Hi, I'm planning on collecting information on the cold war. Since there are loads of different books I hope you could recommend me two books which explain the following questions: Role of Germany in the cold war The cold war in europe in general Also It would be great if the books are available in german. Thanks for any help!
For the general history of Europe, I would recommend William Hitchcock's survey The Struggle for Europe which covers both sides of the Iron Curtain and contextualizes Cold War events as well as European developments tangential to the Cold War. Unfortunately, my perusal of Amazon.de does not show that it has been translated.
The role of Germany in the Cold War is a gigantic one with numerous monographs exploring facets of the Cold War. In my experience, I have found that anthologies written by specialists are the best way to get a good grounding for fields that are quite crowded. Amerikanisierung und Sowjetisierung in Deutschland 1945-1970 edited by Konrad Jarausch and Hannes Siegrist looks at both German states' reactions to their respective Cod War sponsors. It's a very broad anthology covering cultural and political issues that should provide further suggestions in building your library on the Cold War.
Postwar by Tony Judt is a very detailed look at Europe following World War II and covers most of what you're looking for. Not sure if it's available in German though.
An important author is Geir Lundestad. His The United States and Europe since 1945 is worth reading.
An interesting book on the topic is "#Havana62: To the Brink of Nuclear War (Hashtag Histories)" by Philip Gibson.
Definitely not written in a standard format, but gives a good overview of the events and is probably easier to digest than standard history books. May want to give that a peek as other great works are already been mentioned by others.