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The DFG Research Training Group 2227 “Identity and Heritage” was is a joint institution of the Bauhaus University Weimar, the Technical University Berlin, the Hochschule Anhalt Dessau (University of Applied Sciences) and the Fachhochschule Erfurt (University of Applied Sciences). The Universität der Künste Berlin involved as a partner of the Research Training Group.

The programme seeked to promote the critical study of constructions of identity and heritage based on architectural structures, historical sites, and other, primarily material, cultural legacies. Interdisciplinary analyses in cultural theory were combined with the close observation and interpretation of the form and material constitution of the respective objects. The goal of research was to strengthen theoretical points of access to a democratic understanding of cultural heritage.

From 2016 to 2025, 40 doctoral students, 13 associated doctoral students and a Ukrainian visiting scholar have had the opportunity to pursue their doctorates in an interdisciplinary and academically outstanding environment. Since 2022, a postdoctoral researcher has strengthened the sociological aspects of the research programme.

The subjects involved in the Research Training Group were Architecture, Architectural History, Architectural Sociology, Architectural Theory, Archival and Literary Studies, Building History, Monument Preservation, European Urban Development History, Cultural Studies, Art History, Landscape Architecture, Planning Sociology, Planning Theory, Urban Development History, Urban Planning, Spatial Research and Spatial Planning. The research group also cooperated with cultural institutions and partners in the field of monument preservation.

After the end of the funding period (September 2025), the participating researchers will continue to address issues of cultural heritage in various ways and with varying degrees of intensity. The Bauhaus University Weimar has established the International Heritage Centre (IHZ) for this purpose.