The task of the Research Centre is to select the edition of the manuscript estate of the important explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769 - 1859), the complete edition of his dependent publications, and the historical analysis of the scientific heritage. Extensive collections of copies of letters from and to Humboldt as well as of his travel diaries have been created for this purpose. These and…
The Berliner Klassik project will examine whether an interdisciplinary reconstruction of Berlin's unusual cultural heyday between 1786 and 1815 can provide an alternative to the Weimar-Jenaic Classicism. To this end, known and less known works and events of this epoch will be related to their internal and external correspondence and oppositions, their socio-cultural prerequisites and their…
Medieval and early modern inscriptions crafted before 1650, in Latin and German language, situated in German-speaking areas are at the heart of this project. Inscriptions are significant and unique historical sources because they are often preserved in an authentic state and in their original setting. For the premodern era, script which was affixed to stone, wood, metal, glass as well as textiles…
The research and edition project on the Fruitbearing Society (1617-1680; 890 members) is dedicated to an organisation that, as a comprehensive German Academy of the 17th century, was linked to a variety of linguistic, literary, scholarly, and (educational) political ambitions. Their work is inherent in national and European perspectives, which remained productive until the Enlightenment.
The aim of the project is to produce a critical, annotated edition of the scientific writings of the Göttingen physicist and philosopher Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 - 1799). Lichtenberg was one of the most respected experimental physicists of his time and was also active in many other scientific disciplines. His writings are highly significant testimonies and sources for the history of the…
Based on a contractual agreement, the historical-critical Hegel edition of the Academy will be produced in the Hegel Archive, an institution of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. The edition has three sections: the first section has been the subject of the work of the last three decades. Eighteen of the twenty-two volumes planned for the first section, containing Hegel's publications and manuscripts,…
For the critical edition of the Greek prose writings by the Byzantine theologian John of Damascus (700- ca. 750) the authentic works and the works attributed to him are edited, including the Barlaam novel, which is traditionally written under his name and was completed in 2008. The work is coordinated by the Patristic Commission of the German Academies of Sciences, whose aim is to produce critical…
The life, work and character of the archaeologist and scholar Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768), who was born in Stendal and worked in Rome as of 1755, repeatedly offered cause for engagement and critical confrontation for archaeologists, art historians and literary scholars in the past. A scientific edition of the works of Winckelmann hasn’t existed until now. With financial support of the…
The edition includes all letters to Jean Paul (Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, 1763-1825), one of the most successful writers of the Goethe era, that have been handed down. The historical- critical edition of Jean Paul's works and letters, started by Eduard Berend in the twenties on behalf of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, is thus supplemented by the fourth section. The Letters from Jean Paul…
The project “Johann Friedrich Blumenbach –Online” (www.blumenbach-online.de) aims at making the rise of German science within the European context visible, and at supplying a missing part in accessible primary source material on the cultural history of the time: the publications of Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. This is particularly significant with regard to an essential aspect of this period: the…
Documentary handbook on the tradition of ancient and medieval literature in the early modern period. A bibliographical and at the same time documentary repertory is being compiled, which covers the entire field of the literary reception history of antiquity and the Middle Ages for the period between 1500 and 1630, including later reprints (up to the 19th century). In accordance with the…
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…
With the systematic publication of the library catalogues, which were written in Germany and Switzerland until about 1500, the project contributes to the recording of the intellectual heritage of the Middle Ages and to its accessibility for research.
As part of a new project, the BBAW has been devoting itself since January 2004 to "Prussia as a Cultural State" and thus to the ambiguous image of Prussia in history. The range of interpretations extends from the militarily organized authoritarian state to the tolerant enlightenment state to the multi-ethnic integration state. The BBAW's approach to Prussian history not only corresponds to its…
The Encyclopaedia for the Antiquity and Christianity (RAC) is a fundamental instrument for researching Late Antiquity. In interdisciplinary investigations, the “examination of Christianity with Antiquity” is investigated, which means the multifaceted examination process of Christian, Jewish, as well as pagan Antiquity and the accompanying transformations into late antique culture up to the 7th…
The index is intended to document the "discourse" of the Enlightenment era, which encompassed and changed all sciences and deeply and momentously affected the public consciousness. This discourse took place primarily in the medium of journals, and there especially in the form of reviews and counter-reviews. Usually more widely distributed and more easily accessible than the reviewed works, these…
The numerous philosophical, theological and homiletic writings of the Saxon pastor Valentin Weigel (1533-1588) circulated initially in handwriting and were - to some extent - only printed at the beginning and end of the 17th century. On the basis of Lutheran-reformational piety, they combine, among other things, neoplatonic and medieval mystical influences with ideas of Renaissance humanism,…