Karl Schlögel

In his distinguished body of work, German historian and essayist Karl Schlögel combines empirical historiography with personal experience. As a scholar and flâneur, an archaeologist of modernity and a seismograph of social change, he explored the cities and landscapes of Central and Eastern Europe long before the fall of the Iron Curtain. Through his writing, Schlögel placed the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv and Kharkiv on the mental map of his readers. He also repeatedly characterised Saint Petersburg and Moscow as European cities. His unique narrative style combines observation, insight and feeling, a blend that allows him to effectively challenge existing prejudices while also awakening our curiosity. 

After Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Schlögel sharpened his focus on Ukraine, inviting us to join him in reflecting on Germany’s own blind spots regarding the region. His was one of the first voices to warn of Vladimir Putin’s aggressive expansionist policies and authoritarian-nationalist claims to power. Today, Schlögel continues to affirm Ukraine’s place in Europe, calling for its defence as essential to our shared future. His enduring message is both clear and urgent: Without a free Ukraine, there can be no peace in Europe.

German historian and essayist Karl Schlögel is considered one of the most preeminent connoisseurs of Eastern Europe. Throughout his entire oeuvre, he has combined detailed observations of everyday life with a spatial approach to historiography, always seeking to enable new ways of recounting the cultural and contemporary history of Russia and Eastern Europe. With major works such as Terror und Traum (2008, tr. Terror and dream) and The Soviet Century. Archaeology of a Lost World (2023), he consistently set new standards in vivid and vibrant historical writing.

Karl Schlögel was born on 7 March 1948 into a family of famers in Hawangen, Bavaria, Germany. His interest in Eastern Europe began at an early age and he travelled to the Soviet Union for the first time in 1966. In 1968, he was on hand in person for the Prague Spring, an experience he would later credit with allowing him to move beyond the limits of his post-war, West-German reality to embrace a fully different space of knowledge and thinking. In 1969, after completing boarding school and his national civilian service, Schlögel began studying Eastern European history, philosophy, sociology and Slavic Studies at Berlin’s Freie Universität (FU). After the end of the student movement, he was active for a time in the Maoist Communist Party of Germany (KPD). In 1981, he received his doctorate from the FU with a dissertation on labour conflicts in the Soviet Union. 

From the very beginning, the subject of everyday life in Russia and the Soviet Union was one of the key focuses of Schlögel’s work. His visits to Moscow (1982/83) and Leningrad (1987) influenced his research and many of his subsequent publications. After writing several articles for major German newspapers and publishing his first books, Schlögel quickly established a reputation for being a profound expert on Eastern Europe.

Schlögel’s unusual approach of incorporating his own experiences and observations into his writings was already evident in one of his first works, Moskau lesen (1984, tr. Reading Moscow). In the following years, he would extend his focus to include all of East Central Europe. In a collection of essays known as Promenade in Jalta und andere Städtebilder (2001, tr. Promenade in Yalta and other city images) and in many other books, he outlined how Eastern Europe was regenerating itself through its own strength and effort. Among the other focal points of Schlögel’s research were the traces of German history in Eastern Europe and refugee and migration movements in that same region. His was one of the earliest voices to emphasise the fact that the countries of Eastern Europe form part of the shared cultural heritage of Europe as a whole. 

From 1990 to 1994, Schlögel was a professor of Eastern European history at the University of Konstanz. From 1994 right up until he was granted emeritus status in 2013, he was a professor of Eastern European history at the Europa-Universität Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder). At that institution, he was instrumental in establishing the academic chair as well as in shaping the study of Eastern Europe as an interdisciplinary and cultural-historical subject. Schlögel is well-known for closely linking research and teaching as well as for raising awareness among students – especially by means of in-person excursions – for the many historical, cultural and political connections to Eastern Europe ranging from the history of cities and everyday cultures to the politics of memory and current geopolitical developments. Beyond his position as a professor, Schlögel is also active as a guest lecturer and speaker at universities abroad and regularly contributes his knowledge to public debate. 

In his 2003 book Im Raume lesen wir die Zeit (tr. In space we read time), Schlögel laid out a systematic approach to his work. History, he argued, occurs not only in time, but also in space. In addition to theoretical discourse, statistical empiricism and the history of events, Schlögel suggested that a description of real life and one’s own subjective perspective should play a greater role in historiography. He took up this perspective again in Marjampole (2005); for Schlögel, this small provincial Lithuanian town became the symbol of a new, unifying, everyday European culture. In 2006, he followed that book with Planet der Nomaden, (tr. Planet of the nomads), a reflection on migration in the age of globalisation. For his 2008 book Terror und Traum. Moskau 1937 (tr. Terror and dream: Moscow 1937), in which he addressed the simultaneity of utopia and violence during the Stalinist era, he was awarded the 2009 Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding. In that same year, he gave the speech honouring the Italian writer and scholar Claudio Magris at that year’s award ceremony for the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.

A volume of essays edited by Schlögel in 2009 called Neue Wege in ein neues Europa (tr. New paths towards a new Europe) examined the history of Europe from the perspective of mobility and transport. In 2011, he published a revised edition of Moskau lesen, this time supplemented with over two decades of observations. The result was a documentary portrait of a city caught between its Soviet legacy and its post-Soviet awakening. His 2013 book Grenzland Europa (tr. Borderland Europe) was a collection of essays and speeches in which he highlighted the achievements of the people of Eastern Europe, without whom the new Europe would not have been possible. In this work, Schlögel broadened his perspective to include the upheavals that Eastern Europe experienced after 1989. At the Peace Prize award ceremony for Svetlana Alexievich, he once again held the laudatory speech in the Church of St. Paul in Frankfurt. 

In 2017, to mark the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution, Schlögel published his monumental work Das sowjetische Jahrhundert. Archäologie einer untergegangenenWelt (tr. The Soviet century. Archaeology of a vanished world). Over the course of roughly 900 pages, Schlögel condensed decades of research into an “archaeological encyclopaedia” of Soviet life. The work was awarded the Leipzig Book Fair Prize. In his 2020 work The Scent of Empires, Schlögel draws on the perfumes known as “Rotes Moskau” and “Chanel N°5” to sketch an olfactory history of the 20th century. His most recent book, American Matrix (2023), is an examination of the affinities and differences between the US and the Soviet Union.

Schlögel also regularly functioned as a public intellectual, charting and processing the political upheavals in the post-Soviet space. In 2014, he travelled to Ukraine to gain first-hand experience of the conflict that followed the occupation of Crimea. This experience gave rise to Entscheidung in Kiew (tr. Decision in Kiev), which he published in 2015, as well as Der Russland-Reflex (tr. The Russian reflex, also 2015), in which he joined with civil rights activist Irina Shcherbakova to reflect on the transformation of Russia.

Since the beginning of Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022, Schlögel has opposed any kind of historical-political justification for the belligerence. He argues that for years, Putin has been propagating the doctrine of “Russki Mir”, or “Russian world”, an imperial and ethnic concept according to which Russia has a right to intervene wherever Russians live and Russian is spoken. The annexation of Crimea prompted Schlögel to take a fresh look at the history and identity of Ukraine. He criticised Putin’s attempt to eradicate Ukraine as an independent nation and considered the aggression to be the continuation of an imperial Soviet legacy that has yet to be fully addressed. To this day, Schlögel sees any call for negotiations without military aid as being naive and historically ignorant, at least as long as Russia continues to attack Ukraine and violate international law. Since the start of the war, Schlögel has distinguished himself as a vocal critic of Putin and as a strong voice in favour of a sovereign Ukraine.

2025 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade
2025 Reuchlin Prize
2024 Gerda Henkel Prize
2024 Le prix du livre européen
2019 Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (with star) 
2018 Leipzig Book Fair Prize in the category “Non-fiction/Essay” 
2017 Pour le Merité for Sciences and the Arts
2015 Prize of the Historischen Kolleg
2013 Pushkin Medal (declined)

2012 Franz Werfel Human Rights Prize 
2012 Hoffmann von Fallersleben Prize
2010 Samuel Bogumil Linde Prize, with Adam Krzemiński
2009 Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding
2005 Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 
2005 Lessing Prize of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
2004 Georg Dehio Book Prize
2004 Sigmund Freud Prize for Academic Prose
2003 Nikolai Anziferov Prize of the Likhachev Foundation of the City of St. Petersburg
1999 Anna Krüger Prize of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
1990 European Essay Prize Charles Veillon
1986 Tagesspiegel Berlin Essay Prize 

Monographies

»American Matrix. Besichtigung einer Epoche« (tr. American matrix. Examining an epoch), Hanser Verlag, Munich 2023, 832 pages, ISBN 978-3-446-27839-4, 45.00 € 

»Entscheidung in Kiew. Ukrainische Lektionen« (tr. Decision time in Kiev. Lessons from Ukraine), updated edition, Hanser Verlag, Munich 2022, 384 pages, ISBN 978-3-446-27657-4, 26.00 €

»Das sowjetische Jahrhundert. Archäologie einer untergegangenen Welt« (tr. The Soviet century. Archaeology of a vanished world), C.H. Beck, Munich 2022, 912 pages, ISBN 978-3-406-71511-2, 38.00 € 

»Der Duft der Imperien. Chanel N° 5 und Rotes Moskau« Hanser Verlag, Munich 2020, 224 pages, ISBN 978-3-446-26582-0, 23.00 € (see works in English translation)

»Das russische Berlin. Eine Hauptstadt im Jahrhundert der Extreme« (tr. Russian Berlin. A capital city in a century of extremes), updated edition, Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2019, 667 pages, ISBN 978-3-518-42856-6, 44.00 € 

»Der Russland-Reflex. Einsichten in eine Beziehungskrise« (tr. The Russia reflex. Insights into a relationship crisis), co-authored with Irina Scherbakowa, Edition Einwurf, 2015, 144 pages, ISBN 978-3-896-84169-8, 17.00 € 

»Archäologie des Kommunismus« (tr. Archaeology of Communism), Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation 2014, 120 pages, ISBN 978-393-859323-3 

»Grenzland Europa. Unterwegs auf einem neuen Kontinent« (tr. Borderland Europe. On the road in a new continent), Hanser Verlag, Munich 2013, 352 pages, ISBN 978-3-446-24404-7, 21.90 € 

»Moskau lesen« (tr. Reading Moscow), Hanser Verlag, Munich 2011, 512 pages, ISBN 978-3-446-23655-4, 25.90 € 

»Terror und Traum. Moskau 1937« (tr. Terror and dream. Moscow 1937), Hanser Verlag, Munich 2008, 816 pages, ISBN 978-3-446-23081-1, 20.00 € 

»Planet der Nomaden« (tr. Planet of nomads), wjs Verlag, Berlin 2006, 144 pages, ISBN 978-3-937-98916-7, 16.00 € 

»Marjampole oder Europas Wiederkehr aus dem Geist der Städte« (tr. Marjampole or Europe’s revival out of the spirit of the cities), Hanser Verlag, Munich 2005, 320 pages, ISBN 978-3-446-20670-0, 21.50 € 

»Im Raum lesen wir die Zeit. Über Zivilisationsgeschichte und Geopolitik« (tr. In space we read time. On the history of civilisation and geopolitics), Hanser Verlag, Munich 2003, 568 pages, ISBN 978-3-446-25713-9, 28.00 € 

»Petersburg. Das Laboratorium der Moderne 1909-1921« (tr. Petersburg. The laboratory of modernity 1909-1921), Hanser Verlag, Munich 2002, 704 pages, ISBN 978-3-446-20235-1, 34.90 €

»Die Mitte liegt Ostwärts. Europa im Übergang« (tr. The centre lies eastwards. Europe in transition), Hanser Verlag, Munich 2002, 254 pages, ISBN 978-3-446-20155-2, 21.50 € 

»Go East oder die zweite Entdeckung des Ostens« (tr. Go east or the second discovery of the east), Siedler Verlag, Munich 1995, 224 pages, ISBN978-3-88680-547-1

»Wegzeichen. Zur Krise der russischen Intelligenz« (tr. Signposts. On the crisis of the Russian intelligentsia), Eichborn Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1990, 348 pages, ISBN 978-3-821-84067-3

»Das Wunder von Nishnij oder die Rückkehr der Städte« (tr. The miracle of Nizhny or the return of the cities), Eichborn Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, 320 pages, ISBN 978-3-821-84077-2

»Der renitente Held. Arbeiterprotest in der Sowjetunion 1953-1983« (tr. The unruly hero. Workers protests in the Soviet Union 1953-1983), Junius Verlag, Hamburg 1984, 323 pages, ISBN 3-88506-125-2, 44.00 € 

»Partei kaputt. Das Scheitern der KPD und die Krise der Linken« (tr. A broken party. The failure of the KPD and the crisis of the Left 1953-1983), co-authored with Willi Jasper and Bernd Ziesemer, Olle & Wolter Verlag, Munich 1981, ISBN 978-388-395704-3

Editorships

»Die Russische Revolution und das Schicksal der russischen Juden. Eine Debatte in Berlin 1922/23« (tr. The Russian Revolution and the fate of Russian Jews. A debate in Berlin 1922/23), co-authored with Konrad Tschäpe, Matthes & Seitz Verlag, Berlin 2014, 762 pages, ISBN 978-388-221088-0, 49.90 € 

»Sankt Petersburg. Schauplätze einer Stadtgeschichte« (tr. Saint Petersburg. Sites of the city’s history), co-authored with Frithjof Benjamin Schenk and Markus Ackeret, Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2007, 440 pages, ISBN 978-359-338321-7, 39.90 € 

»Oder/Odra. Blicke auf einen europäischen Strom« (tr. Oder/Odra. Perspectives on a European river), co-authored with Beata Halicka, Peter Lang Verlag, Lausanne 2007, 430 pages, ISBN 978-3631561492

»Neue Wege in ein neues Europa. Geschichte und Verkehr im 20. Jahrhundert« (tr. New paths in a new Europe. history and transport in the 20th century), co-authored with Ralf Roth, Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2009, 555 pages, ISBN 978-359-338900-4, 49.00 € 

»Chronik russischen Lebens in Deutschland 1918-1941« (tr. Chronicle of Russian life in Germany), co-authored with Katharina Kucher, Bernhard Suchy, Gregor Thum, de Gruyter Verlag, Berlin 1998, 671 pages, ISBN 978-305-003297-9