Cluster of Excellence mourns the passing of contemporary historian Thomas Großbölting

The Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” at the University of Münster mourns the passing of contemporary historian Prof. Dr. Thomas Großbölting, who died unexpectedly on 11 February 2025. We held Thomas Großbölting, who was a member of our research community between 2009 and 2020, in very high regard, both as a scholar and as a person. He shaped our work not only with his rich and diverse research on the contemporary history of religions, but also with his joy in interdisciplinary dialogue and his dedicated and warm-hearted manner.

Thomas Großbölting was a principal investigator at the Cluster of Excellence and, from 2016, a member of the Cluster’s board of directors. In September 2020, he then became director of the Research Centre for Contemporary History in Hamburg (FZH) and professor of modern/contemporary history at the University of Hamburg. In his projects at the Cluster of Excellence, Thomas Großbölting examined religious change in the old West Germany, East Germany, and reunified Germany. In 2013, he published “Der verlorene Himmel”, which was translated into English as “Losing Heaven”, the first historical overview of religion in post-1945 Germany. Colleagues at the Cluster of Excellence, who had worked closely with him over many years, are with his family in their thoughts. We will always remember him with great appreciation.