Work and exhaustion. Coping methods and solution strategies in the Federal Republic and the GDR from the post-war period to the 1970s

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Frank Becker
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 572684665

Burnout, a persistent and structurally ingrained form of exhaustion, has become a widespread modern disease. However, it has also challenged those involved in the world of work in the past, as research on the first half of the 20th century has shown. The project delves into the period from the post-war era to the 1970s, which has so far hardly been researched from this point of view, specifically regarding the two German states of the Federal Republic and the GDR. Utilizing various historical methodologies, including concepts from the history of discourse and knowledge, praxeology, body history, and gender history, this project expands beyond traditional gainful employment. In the course of this, the project focuses on groups that have received little attention up to now, such as executives (“manager illness”), women doing housework and bringing up children (“mothers’ recovery”) and returned prisoners of war. This exploration unfolds on the one hand within the framework of a German-German comparative and intertwined history, on the other hand against the background of transnational exchange processes of forms of knowledge and practice with third countries.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants