Third-Party Funded Projects and Research Initiatives

Petermann map of East Africa

Geography and Politics between North Africa and Europe. Ego-Documents as an Approach to a Relational History of Knowledge

The research project focuses on journeys from Europe to Northeast Africa before colonial land appropriation. It examines natural-scientific-geographical and political spatial knowledge based on selected texts produced during travels and explores different actors, forms, and contents of collaborative knowledge production, thereby investigating the genealogies of social and political spaces on-site. The project ... more

Image: © August Petermann, Draft of a map. East Africa between Chartúm & the Red Sea to Sauakin & Massua, 1:1,000,000, Gotha 1860/61, SPK 40.19.01 C (01), Perthes Collection of the Gotha Research Library

Mekelle-Erfurt Research Cooperation Initiative (MERCI)

Since January 2026, the Gerda Henkel Stiftung has been funding the two-year MERCI project (Mekelle–Erfurt Research Cooperation Initiative), which aims to resume and expand academic cooperation between the University of Erfurt and Mekelle University – particularly with the Department of History and Cultural Studies – following the war in Tigray (Ethiopia). Building on existing collaborations and the “Rescue Initiative (ReScholarGE)” … more

Picture: Statue on the Adi-Haqi Campus of Mekelle University © Peter Nadig

Perthes colonial: Mapping Africa, Latin America und Oceania as a business (1871-1945)

The Gotha Perthes Collection is a key resource for Thuringia’s colonial heritage, enabling historically nuanced research into colonial connections across their global, economic, and cultural dimensions. Using maps, the project conducts basic research on the varying forms of colonialism in Africa, Latin America, and Oceania... mehr