It was established in the fall of 1994 with the aim of publishing results of the institute's scholarship with the broader public in mind.
In its over 20-year history, the Hamburger Edition published monographs, essays, and books by more than five hundred authors, many of whom served as members of the Institute while others came from a range of related disciplines in the German-speaking world, and internationally.
They were monographs on nationalism and xenophobia, violence, Stalinism, and anti-Semitism.
Also in 1995, the Hamburger Edition published the catalogue (in a book form) for an exhibit "Crimes of the German Wehrmacht: Dimensions of a War of Annihilation, 1941-1944" (Verbrechen der Wehrmacht.
Dimensionen des Vernichtungskriegs 1941-1944),[1] organized by the institute.