Established 1997 and supported by donations, Frank Freidel Memorial Library features about 15,000 books and periodicals with a topical focus on the New Deal.
In 2003, the Fulbright Commission endowed a newly created Distinguished Chair guest professorship, after the CHE research and education thinktank, part of Bertelsmann Foundation, had attested to the institute's quality.
The Picador Chair for Literature is the outcome of a series of events sponsored by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group in cooperation with DAAD.
For issues of American culture and politics, the institute is an important counterpart for regional and national media.
Research at the institute focusses on Ethnic groups, Gender, Immigration to the United States and Popular culture studies.