Lauren van Vuuren

I am a South African writer and historian who has lived and worked in Berlin since 2014. I innocently came to the city in 2012 on an Erasmus Mundus Fellowship to the Free University. All that was intended then was three months of research on Ulrike Meinhof and the RAF, and instead, the Hauptstadt swallowed me whole. My academic interest in post-war West German radicalism morphed into an enduring, even irrational passion for Berlin, that was radically transforming of my life, and of me.

As of 2025 I work as a historical consultant on films, series, and documentaries; and teach at the Freie Universität Berlin, in their European and International Studies Programmes. I am also available as a speaker in English, on themes related to Cold War history (with special focus on Berlin), twentieth century Berlin history, and debates around Holocaust Remembrance in the two Germanies, from 1949 – 1989. Contact details and socials below.