Digital Database of Philosophy in Exile 1933–1945

DFG Project Funding

Map DDEP

Screenshot: Maja Redlin
Map DDEP

word mark DDEP

Graphic: Maja Redlin

Exile during the National Socialist era marked a turning point in the history of German-speaking philosophy. Numerous influential representatives of the discipline lost their (academic) positions during the 1930s and were forced to emigrate from areas under National Socialist control. However, National Socialism did not only leave deep marks at the individual biographical level. Many well-known currents of contemporary philosophy would also have developed differently without displacement and exile. It is therefore no exaggeration to describe exile as one of the defining events for twentieth-century philosophy.

The Digital Database of Philosophy in Exile 1933–1945 (DDEP) aims to make German-language philosophy in exile accessible through prosopographical methods for the first time. At its core lies an extensive collection of biographical and bibliographical data on the emigration: short biographies, works and archival holdings, alongside structured information on routes of emigration, career trajectories, and philosophical currents.

DDEP is a data repository that can be accessed by various applications. The entries are written both by external experts and by the editorial team, the latter particularly in the case of philosophers on whom little or no research has so far been available. All entries are created consistently in two languages (German and English), all persons are linked to authority files (GND, VIAF, and others), and all biographical stations are recorded with dates and georeferenced (GeoNames). An Editorial Board reviews the scholarly quality of the entries.

Structure of the database

Image: DDEP

The data will be published in two formats. The web frontend is built on the NodegoatExternal link software, where the data can be sorted, searched, and analysed according to a variety of parameters. It offers an accessible, visually engaging entry point for gaining new perspectives on the emergence, transformation, and persistence of philosophical theories under the conditions of exile. At the close of the project, a multi-volume print encyclopedia drawing on the DDEP data will additionally appear with Schwabe Verlag (Berlin/Basel).

The data are prepared and made available in line with the FAIR principles: reusability by other projects is ensured through a range of export formats (RDF, CSV, JSON, and others) and an API. The structured research data are released under CC0, the editorial texts under CC BY 4.0. Every version of the dataset receives a persistent identifier and is preserved beyond the project's lifetime.

Project status: The project is currently in phase 2, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), which primarily focuses on building up the data corpus. Funding period: 02/2026–01/2029 (more informationExternal link). Phase 1 was supported by the Hamburg Foundation for the Advancement of Research and Culture and the Future Fund of the Republic of Austria, and included the programming, structuring, and design of the database. Funding period: 01/2023–12/2023.

Contact: You can reach us at ddep@uni-jena.de. 

Project Team

Editorial Board

Chair of the Editorial Board: 

Board Members:

Publications

Max Beck, Nicholas Coomann, Roman Yos (eds.): Philosophie im Exil 1933–1945: Philosophische und philosophiehistorische Fragen, in: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 74 (2026), Nr. 3, 248–298. URL: https://www.degruyterbrill.com/de/journal/key/dzph/74/3/htmlExternal link 

Max Beck: Philosophieren im Exil. Logischer Empirismus und Kritische Theorie 1933–1945. Basel/Berlin: Schwabe Verlag 2026. URL: https://schwabe.ch/Max-Beck-Philosophieren-im-Exil-978-3-7965-5597-8External link

Max Beck, Nicholas Coomann, Roman Yos, Christoph Demmerling: Das Publikationsverhaltens exilierter Philosoph:innen 1933–1945. Die Verknüpfung des Datenbestands der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek mit der Digitalen Datenbank Exilphilosophie durch Data Mining und generative KI, in: Berichte aus den DH-Förderprogrammen der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek. URL: https://d-nb.info/1365338908External link 

Max Beck, Nicholas Coomann (eds.): Historische Erfahrung und begriffliche Transformation. Deutschsprachige Philosophie im Exil in den USA 1933–1945 (= Emigration – Exil – Kontinuität. Schriften zur zeitgeschichtlichen Kultur- und Wissenschaftsforschung, Bd. 16), Berlin/Münster/Wien u.a.: LIT Verlag 2018. URL: https://www.lit-verlag.de/isbn/978-3-643-50887-4External link

Media Coverage

Frankfurter Rundschau, 15 March 2023. URL: https://www.fr.de/kultur/gesellschaft/flucht-vor-den-nazis-als-das-denken-auszog-92147667.htmlExternal link

Deutschlandfunk, "Kultur heute", 06/02/2023. URL: https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/forschung-zur-exilphilosophie-an-der-uni-jena-roman-yos-im-gespraech-dlf-9bc6cef1-100.htmlExternal link

MDR Kultur, "Kultur kompakt", 06/02/2023. URL: https://www.mdr.de/kultur/radio/ipg/sendung-823794.htmlExternal link

WDR 5, "Scala", 03/02/2023. URL: https://www1.wdr.de/mediathek/audio/wdr5/wdr5-scala/audio-wdr--scala---ganze-sendung-1608.htmlExternal link (min. 28:30)

Deutschlandfunk, "Kultur heute", 03/02/2023. URL: https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/kulturmeldungen-03-02-dlf-0a59fe05-100.htmlExternal link (min. 2:10)