Otium et negotium. Reading processes and their cultural backgrounds in early Italian and German humanism

Reading and reading habits have radically changed in the digital age. Readers are no longer physically bound to textual objects and libraries, they deal with texts by copying, altering, and annotating them, and they mix established textual forms with other semiotic systems such as pictograms, icons and images. These circumstances also provoke a renewed research interest in the history of reading. In this talk, I will concentrate on reading processes as to how they were enacted and practised in early Italian and German humanism. I will start with some paradigmatic scenes described in Petrarch’s letters (among others the famous visit of the Mont Ventoux, where Petrarch, after having enjoyed a spectacular panorama, withdraws into the contemplative reading of St-Augustine). The transmission of Petrarch’s writings in humanist circles of Southern Germany (e.g. with the Schedel and Gossembrot families in Nurnberg, Augsburg and Strasburg) will then lead to specific reading practices documented in manuscripts that once belonged to coherent libraries and are nowadays spread all over Europe. In the case of the former tradesman and mayor Sigismund Gossembrot, complex habits of textual annotating and cross-referencing can be observed. The dichotomy of the Latin terms otium (‘rest’ and ‘leisure’) and negotium (‘activity’, but also ‘practice’, ‘negotiation’, ‘circulation of social energy’ in the sense of New Historicism) will be used as an ideal-type outline to describe the occurring processes of reading.

Otium et negotium. Reading processes and their cultural backgrounds in early Italian and German humanism

Reading and reading habits have radically changed in the digital age. Readers are no longer physically bound to textual objects and libraries, they deal with texts by copying, altering, and annotating them, and they mix established textual forms with other semiotic systems such as pictograms, icons and images. These circumstances also provoke a renewed research interest in the history of reading. In this talk, I will concentrate on reading processes as to how they were enacted and practised in early Italian and German humanism. I will start with some paradigmatic scenes described in Petrarch’s letters (among others the famous visit of the Mont Ventoux, where Petrarch, after having enjoyed a spectacular panorama, withdraws into the contemplative reading of St-Augustine). The transmission of Petrarch’s writings in humanist circles of Southern Germany (e.g. with the Schedel and Gossembrot families in Nurnberg, Augsburg and Strasburg) will then lead to specific reading practices documented in manuscripts that once belonged to coherent libraries and are nowadays spread all over Europe. In the case of the former tradesman and mayor Sigismund Gossembrot, complex habits of textual annotating and cross-referencing can be observed. The dichotomy of the Latin terms otium (‘rest’ and ‘leisure’) and negotium (‘activity’, but also ‘practice’, ‘negotiation’, ‘circulation of social energy’ in the sense of New Historicism) will be used as an ideal-type outline to describe the occurring processes of reading.

How gender fair are German schoolbooks in the twenty-first century? An analysis of language and illustrations in schoolbooks for mathematics and German

Schoolbooks convey not only school-relevant knowledge; they also influence the development of stereotypes about different social groups. Particularly during the 1970s and 1980s, many studies analysed schoolbooks and criticised the overall predominance of male persons and of traditional role allocations. Since that time, women’s and men’s occupations and social functions have changed considerably. The present research investigated gender portrayals in schoolbooks for German and mathematics that were recently published in Germany. We examined the proportions of female and male persons in pictures and texts and categorized their activities, occupational and parental roles. Going beyond previous studies, we added two criteria: the use of gender-fair language and the spatial arrangements of persons in pictures. Our results show that schoolbooks for German contained almost balanced depictions of girls and boys, whereas women were less frequently shown than men. In mathematics books, males outnumbered females in general. Across both types of books, female and male persons were engaged in many different activities, not only gendertyped ones; however, male persons were more often described via their profession than females. Use of gender-fair language has found its way into schoolbooks but is not used consistently. Books for German were more gender fair in terms of linguistic forms than books for mathematics. For spatial arrangements, we found no indication for gender biases. The results are discussed with a focus on how schoolbooks can be optimized to contribute to gender equality.

How Teresa and Maria Margaretha migrated to Nordstrand: Translation of Relics and Transformation of a German Island into a Catholic Dutch enclave in the 17th century

When on 26 May 1662 the founding first stone was laid for a new church on the island Nordstrand at the coast of Schleswig, relics of Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) and of the Dutch Carmelite abbess Maria Margaretha ab Angelis (1605-1658) were inserted. This church was built for Dutch dyke builders who were called to reconstruct the island after its destruction by flood in 1634; coming from a Catholic background and from the Dutch Republic which was at war with Spain at that time, the dyke builders and their families were guaranteed religious freedom in the Lutheran duchy of Holstein. In this paper, the reasons for the choice for the Spanish mystic Teresa of Avila and for the Dutch Carmelite abbess Maria Margaretha are discussed. The latter patroness was never beatified but had died in the smell of holiness; after her death several miracles were ascribed to her. It is understandable that migrants brought relics of their appreciated holy persons who would remind them of their homeland. The paper will first shortly introduce the two patronesses of the church. In the second part, the reasons for this choice will be discussed. Behind this translation of relics not only spiritual reasons played a role. The function of the translation of the saints was first to keep up geographical and political connections with the old country (both Spain and the Netherlands), secondly to perpetuate personal-familial relationships (esp. with Maria Margaretha), thirdly to strengthen the confessional identity in a non-Catholic environment. Fourthly the transfer brought a certain model of Christian life and reform to the new place of living, which in the second part of the 17th century became marked as “Jansenist”. The paper shows the transformation of the island into an enclave of Dutch Catholic culture.

Shulamit an Ancient Love-Drama. Known as the "Song of Songs," and attributed to Solomon, King of Israel

Gershon Katz

Na 1 Nachlass Max Horkheimer, 693 - "German Economy, Politics and Culture, 1900-1933" (p. IX 168 1.a)-d))

"German Economy, Politics and Culture, 1900-1933. A Research Project of the International Institute of Social Research" (1940):; 1. Umriß des Forschungsprojekts, a) Fassung vom 29.7.1940, Typoskript, 55 Blatt, b)-d) Fassung vom 6.6.1940: b) Typoskript, 55 Blatt, c) Typoskript mit handschriftlichen Korrekturen, 60 Blatt, d) Typoskript, 60 Blatt;

Fatty acids and intact polar lipids of laminated microbial sediments from St. Peter Ording, German Wadden Sea

Hidden for the untrained eye through a thin layer of sand, laminated microbial sediments occur in supratidal beaches along the North Sea coast. The inhabiting microbial communities organize themselves in response to vertical gradients of light, oxygen or sulfur compounds. We performed a fine-scale investigation on the vertical zonation of the microbial communities using a lipid biomarker approach, and assessed the biogeochemical processes using a combination of microsensor measurements and a 13C-labeling experiment. Lipid biomarker fingerprinting showed the overarching importance of cyanobacteria and diatoms in these systems, and heterocyst glycolipids revealed the presence of diazotrophic cyanobacteria even in 9 to 20 mm depth. High abundance of ornithine lipids (OL) throughout the system may derive from sulfate reducing bacteria, while a characteristic OL profile between 5 and 8 mm may indicate presence of purple non-sulfur bacteria. The fate of 13C-labeled bicarbonate was followed by experimentally investigating the uptake into microbial lipids, revealing an overarching importance of cyanobacteria for carbon fixation. However, in deeper layers, uptake into purple sulfur bacteria was evident, and a close microbial coupling could be shown by uptake of label into lipids of sulfate reducing bacteria in the deepest layer. Microsensor measurements in sediment cores collected at a later time point revealed the same general pattern as the biomarker analysis and the labeling experiments. Oxygen and pH-microsensor profiles showed active photosynthesis in the top layer. The sulfide that diffuses from deeper down and decreases just below the layer of active oxygenic photosynthesis indicates the presence of sulfur bacteria, like anoxygenic phototrophs that use sulfide instead of water for photosynthesis.

Elements of the reception of aristotelian thought in 19th century german-language philosophy and economics

La cuestión de la interpretación de Aristóteles por parte de la Academia alemana del siglo XIX es de interés tanto para filósofos como para economistas. Esto se debe a que el pensamiento clásico constituyó una cuestión de discusión e inspiración para el Idealismo, el Hegelianismo, el Historicismo y los economistas históricos alemanes (comenzando por Roscher) y su oponente austríaco, Carl Menger, fundador de la Escuela Austríaca de Economía. De este modo la filosofía antigua permaneció vigente. Al evaluar esta recepción, en este trabajo se muestra que el debate sobre entidades colectivas versus individualidad encuentra allí una base, y el individualismo metodológico, una justificación. Esto resulta útil aún hoy en el siglo veintiuno, en que presenciamos una crisis de la corriente principal de la economía.

Pedology, geochronology, palynology and macrofossils of soil profiles in the Altdarss area, german Baltic Sea coast

A new site with Lateglacial palaeosols covered by 0.8 - 2.4 m thick aeolian sands is presented. The buried soils were subjected to multidisciplinary analyses (pedology, micromorphology, geochronology, dendrology, palynology, macrofossils). The buried soil cover comprises a catena from relatively dry ('Nano'-Podzol, Arenosol) via moist (Histic Gleysol, Gleysol) to wet conditions (Histosol). Dry soils are similar to the so-called Usselo soil, as described from sites in NW Europe and central Poland. The buried soil surface covers ca. 3.4 km**2. Pollen analyses date this surface into the late Aller0d. Due to a possible contamination by younger carbon, radiocarbon dates are too young. OSL dates indicate that the covering by aeolian sands most probably occurred during the Younger Dryas. Botanical analyses enables the reconstruction of a vegetation pattern typical for the late Allerod. Large wooden remains of pine and birch were recorded.