Institut für Zeitgeschichte

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The Institut für Zeitgeschichte (IfZ) (Institute of Contemporary History) in Munich was founded in 1949 under the name „Deutsches Institut für Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Zeit“ (German Institute for the History of the National Socialist Time) by the German state and the Free State of Bavaria, incited by the Allied Forces. It was renamed to the current name in 1952. Its purpose is the analysis of contemporary German history. The institute is funded by the Republic of Germany, and the German states Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Brandenburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony. The first director of the Institut was Hans Rothfels. Representatives of those states are also members of the institute's board.

Since 1953, the institute has been publishing the journal Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte (VfZ, Quarterly Journal of Contemporary History), which is regarded as one of the most important publications of German historical research.

1994 the institute founded a branch in Potsdam, which from 1996 on has been based close to the German federal archive. The focus of research of the "Berlin branch" of the institute is the history of the GDR. The branch Abteilung des IfZ im Auswärtigen Amt (department of the IfZ in the Foreign Ministry), founded in 1990 (first situated in Bonn, from 2000 in Berlin), publishes documents of the German foreign ministry.

In 1999, the institute conceived the Dokumentation Obersalzberg on the Obersalzberg near Berchtesgaden upon a request by the Free State of Bavaria. This exhibition documents the construction of the Obersalzberg into a showy residence for Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist leadership circles.