in Contemporary History (2014)
  • Wiener Library Prize & Geisteswissenschaften International Translation Prize (2016)
  • Robert Bosch Foundation Fast Track Scholarship (2014–2016)

Teaching & Mentorship: Taught at Giessen (2009), Hamburg (2014/15), and Augsburg (2015–2021) before joining Leipzig University’s History Department and Global & European Studies Institute (since 2022). Supervised 12 dissertations including studies on war children, borderland identities, and pandemic narratives.

Labs & Teams: Leads GWZO’s interdisciplinary research team on Eastern European memory cultures. Collaborates with international institutions for comparative wartime violence studies.