An evaluation, a successful strategic expansion, a 75th anniversary, and a move into a new building. Our annual report shows that the years 2023 through 2025 were challenging yet fruitful for the HBI.
The report has been published only in German. You can download the report here.
From the Preface
The period from 2023 to 2025, as described in this report, was an exceptionally eventful time for the Institute. During these three years, the Institute underwent an evaluation and successfully secured funding for its “Strategic Expansion”—two processes that required considerable effort in 2023 and 2024, all while establishing a new strategic foundation. In March 2025, Judith Möller was appointed to a joint professorship and joined the Board of Directors—a personnel decision prepared over these years that strengthens the Institute both substantively and structurally. In 2025, the Institute celebrated its 75th anniversary (see p. 46 for more information). The fundamental idea behind the Institute’s postwar founding has lost none of its validity: new media—radio at the time—are so significant to society and democracy that they require continuous scholarly monitoring. What has changed is the speed at which new media emerge and take effect—and, consequently, the demands placed on an institute seeking to study this transformation.
However, 2025 was a particularly challenging year for us. We underwent a transformation in terms of not only our physical space but also our structures and processes, and we did it all at the same time without ever halting our research activities. Let’s start with the most obvious change. After many productive years, the Institute left Rothenbaumchaussee 36. Saying goodbye to a place where so much was created is not easy: fundamental research on the transformation of public communication, groundbreaking work on regulatory structures in the digital space, the postdoc program, and our entry into the Leibniz Association. The Institute’s consistent expansion of activities in recent years eventually made the Rothenbaumchaussee space too small, both literally and in terms of the agile work formats required for contemporary research.
The move to the new premises was anything but smooth. Between leaving our old location and moving to Warburgstraße 30 B, there was a five-month period during which part of the institute worked remotely and another part was housed at betahaus on Gänsemarkt, a coworking space. What some might have considered a temporary solution actually demonstrated the institute’s defining characteristics: a willingness to embrace change and the ability to work with focus, even under unfamiliar conditions. On December 1, the time had finally come. The move to Warburgstraße went off without a hitch. We owe a great debt of gratitude to everyone who coordinated and supported this process. The support from the Ministry of Science, Research, and Equality—and ultimately from Hamburg’s taxpayers, as evidenced by this building—inspires us.
In parallel with the move, the institute fundamentally restructured its internal organization. Three research programs and one lab were reorganized into two research program areas and one service-oriented program area. This restructuring was not an end in itself, but rather an expression of strategic development. Research will become more interconnected, distinctive, and impactful for academia, politics, business, and civil society. This was accompanied by a reorganization of management structures supported by extensive training initiatives.
The Institute is deeply grateful for the support provided by the Department of Science, Research, and Equality of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg; the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space; the Board of Trustees; and the Scientific Advisory Board.
The years from 2023 to 2025 were challenging yet fruitful. Our research output was impressive, and our societal impact was significant. This annual report offers a brief glimpse into our activities.
Wolfgang Schulz, April 2026