“I don’t want to cross the line”: Institutional Memory and Professional Identity at the Charité psychiatric clinic.

• Applicant: Tal Geffen, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 580277030

The psychiatric department at Charité Mitte presents a unique case for understanding the legacy of a difficult past: its history of euthanasia, forced sterilization, and the expulsion of Jewish staff during the Nazi era is confronted daily through prominent 'memory-objects' integrated into clinical workspaces. Unlike a museum, the clinic's entrance exhibit and its auditorium portraits of banished physicians create a constant, living engagement with this history. This project goes beyond mere historical documentation to address a crucial ethnographic question: how does this visible reminder of institutional complicity influence the professional practices, ethical dilemmas, and identities of current staff? Using ethnographic methods, primarily semi-structured, in-depth interviews and workplace observations, this study provides the first detailed, close-up view of the 'lived experience' of institutional memory in a German clinical setting. Among its main contributions is the development of a mid-range model that explains how historical memory is transformed into emotion and professional behavior. This model highlights the specific conditions under which workplace history influences—or does not influence—practice, identity, and team culture. This research bridges the gap between official remembrance and daily professional life, providing critical insights into the integration of memory and ethics in medicine and other fields dealing with a difficult past.

• DFG Programme: Fellowship
• International Connection: Israel
• Host: Professorin Vered Vinitzky-Seroussi, Ph.D.