Initiative starts: AI for historical colonial images in Frankfurt!

Initiative starts: AI for historical colonial images in Frankfurt!

The project “Visual Analytics for Images from Colonial Contexts” (VABiKo) officially launched today. Led by the University Library of Frankfurt am Main in collaboration with the Philipps University of Marburg, the DFG-financed project aims to develop historical image collections using artificial intelligence (AI). This innovative approach aims to make the contents of a central image archive, which includes an important collection on German colonial and colonial revisionist movements, more accessible to researchers and the public.

The archive, which includes around 45,000 image media, was handed over to the Frankfurt City and University Library in the late 1940s. This collection addresses the “development” of German colonies in Africa, Oceania and China and is the first photographic inventory from colonial contexts in Germany to be digitized in the 1990s. The planned functions of the project aim to improve the usage options through semi-automatic indexing and by adding additional metadata.

Advanced search and presentation options

A central feature of the project is the development of expanded search and presentation options. Among other things, interactive time-space visualizations are planned that enable automatic recognition of image patterns in order to show the places of origin on maps. The multilingual internet portal, which is scheduled to be publicly accessible by the end of 2027, will be a valuable source for coming to terms with German colonial history.

Particular attention is paid to the ethical questions that arise from the presentation and use of these images. These aspects are developed in dialogue with researchers and stakeholders to ensure a responsible approach. The “Multimodal Modeling and Machine Learning” working group led by Prof. Dr. Ralph Ewerth, which was founded in April 2025, will work intensively on the development of machine learning methods for analyzing images and videos.

The role of the German colonial society

The German Colonial Society (DKG), founded in Berlin in 1887, played a central role in spreading colonial ideas in Germany. By 1910 the society had almost 45,000 members and saw colonialism as a motor for economic development. The advertising measures also included photo lectures in which images from the colonial image archive were used.

The DKG collection includes around 55,000 images, including glass plates, paper prints and 35mm negatives. This valuable collection has been stored in the Frankfurt University Library since 1948 and is fully digitized and accessible online as far as the legal framework allows. However, it is also indicated that the imagery in many of these photographs uses stereotypical and racist representations that portray colonized people as supposedly “other.”

In addition to developing image collections, the Federal Archives has developed a handwriting recognition program using AI. This technology enables research participants to search around 10,000 files from the Reich Colonial Office in the Berlin-Lichterfelde reading room. These are documents in German Kurrent script that have already been digitized and are freely accessible. Progress in this area was tested in particular as part of a pilot project that began in 2021 to use AI technologies for handwriting recognition.

Efforts to come to terms with Germany's colonial history appear in a new light as both the University of Marburg and the Federal Archives take decisive steps to promote a more critical understanding and reinterpretation of the historical images. At a time when coming to terms with the colonial past always triggers further discussions, it shows how digital technologies such as AI can contribute to the development and understanding of complex historical contexts.

Michael Hollmann, President of the Federal Archives, emphasizes the new opportunities that key digital technologies can open up for research and education. Minister of State Claudia Roth emphasizes the urgency of dealing with German colonial history in order to draw lessons for the present. Overall, these initiatives are significant steps towards a comprehensive examination and critical discourse about Germany's colonial past.

University of Marburg reports that...
Collections UB Frankfurt informs that...
Federal Archives declares that...