PUBLICATIONS

The House of European History is committed to disseminating European history knowledge and stirring public discussion on the enduring presence of the past in today's world.

Through the publications, visitors can discover insights into the museum workings, its philosophy and its content in a broader sense. In turn this extends the museum experience before and after an actual visit.

In this section you can explore the basics of the permanent exhibition in line with key developments in European history. Significant items in the exhibitions are explained through detailed descriptions and scholarly essays.

We also provide a range of papers with contributions to debates and analysis on House of European History related topics.

Black cover of catalogue with white objects

Throwaway – The history of a modern crisis

‘’Throwaway’’ is a project that unearths the hidden history of waste in Europe while simultaneously highlighting its significance as a marker of social change. Starting with the industrial revolution, ‘’Throwaway’’ brings us on a journey through wartime scarcity, the surge in post-war consumerism, and finishes with today’s insurmountable waste crisis. It displays the profound changes in how we have dealt with rubbish in bygone...Read more

When Walls Talk!

From the propaganda of the World Wars and the Cold War to the explosion of cultural exchange, tourism and the emergence of multi-voiced social movements after the Second World War, complex layers of European division and unity are revealed through a selection of posters from the collection of the House of European History.Read more

Stories of our Objects

The first issue of the online magazine features a selection of articles from the book “Creating the House of European History” published in 2018. Here, you will discover a selection of our curators’ perspectives on the search for and choice of key objects that can be found in the House of European History’s permanent exhibition.Read more

Tomorrow’s History in the Museum. Collecting Testimonies of Current Events for the House of European History

This paper contributes to the current discussion on best practices in collecting materials relevant to present-day society and documenting history in the making.Read more

A European Conscience: A biography of Hans-Gert Pöttering

The comprehensive biography “Ein europäisches Gewissen” (A European conscience), with a foreword by Donald Tusk, pays attention to small details, providing an excellent portrait of Hans-Gert Pöttering, former President of the European Parliament (EP) and initiator of the House of European History project.Read more

Evocations of Antiquity in the House of European History: subjects, objects, museography, museology

What is the place of Antiquity in the House of European History? This contribution analyses the vision of Antiquity presented by the House of European History, a museum of European history established by the European Parliament and located in Brussels. Its author is one of the curators who have worked, since the launch of the project in 2011, on the...Read more