Central to this inquiry are struggles over remembrance and interpretation concerning the colonial past. The sources reveal not only colonial organizational structures and patterns of thought from the Imperial era in cities such as Aachen, Herne, and Bad Salzuflen, but also the afterlife of colonialism during the periods 1918–1933, 1933–1945, and post-1945. The subproject thereby uncovers a "second history" of colonialism that historicizes the contestation over colonial remembrance and interpretation, similar to how public history has been applied effectively to the history of National Socialism. The project highlights breaks and continuities in dealing with the colonial past within various institutional contexts such as economics, culture, and missions, as well as differing perspectives found in both official and marginalized narratives. The project’s central output is a comprehensive source edition that can be used in both research and teaching on the topic of regional colonial history. The edition compiles materials from approximately 50 archives, including municipal archives, business archives, mission archives, media archives like the WDR archive, as well as topic-specific archives like the Cologne Carnival Museum and the Documentation Center and Museum on Migration in Germany. These materials render colonial traces and their repercussions visible and analyzable.

At the Institute of Political Science at RWTH Aachen, Nicole Garretón, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Hans Jörg Sigwart and Prof. Dr. Christian Kuchler, investigates initiatives and institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia that address this field. The research explores what forms of engagement characterize the current historical culture and which actors and groups of actors play a central role. The focus spans public institutions such as universities, museums, and archives; established civil society organizations such as NGOs and historical societies; and informal networks or individuals who speak publicly on the topic. What motivations and patterns of reasoning shape the discourse on the colonial past? Are there specific motives and narratives that particularly stand out in this context? The goal of the investigation is to systematically uncover existing forms of commemoration of Germany’s and Europe’s colonial past within the historical culture of North Rhine-Westphalia and contextualize them within the current societal framework. This approach provides the first systematic analysis of the relevance of the colonial past in terms of its historical and memory-cultural significance for North Rhine-Westphalia.

The survey targets several hundred adolescents, university students, and teachers from across North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as civil society actors. Additionally, a representative survey involving several thousand citizens from across Germany is conducted in collaboration with the polling institute forsa. The collected data encompasses knowledge and attitudes related to historical legacies as well as contemporary issues and debates: Are respondents aware of the often highly controversial discussions surrounding colonialism and decolonization, and do these hold cultural-historical relevance for them? What are the positions of different respondents and respondent groups regarding questions of restitution? What historical interpretative and explanatory patterns emerge from the data? To what extent can it be said that respondents themselves are shaped by colonial patterns of thought? The empirically gathered results form the basis for the development of dialogue formats and educational materials.

To this end, dialogue-oriented event formats are being designed and educational materials are being developed to encourage deeper engagement with North Rhine-Westphalia's colonial past.

The goal is to foster informed exchanges about the region's colonial history. The development of these diverse formats for knowledge dissemination is based on empirical studies of the knowledge bases and attitude patterns of different population groups.