In the Middle Ages, Old Occitan (formerly “Old Provençal”) was a literary and cultural language, the influence of which extended far beyond the frontiers of Southern France. It was also the language of the troubadours, whose songs had a decisive impact on the love poetry of the European literatures during the Middle Ages.
The only comprehensive portrayal of the Old Occitan vocabulary to have…
For some years now, research has turned increasingly to the history of the European monarchy. Only recently, the theory of a continuous decline of the monarchy since the French Revolution of 1789 was fundamentally challenged. The monarchies had been a historical phenomenon of previously underestimated flexibility and efficiency, which was able to assert itself in the age of constitutionalism and…
The systematic research into the Ethiopian manuscript culture is the aim of the long-term project “Die Schriftkultur des christlichen Äthiopiens und Eritreas: Eine multimediale Forschungsumgebung” (“Beta maṣāḥǝft: Manuscripts of Ethiopia and Eritrea”). Ethiopia and Eritrea are situated, from the perspective of cultural history, both at the periphery of the so-called Christian Orient and in the…
With its scope and diverse subject matter, Arabic literature is one of the richest in the world. Beginning in the 7th century CE, it blossomed within a civilization characterized by a vast network of cultural traditions and ties that were shaped by Islam. Like the Akkadian and Chinese literatures, Arabic literature is an ancient and erudite archive of knowledge. Until well into the 19th century,…
Martin Buber (1878–1965) is arguably the most significant and still internationally influential thinker of the modern German-Jewish cultural and intellectual world, »alongside Einstein and Freud [...] one of the best-known Jews of the twentieth century«. In addition to Buber's writings in his diverse spheres of activity, it is in particular the correspondence (approx. 40,000 letters) with almost…
The new Weber Complete Edition is based on the current status of musicological editing processes, with a clear focus on the historical aspect in addition to the critical aspect. It presents all of Weber’s musical works, including the piano excerpts from his own and foreign works as well as his arrangements of his own and foreign works, taking into account all available sources. Fragmentary…
For the first time, the research and edition project “Controversia et Confessio” systematically reappraises the theological controversies triggered by the Augsburg Interim and the Leipzig Alternative Draft of 1548, which could only be largely resolved by the large-scale theological unification of the Conoria Formula and the Konkordienbuch 1577/80. In these disputes, an early modern “culture of…
Ceiling and mural paintings are constitutive elements in the design of baroque interiors. Unlike all other forms of pictorial art, these truly three-dimensional artistic media define early modern architecture literally from above, through colourful and complex iconographic programmes: in ecclesiastical as well as secular environments, in residential palaces and ceremonial halls, churches and…
Roman stone architecture represents a unique treasure of cultural heritage that gives evidence of early forms of sustainable urbanity in Germany. However, most of it has survived as dislocated building elements (disiecta membra), whose existence so far has hardly been known, let alone published. The academy project therefore serves to index, link and evaluate this corpus of material (approx.…
The project “Epigraphische Datenbank Heidelberg” (i.e. “Epigraphic Database Heidelberg”, or EDH for short) was established in 1986 with a duration of five years under the auspices of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Program, and further funded from 1991 onwards by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation. Since 1993, it has been a research project at the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences with a duration until 2020.…
The aim of the long-term project is the systematic reconstruction and editing of Early Medieval certificates and letters (Formulae) as well as research into formulaic writing in Western Europe before the 11th century. It is rooted at the interface of history, Latin philology and legal history and examines sources which are of great importance for the study of Early Medieval society. The Formulae…
The task of the project “Germania Sacra” is to gain access and to publish the diverse and comprehensive written sources, which give evidence of the history of the Church of the Holy Roman Empire and its institutions. For this purpose, the source material of archives and libraries is published in the form of reference books. The reference books provide an extensive description of the dioceses,…
Hans Kelsen (1881-1973), a scientist of Jewish origin born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and driven out of Germany by the Nazis in 1933, who found his new home in exile in the USA, is still one of the most debated legal theorists on a global scale more than 40 years after his death. He is one of the very few jurists who have gained worldwide recognition outside their German-speaking circle and…
"Klöster im Hochmittelalter" combines basic research with new perspectives from cultural studies. The project analyses the monastic world of the Middle Ages as a pioneer of modernity.
Between the 11th and 13th century, monasteries and religious communities played a major role in shaping ideas of community and individualization in Medieval Europe. With their convents, orders and personnel they…
By means of the present project, an important contribution to Greek philology is realised, and a large step towards filling a current lacuna in the understanding of literature from Classical Antiquity (and thereby the history of education) undertaken.
Large swathes of Greek literature, in particular that of the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, are not attested in fully preserved…
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) is said to be the last polymath. This is reflected by his diverse and mostly unpublished work. Until today, there is no complete edition which forced researchers to rely on deficient partial editions from the 19th century. The project aims at a complete edition of G. W. Leibniz’ writings and of his letters. The handwritten literary remains are to a large…
The task and goal of the Melanchthon-Forschungsstelle; is to complete a comprehensive text-critical and annotated edition of Philipp Melanchthon’s correspondence, comprising approximately 9,750 letters. By rendering these sources accessible in the form of an edition, the Melanchthon-Forschungsstelle is making a fundamental contribution to the research of early modern German and European history.…
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) numbers among the central and most influential philosophers of Western intellectual history. Indeed, his works are now considered to be generally fundamental to modern thought’s self-conception. His global influence upon philosophy, literature, anthropology, psychology, and criticism of religion and culture can hardly be underestimated.
Niklas Luhmann (1927-1998) is, apart from Max Weber, the most important German sociologist of the 20th century. His social theory and theory of society, continuously developed over a period of 30 years, is internationally outstanding. The extensive body of Luhmann’s literary estate, which the University of Bielefeld was able to acquire in 2010, sheds light on the author and the edifice of his…
Texts from the New Testament are preserved in their Greek original language in approx. 5500 manuscripts. It can be assumed that actually no copy is identical with another. Thus, the most important task of the text research of the New Testament is the reconstruction of the text form, which was the starting point for the transmission.
So far, the science had to use “Große Ausgaben” (big editions)…