Research Assistant at the Chair of Educational Science, History of Education (Prof. Dr. Carola Groppe) at Helmut Schmidt University.
DR. PHIL. TIMM GERD HELLMANZIK
About
I am an educational scientist and historian of education at Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg.
My research explores how education, power, culture, and practice interact, with a particular focus on marginalized or previously overlooked histories of education in “modernity”, as well as forms of knowledge and theory relevant to pedagogy. From discursive and decolonial perspectives, I investigate which assumptions about the “foreign” or the “other” are embedded in bodies of knowledge and how processes of socialization and cultural self-understanding emerge. I am particularly interested in questions of difference, knowledge formation, and educational media.
Welcome to my website.
I welcome inquiries regarding publications, talks, collaborations, or the supervision of theses.
Career path
Since November 2021
2020–2021
Research stay in Istanbul at Istanbul University, supported by the annual scholarship for doctoral students from DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service).
2017–2020
Research Assistant in the DFG project "The Knowledge about Turks and Turkey in Pedagogy. Analysis of Discursive Change 1839–1945" (Prof. Dr. Ingrid Lohmann) at the University of Hamburg.
2018–2022
Ph.D. (Dr. phil.) at the University of Hamburg with the dissertation: "From the 'Turkish Yoke' to 'Germany's Friendship for Turkey' — The Transformation of Knowledge about the Ottoman Empire in German History Textbooks 1839–1918." (open access)
2011–2017
Studies in History, Theology, German Studies, and Educational Science at the University of Osnabrück (Master of Education).
2011
Abitur (High School Diploma) at Kaiserin-Auguste-Viktoria Gymnasium in Celle.
1991
Born in 1991 and raised in Celle.
Research Focus and Interests
I am particularly interested in how education is shaped, mediated, and experienced in societies of modernity, and which cultural assumptions as well as social and power relations become effective in these processes. My work focuses on marginalized histories of education and transnational entanglements, for example between Germany and the Ottoman Empire or Latin America.
A central concern of my research is the analysis of bodies of knowledge and theories with pedagogical relevance: Which assumptions about the “foreign” or the “other” are implicitly embedded? Under what conditions do processes of socialization and cultural self-understanding emerge?
My research draws on a broad range of sources and materials—from school textbooks and pedagogical writings to cultural documents—and combines historical and discursive perspectives by linking historical and theoretical argumentation.
Research areas
Theories and history of education: Power, “culture,” and socialization in educational processes of modernity
Transnational, post- and decolonial histories of education: Histories of perception and reception; transnational educational processes (Ottoman Empire, Latin America); historiographical and methodological reflections on decolonial approaches (e.g., Enrique Dussel, Aníbal Quijano)
Socialization and gender studies: Analysis of individual and collective processes of socialization; methodological reflections and practice-oriented developments in historical socialization research
Education and religion: Interrelations between religious knowledge, belief systems, and cultural practice; dynamics of religious socialization
Grants and scholarships
2023 and 2025 DAAD scholarship for congress trips to Gdansk (Poland) and Belgrade (Serbia)
2022 to 2024 HSU travel grants for congress presentations: ISCHE43 (Milan, Italy), ISCHE44 (Budapest, Hungary), DGfE Section Conference (Berlin), EERA/ECER (Nicosia, Cyprus)
2021 Funding from the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg (5000 euros) for the organization of the conference Teaching Religious Education – Challenges, Developments and Perspectives in a Plural World at the University of Hamburg
2021 Scholarship for a one-month research stay at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Media in Braunschweig
2020 to 2021 Scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service for a one-year research stay in Istanbul (Turkey)
2013 Funding for a six-month internship at the German School in Athens (Greece) through the European Erasmus program
Reviewer activities
Paedagogica Historica
Jahrbuch für Historische Bildungsforschung
EERA. Network 17. Histories of Education
Libri & Liberi. Journal of Research on Children’s Literature and Culture
Publications
Historical Socialization Research: Theory, Analysis, Representation (Böhlau 2026)
This book, developed in collaboration with Carola Groppe, Morvarid Dehnavi, and Dennis Mathie, develops new methodological and historiographical approaches to historical socialization research. It offers practical guidance for research and presents theoretical and conceptual foundations, methodologies, analytical categories, source issues, and strategies for presentation — supplemented with historical examples. It is aimed at those who wish to conduct and teach research in the history of socialization. (Link)
The article focuses on the sociology of power of Mathilde Vaerting (1884–1977), the first full professor of educational science at a German university. From the outset, Vaerting employed gender as a central category of difference for a critical analysis of societal power structures and expanded this framework to include additional factors such as race and ethnicity, which had previously received little systematic attention. In collaboration with Eik Gädeke, I examine how these categories are integrated into Vaerting’s theoretical reflections, the role of imitation in processes of domination and oppression, and the connections to Gramsci’s concept of hegemony as well as postcolonial theories. (Link)
Cultural Policy for the New Turkey. Friedrich Schrader and the Osmanischer Lloyd, Constantinople 1908–1918. A Commented Source Collection (Klinkhardt 2025)
The volume Cultural Policy for the New Turkey explores the role of Friedrich Schrader (1865–1922) and the Osmanischer Lloyd at the intersection of educational and cultural policy in the Ottoman Empire between 1908 and 1918. The annotated collection of sources illustrates how Schrader, as a journalist and intellectual, engaged with reform discourses on schooling, women’s emancipation, and language policy. He navigated between German cultural imperialism and Ottoman modernization policies. Together with Ingrid Lohmann , I examine Schrader’s journalistic work as a previously underexplored chapter of German-Ottoman educational history. (Open Access)
“The West” from a Postcolonial Perspective of History of Education. The Construct “Europe” as a Conceptual Boarder (De Gruyter 2025)
The article critically examines how the concept of “Europe” has been constructed in the history of education and used to differentiate from the “non-European.” From a conceptual-historical and postcolonial perspective, it shows how European narratives contribute to the creation of a hegemonic self-image that positions the “West” as superior. The analysis demonstrates that such constructions reproduce historical inequalities and create marginalizations. (Open Access)
Video Games as Educational Media? Analyses and Reflections on the Global Strategy Game Civilization (Klinkhardt 2024)
This article analyzes the educational potential of computer games using Civilization VI as an example. Themes such as climate change, resource management, and historical dynamics are made tangible through the game mechanics, offering specific opportunities for learning and reflection—both in school settings and adult education. At the same time, Dennis Mathie and I argue for a pedagogically reflective integration of digital games into educational contexts. The article demonstrates how computer games can serve as an effective contemporary medium for political, historical, and social education. (Open Access)
War and Peace in German History Textbooks around 1900: The Russo-Turkish War of 1877/78 and the Berlin Congress (Klinkhardt 2024)
In this article, I examine how war and peace are represented in textbooks of the German Empire. Of particular interest is the observation that these works do not focus on “their own” wars; instead, they exemplarily address the Russo-Turkish War of 1877/78. The analysis shows that even the pedagogical presentation of seemingly distant conflicts was by no means neutral and was always framed according to imperial and interest-specific perspectives. (Link)
Between Othering and Self-Assertion – Conceptions of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey in German History Textbooks of the 19th and Early 20th Centuries (Beltz 2023)
The article presents key findings from my dissertation on the knowledge about the Ottoman Empire produced in school textbooks and situates them within a broader educational and history-of-knowledge context. The study contributes to tracing the origins of stereotypes long considered outdated, some of which remain influential to this day. (Open Access)
From the "Turkish Yoke" to "Germany’s Friendship for Turkey" – The Transformation of Knowledge about the Ottoman Empire in German History Textbooks (1839–1918) (Klinkhardt 2023)
In my dissertation, published as a monograph, I examined the perception of “the Turks” and “Turkey” in historical history textbooks for higher education between 1839 and 1918. The study revealed a historical shift in (pedagogical) attribution strategies: there was a marked change in the depiction of the Ottomans/Turks from the “terror of Europe” to “Germany’s friendship with Turkey.” The analyzed texts also reflect self-descriptions from the perspective of the German textbook authors. (Open Access)
Gender Relations thorugh History Textbooks (Brill 2023)
My contribution examines the construction of gender relations in textbooks for girls’ schools and daughters’ education in the 19th century. It highlights, based on the prefaces of these textbooks, the gender-anthropological assumptions that form the (theoretical) foundation of these educational materials. Historical knowledge was therefore intended to be presented to girls in a very specific way—one that would not overwhelm them and that appeared appropriate to their lived experience. (Link)
"The Turks Were Never Considered as Brothers, Always Remaining Foreign to European Intellectual Culture" – The Image of the Turks in Joseph Annegarn’s 'World History for Catholic Youth' (1840) (Klinkhardt 2021)
The article is a case study developed in the context of my doctoral dissertation. It analyzes German ideas and perceptions of “the Turks” and “Turkey” in an exemplary 19th-century history textbook for Catholic schools. The study shows that the textbook is consistently permeated with negative attributions, making it a prime example of the dissemination of such discourses, which originate from earlier historical contexts. (Open Access)
LECTURES
CONFERENCE PAPERS
2026
On the Interconnection of Anti-Racist Dimensions in Decolonial Theory in Frantz Fanon (1925–1961) and Aníbal Quijano (1930–2018)
Together with Kai Neidmann at the 22nd Annual Conference of the Working Group for Historical Religious Education. University of Osnabrück, 11–13 March 2026.
2025
Foreign Cultural and Educational Policy of the Goethe-Institut in the 1970s and 1980s: Language and Cultural Programs
At the congress European Conference on Educational Research 2025: Education in an Age of Uncertainty (EERA) at the University of Belgrade (Serbia), 09–12 September 2025. (Homepage)
Authority and Defiance – Mathilde Vaerting’s Perspectives on Teaching and Teacher-Student Relationships
Together with Susann Hofbauer at the annual conference of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education at the Université de Lille (France), 08–11 July 2025. (Homepage)
2024
Schrader in Constantinople. Cultural Policy and Transnational Translation in the Osmanischer Lloyd 1908-1918. Presentation of a Book Project
Together with Ingrid Lohmann at the Colloquium on the History of Education of the Network of Hamburg Historians of Education at the University of Hamburg, 08 November 2024.
On the Relationship between Languages, Education and Nation-building: Imaginations, Idealizations and Historicizations in the Osmanischer Lloyd (1908-1918)
At the congress European Conference on Educational Research 2024: Education in an Age of Uncertainty (EERA) at the University of Nicosia (Cyprus), 27–30 August 2024.
Socialization in the Family – Theoretical and Practical Research Considerations from Historical Socialization Research
Together with Carola Groppe, Morvarid Dehnavi and Dennis Mathie at the Confernce of the Network for Family Research in Educational Science at the University of Osnabrück, 07–08 June 2024.
Historical Socialization Research. A Proposal for a Research Practice. Report on a Book Project
Together with Carola Groppe, Morvarid Dehnavi and Dennis Mathie at the Colloquium on the History of Education of the Network of Hamburg Historians of Education at the University of Hamburg, 24 May 2024.
Workshop: Collective Biography of the Prussian Reformers
Together with Carola Groppe at the Research workshop “The Knowledge of the Prussian Administration. Collection, Evaluation and Visualization of Sources and Data on School and Youth (ca. 1800 to 1920)” at the Humboldt University of Berlin, 25–26 April 2024. (Program)
On the Relationship between Postcolonial Theory and Educational Science – Theoretical Lines of Reception and Reflections on Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s Critical Understanding of Education
At the 29th Congress “Crises and Transformation” of the German Educational Research Association (GERA) at the University of Halle, 10–13 March 2024. (Homepage)
2023
Game Studies and Educational Media: Reflections and Analyses on the Significance of Digital Educational Games
Together with Dennis Mathie at the Annual Conference of the International Society for Textbook and Educational Media Research (IGSBi) at the University of Gdańsk (Poland), 06–08 October 2023. (Program)
Constructions of Difference, Culture, and Cultural Domination in Mathilde Vaerting’s Sociology and Psychology of Power
Together with Eik Gädeke at the Annual Conference of the Commission on Science Research of the German Educational Research Association (GERA) at Helmut Schmidt University, 13–15 September 2023. (Flyer)
Freedom and Equality in Prussian Reforms: Commission Work, Debate, and Group Configurations in Memel and Königsberg, 1807–1810
Together with Carola Groppe at the Conference “Freedom and Equality” of the Section History of Education of the German Educational Research Association (GERA) at Humboldt University in Berlin, 11–13 September 2023. (Program)
Educational Reform as the Most Crucial Step in Nation-Building: Co-Editor Friedrich Schrader’s Cultural Policy Comments in the Daily Newspaper Osmanischer Lloyd, Constantinople 1908–14
At the Annual Conference of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest (Hungary), 18–21 July 2023. (Homepage)
Cultural and Educational Policy Comments by Friedrich Schrader in the Osmanischer Lloyd 1908–1914
Together with Ingrid Lohmann at the Colloquium on the History of Education for Post-/Doctoral Students of the Network of Hamburg Historians of Education at the University of Hamburg, 09 June 2023.
2022
The Emergence of German History Textbooks for Girls’ Schools in the 19th Century
At the Annual Conference of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education 2023 at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan (Italy), 31 August–03 September 2022. (Homepage)
2021
Demarcation from the Other – The Image of Turks in a German, Catholic History Textbook of the 19th Century
At the Annual Conference of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education 2021 (Online Conference), 14–25 June 2021.
2019
The Perception of “Turks” and “Turkey” in German History Textbooks. A Study about the Discursive Change between 1839-1918
At the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) by the European Educational Research Association (EERA) at the University of Hamburg, 03–06 September 2019. (Abstract)
Knowledge about “Turks” and “Turkey” in Pedagogy: An Analysis of Discursive Change in German Textbooks, 1839-1918
At the 10th History of Education Doctoral Summer School (HEDSS-10) at Liverpool John Moores University (United Kingdom), 13–16 June 2019. (Homepage)
“Turks” and the Greek War of Independence in German History Textbooks (1839-1870)
At the DFG Project Workshop: Images of “Turks” and “Turkey” in Pedagogy and Educational Policy in the 19th and 20th Centuries at the University of Hamburg, 23–25 May 2019.
2018
The Discursive Change of the Image of “Turks” and “Turkey” from 1839 to 1945 in German Pedagogy and Teaching Profession
At the 12th Forum of Young Educational Historians of the Section History of Education of the German Educational Research Association (GERA) at the University of Vienna (Austria), 27–28 September 2018.
The Image of Turkey in German History Textbooks of the 19th and 20th Centuries: Presentation of a Research Project
At Colloquium on the History of
Education for Post-/Doctoral Students of the Network of Hamburg
Historians of Education at the University of Hamburg, 23 June 2018.
Organization of Conferences
Colloquium: Network of Hamburg Education Historians
Organization of the Hamburg Colloquium on the History of Education, University of Hamburg, 23 May 2025, 08 November, 24 May 2024, 09 June 2023.
Teaching Religious Education – Challenges, Developments and Perspectives in a Plural World
Funded by the Academy of Sciences in Hamburg (€5000) and conducted at the University of Hamburg, 08–09 December 2021. (Program)
Images of Turks and Turkey in pedagogy and educational policy in the 19th and 20th centuries. Co-organization of the workshop for the DFG project: Knowledge about Turks and Turkey in Pedagogy. Analysis of the discursive change 1839-1945. University of Hamburg, 23-25 May 2019.
Teaching
My teaching covers theories and the history of education, schooling, and socialization. I combine core perspectives of educational science with approaches from historical research and cultural studies. My main areas of interest include the history of education and schooling since 1800, classical educational thinkers, decolonial theory, and migration and education.
In my seminars, students engage independently and in a problem-oriented way with key questions in educational research, working with historical sources, theoretical texts, and current scholarship. A central component is the close reading of selected texts, through which we trace theoretical concepts and critically discuss lines of argument in relation to broader social conditions.
Spring trimester 2026
Canon Formation and Classics in Education (Master’s course in Educational Science)
Winter trimester 2026
Teaching Research Project – Discourse Analysis and Educational Media) (Master’s course in Educational Science)
Fall trimester 2025
Inclusion and Othreing in Education and Society (19th-20th century) (Bachelor’s course in Educational Science)
Winter trimester 2025
Minorities and “Culture” in the Educational History of Modernity (Bachelor’s course in Educational Science)
Post- and Decolonial Perspectives in Educational Science – Past and Present (Bachelor’s course in Educational Science)
Nation-Building in Educational Media – Past and Present (Bachelor’s course in Educational Science)
Fall trimester 2024
(Post-)Colonialism and Education – Relationship, Opportunities and Challenges (Master’s course in Educational Science)
Difference as a Category in the History of Ideas and Culture in Education (Master’s course in Educational Science)
Spring trimester 2024
Migration and education – international (educational) policies, movements and interdependencies (Bachelor’s course in Educational Science)
Fall trimester 2023
Research paradigms in the historical and theoretical research of education II (Bachelor’s course in Educational Science)
Educational theories of the 19th and 20th centuries (Master’s course in Educational Science)
Spring trimester 2023
Research paradigms in the historical and theoretical research of education I (Bachelor’s course in Educational Science)
The history textbook from the perspective of history of education (Master’s course in Educational Science)
Winter trimester 2023
Interculturality and education in the 19th and 20th centuries
(Bachelor’s course in educational science)
Winter semester 2022/23 (University of Hamburg)
Postcolonial Education (Bachelor’s course in Educational Science)
Fall trimester 2022
Research fields, methods and sources of (historical) educational research – national and international perspectives II (Bachelor’s course in Educational Science)
Spring trimester 2022
Research fields, methods and sources of (historical) educational research – national and international perspectives I (Bachelor’s course in Educational Science)
Colloquium: Network of Hamburg Education Historians
Organization of the Colloquium for Hamburg Education History at the University of Hamburg, May 29, 2026, November 21, 2025, May 23, 2025, November 8, 2024, May 24, 2024, June 9, 2023.
Teaching Religious Education – Challenges, Developments, and Perspectives in a Plural World
Funded by the Academy of Sciences in Hamburg (€5,000) and held at the University of Hamburg, December 8–9, 2021. (Programm)
Images of Turks and Turkey in pedagogy and education policy in the 19th and 20th centuries. Co-organization of the workshop on the DFG project: Knowledge about Turks and Turkey in pedagogy. Analysis of discursive change 1839–1945. University of Hamburg, May 23–25, 2019.
PROJECTS
1. January 2025
Foreign Cultural and Educational Policy in Germany
Engaging with the foreign cultural and educational policy of the Federal Republic of Germany is part of my ongoing habilitation…
1. January 2024
Historical Socialization Research
Another focus of my research is the development of a methodological proposal for historical socialization research and its application through…
1. January 2023
Analyses of Power and Difference
Another area of interest is the analysis of (educational) theories on social power and relations of difference, both at a…
1. January 2021
German-Turkish Histories of Education in the 19 and 20th centuries
I dedicate a large part of my research to analyzing the German-Turkish history of education in the 19th and 20th…
CONTACT
Dr. phil. Timm Gerd Hellmanzik
Research Assistant (Postdoc) at the Chair of Educational Science, History of Education (Prof. Dr. Carola Groppe), within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the
Helmut Schmidt University, the University of the German Federal Armed Forces
Gebäude H4 / 106
