Margarete Berger-Hamerschlag: Brittanische Gstanzln für HildchenMargarete Berger-Hamerschlag, 1937 (MBH/5/18)The Centre for German & Austrian Exile Studies was established in 1995 at the Institute of Germanic Studies at the University of London. The work of the Centre focuses on the history of German-speaking emigrés who found refuge in Britain, their personal recollections and experiences, their reception in British society, and their many and varied contributions to British life. The concept of German-speaking exile extends to those who came from the former Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and other European countries, as well as Germany and Austria.

The Exile Archive was established in 1996-97 at the Institute of Germanic Studies which already housed the papers of Rudolf Majut, Herbert Thoma, and Bertold Auerbach, all of whom were exiled from Germany or Austria as a result of Nazi persecution. The collection now held at Senate House Library at the University of London comprises material relating to both organisations and individuals and continues to attract donations.

The Centre's Yearbook was launched in December 1999. From 2003 on each volume has a thematic focus, covering subjects in such varied spheres as refugees in industry and commerce, exile literature, art and culture, gender and historiography.

The activities of the Centre are supported by The Martin Miller and Hannah Norbert-Miller Trust which was established in 2009. As a result of this generous donation, the Centre is able to offer bursaries for doctoral study and Visiting Fellowships at the Institute. Fellowship(s) are open to applicants from the UK and overseas wishing to work at the Exile Archive at the University of London. They are designed to provide a contribution to temporary living expenses in London, or to enable those in employment to take leave to further their studies. Awards are typically made for periods of between one and three months.

Online exhibition

A Light in Dark Times : Das Laterndl – Austrian Exile Theatre in London 1939–1945 (https://exileresearchcentre.omeka.net/exhibits/show/laterndltheatre/)

Selected Yearbooks

The Second and Third Generation : the Legacy of Forced Migration from Nazi Europe, 2024, Yearbook of the Research Centre for German & Austrian Exile Studie no. 23

Music and Exile, from 1933 to the Present Day, 2023, Yearbook no. 22

“I didn’t want to float, I wanted to belong to something” : Refugee Organisations in Britain 1933 – 1945, 2008, Yearbook no. 10

Stimme der Wahrheit : German-Language Broadcasting by the BBC, 2003, Yearbook no. 5

Other select publications

Innocence and Experience : Childhood and Refugees from Nazism to Britain, ed. by Charmian Brinson and Anna Nyburg, Oxford: Peter Lang, 2024

The Dynamics of Forced Female Migration from Czechoslovakia to Britain, 1938 – 1950, by Jana Buresova, Berne: Peter Lang, 2019

Wien – London Hin und Retour : das Austrian Centre in London 1939 bis 1947; ed. by Marietta Bearman et al, Vienna: Czernin, 2004

Between Two Languages : German-Speaking Exiles in Great Britain 1933 – 1945, ed. by William Abbey at al, London: IGS, Stuttgart: Hans-Dieter Heinz, 1995

A historical walk

A historical walk following the trail of refugees from Nazi Europe in Bloomsbury, London. Find out how support was coordinated from Bloomsbury House, how exiles contributed to Britain’s anti-Nazi propaganda war, and how anti-fascists were spied on by MI5 agents. The walk is illustrated by voices and images from the Institute’s exile archives. (https://ilcs.sas.ac.uk/research-centres/research-centre-german-austrian-exile-studies-exile/audio-walk-through-1930s)