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The article reports that the famine and the revolts associated with it in 1946/47 have been commemorated four times in German history as firstly in the post-war period itself, when there were protest marches and strikes that had a broad resonance in the occupation society; secondly in the GDR of the 1960s, when East German historiography glorified the uprisings as a mass movement for a democratic reorganization of power and property relations.

In the intellectual debates of West Germany, Georg Picht was always present. He dealt with educational and peace policy, the protection of the environment, development aid, demographic development and the global food crisis. He involved himself in the activities of government agencies and engaged in political consultancy. Yet the core of Picht's political activities was his journalistic work. Like few other intellectuals of the old West Germany, Picht was prominently present in the media. He was covered by the media and positioned himself in the media. Picht was capable of using the public attention he had created to portray himself as an idea provider on the one hand and as a competent organiser on the other hand. His media presence was not purely calculated and strategic, however. It was also a form of adaptation and shaped the character of the newly developing archetype of the media intellectual. Using Picht and his journalistic activities as an example, the article shows how intellectuals adapted to the media logic of the second half of the 20th century and were ready to let themselves be taken in by its production mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The 4th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 1968 occurred during a period of increasing influence of the media in shaping society and culture. The documentary film Behold … All Things New, produced by Radio Sweden for the WCC's 1968 assembly in Uppsala, reflected this development. It was, however, both a promotional tool for the church and a sort of documentary. This article analyzes the film from the context of church media relations, examining the strengthened mediatization of the religious arena in the 20th century and giving close attention to the circumstances of the film's production, its narrative techniques, and visual realization. In this way, the film is made accessible as a historical source for the WCC and thus also for the history of the globalization of churches. The film places into perspective the connection between mediatization and secularization, as it represents the churches' integration into modern media society with all of its visual symbols of globality, ecumenism, and willingness to enter into dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of disasters is no longer a new area of research. In the last two decades several new studies have been published in contexts of environmental, cultural and social history. Yet most of these approaches did not draw much attention and remained in the shadow of their own fields. Therefore, this article focuses on the most recent studies and tries to examine their connectivity to broader areas of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article reports on a conference on the comparative social history of Italy and West Germany in the second half of the twentieth century, held in Como, Italy, from November 6-9, 2011. Topics of discussion included the applicability of the term postmodernism to the history of this time period, trends toward greater individualization in society, and secularization.