The Koebner Center for German History was established in 1980 with the support of the MINERVA Gesellschaft für die Forschung of Germany in order to promote and enhance research in German and German-Jewish history. The center is located at the History Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel and named after the historian Richard Koebner, who was the leading figure in the establishment of the history department at the Hebrew University during the '30s and '40s.

Today the Koebner center is one of the main research centers on German history in Israel cooperating with major universities in Germany, Europe and around the world.

One of the center's aims is to encourage outstanding students to write M.A. and Ph.D. theses on German history, thus creating a reservoir in this field and filling the gap prevailing in this area since 1945.