Institut für Konfliktforschung (IKF)

The Institut für Konfliktforschung (IKF) is an Austrian non-university research institute founded in 1975 and organized as a non-profit association (gemeinnütziger Verein). Its stated purpose is to research political and social conflicts on an interdisciplinary level, develop possible solutions, and — in the spirit of scientific policy advice — produce fact-oriented bases for decision-making. Basic research forms the foundation of its work. The institute cooperates with research institutions in related fields both in Austria and abroad. It publishes short descriptions of its projects on its website and makes selected reports available for download in full text, and it distributes an irregular email newsletter. Since 1 October 2023, the scientific director of the institute has been PDin Mag.a Dr.in Karin Liebhart. The IKF's research spans contemporary history, historical social research, and memory politics, with a notable focus on National Socialist persecution, Holocaust remembrance, and the documentation of survivor testimony. Its project list includes work on women and NS persecution (especially Ravensbrück and Mauthausen), oral history and memory politics, the Mauthausen Survivors Documentation Project, and biographies of Austrian resistance figures such as Hermann Langbein and Herbert Steiner. The institute positions itself as a bridge between academic research and public policy, offering analysis and context on conflict, remembrance, and democratic culture in Austria and Europe.

The Institut für Konfliktforschung (IKF) was founded in 1975 as an Austrian non-university research institute and has the legal status of a non-profit association (gemeinnütziger Verein). From its inception, its purpose has been to research political and social conflicts on an interdisciplinary level, to develop possible solutions, and to produce fact-oriented bases for decision-making in the sense of scientific policy advice. Basic research forms the foundation of this activity. Over the decades, the institute has cooperated with research institutions in related fields in Austria and abroad. Its project portfolio reflects a sustained engagement with Austrian contemporary history, historical social research, and memory politics. Documented projects include work on women and National Socialist persecution, especially at the Ravensbrück and Mauthausen concentration camps; oral history and memory politics; the Mauthausen Survivors Documentation Project (2003); studies on emigration, flight, and displacement of Austrian Jews to Palestine between 1934 and 1948 (2004); a political biography of Hermann Langbein (2011); and a volume on the life and work of Herbert Steiner (2014). The institute also produced the 2018 project "Meine Mama war Widerstandskämpferin" and the 2022 project by Anna Burger on "asocial" persecution and family memory. On 1 October 2023, PDin Mag.a Dr.in Karin Liebhart became the scientific director of the institute. The IKF continues to present its projects on its website, offers selected reports for full-text download, and distributes an irregular email newsletter.

• 2023

  Karin Liebhart became scientific director on 1 October 2023.

• 2022

  Project by Anna Burger on "asocial" persecution and family memory documented.

• 2018

  Project "Meine Mama war Widerstandskämpferin" documented.

• 2017

  Scientific research for the documentary film "Liebe war es nie" documented.

• 2014

  Project on the life and work of Herbert Steiner (1923–2001) documented.

• 2013

  Project "Bewusstseinsregion Mauthausen – Gusen – St. Georgen" documented.

• 2012

  Projects on the former Gusen/St. Georgen concentration camp and a Central Europe history book documented.

• 2011

  Political biography of Hermann Langbein (1912–1995) documented.

• 2004

  Project on emigration, flight and displacement of Austrian Jews to Palestine 1934–1948 documented.

• 2003

  Mauthausen Survivors Documentation Project / ZeitzeugInnenprojekt KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen documented.

• 2001

  Project on Jewish women in the Austrian women's movement 1890–1938 documented.

• 1998

  Project "Österreich ist nicht gleich Österreich ist nicht gleich Österreich" documented.

• 1996

  Projects "Tausend Jahre Österreich – Lebenswelten kleiner Leute" and "100 Jahre Illustrierte Neue Welt" documented.

• 1975

  Institut für Konfliktforschung (IKF) founded as a non-university research institute with the legal status of a non-profit association.

Non-university, non-profit research institute providing interdisciplinary conflict research and science-based policy advice, with a strong focus on Austrian contemporary history and memory politics.

• Oral History und Erinnerungspolitik

• Historische Sozialforschung

• Frauen und NS-Verfolgung (Ravensbrück, Mauthausen)

• Mauthausen Survivors Documentation Project

• Anna Burger – (k)ein Schicksal wie viele (2022)

• Meine Mama war Widerstandskämpferin (2018)

• Hermann Langbein political biography (2011)

• Herbert Steiner life and work (2014)

1. 1Institut für Konfliktforschungikf.ac.at
2. 2Oral History und Erinnerungspolitik – Institut für Konfliktforschungikf.ac.at
3. 3Institut für Konfliktforschung (IKF) – Wikidatawikidata.org