6th symposium in the “Historical Judgement” series
Nature and German History
Faith – Biology – Power
12 July 2024
Deutsches Historisches Museum
Pei Building
The sixth symposium in the Historical Judgement series explores the concept and meaning of nature in German history at the intersection of faith, biology, and power. The symposium spans nine centuries. In three keynote addresses, Annette Kehnel, Jutta Nowosadtko, and Frank Uekötter will provide an overview of humanity’s changing relations with nature in the Middle Ages, the modern period, and the 19th and 20th centuries. Margot Fassler will discuss Hildegard of Bingen’s concept of viriditas (the greening power of creation) in the 12th century, Hiram Kümper will describe how nature served as a resource for the Hanseatic League, and Viktoria Urmersbach will examine 18th-century perceptions of the forest. Nils Franke will look at nature and ideology under National Socialism, Tilo Wesche will analyse the dialectic of human relations with nature in the work of Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, and Stephen Milder will shed light on the beginnings of the anti-nuclear movement in Germany. Finally, Astrid M. Eckert explains the national park programme of the late GDR.
Picture: © Laura J. Padgett
#HistoricalJudgement
The “Historical Judgement” event series is funded by Dr. Christiane and Dr. Nicolaus Weickart.
Participation
Participation is free
Conference Languages: German and English, Simultaneous translation
The symposium will be recorded and made available online later.
Programme
9.00 Registration
9.30 Introduction
The concept of nature in German history
Raphael Gross, Deutsches Historisches Museum
9.45 Keynote I
The commons economy in the Middle Ages
Annette Kehnel, University of Mannheim
Discussion
Moderator: Julia Voss, German Historical Museum Foundation
10.30 Keynote II
Nature in the early modern period
Jutta Nowosadtko, Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg
Discussion
Moderator: Julia Voss, German Historical Museum Foundation
11.15 Break
11.45 Keynote III
The nature of modernity
Frank Uekötter, Ruhr University Bochum
Discussion
Moderator: Birgit Aschmann, Humboldt University of Berlin
12.30 Conversation
Annette Kehnel, Jutta Nowosadtko and Frank Uekötter
Moderator: Birgit Aschmann, Humboldt University of Berlin
13.00 Lunch break
14.30 IMPULSE – Faith and Power
The Natural World in Hildegard von Bingen's Writings
Margot E. Fassler, University of Notre Dame (USA)
The Hanseatic League and Northern European Trade in Foodstuffs
Hiram Kümper, University of Mannheim
The Discovery of the Forest around 1800. From a Rational View of Sustainability to a Romantic Projection Screen
Viktoria Urmersbach, Ottensen District Archive Association History Workshop for Altona
Discussion
Moderator: Ulinka Rublack, Cambridge University (UK)
16.30 Break
17.00 IMPULSE – Biology and Power
Nature and Ideology in National Socialism
Nils Franke, Leipzig Scientific Office
The dialectic of natural conditions in Adorno and Horkheimer
Tilo Wesche, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg
The beginnings of the German anti-nuclear movement in Wyhl
Stephen Milder, University of Groningen and Rachel Carson Centre for Environment and Society
The National Park Programme of the Late GDR
Astrid M. Eckert, Emory University (USA)
Discussion
Moderator: Julia Voss, German Historical Museum Foundation
19.00 Closing remarks
Raphael Gross, Deutsches Historisches Museum