Date: 26.03.2026 - 27.03.2026
Location: Gotha Research Centre
Organisation: Martin Mulsow, Gotha Research Centre/University of Erfurt; Isabel Heide, Research Training Group 2999 "Politics of the Enlightenment" at the Interdisciplinary Centre for the Study of the European Enlightenment (IZEA) at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU)
The period between 1770 and 1820 marks a phase of profound social, political and intellectual upheaval: the transition from the ancien régime characterised by the estates to bourgeois society, from the absolutist state to early liberalism, but also from Enlightenment rationalism to the Romantic search for meaning made this "saddle period" (Reinhart Koselleck) a hinge of modernity. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly clear in research that this period of upheaval was characterised not only by ruptures, but also by long continuities and complex transitions.
Particularly in the area of late Enlightenment networks, institutions and ideas, it is possible to recognise a continued impact beyond the caesura of the French Revolution of 1789. Biographical developments show how Enlightenment actors reacted to new political realities - be it through withdrawal, reorientation or the continuation of Enlightenment practice in a different form. The transformation processes from secret societies to political associations, from informal salons to organised societies or from religious-philosophical circles to editorial and journalistic platforms also raise new questions.
The aim of the conference is to analyse these transitions from an interdisciplinary perspective. We are interested in biographical trajectories, institutional reorganisations, ideational transformations and network dynamics that determined the afterlife of the Enlightenment between the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
We invite contributions that open up new perspectives on the Enlightenment and its after-effects, work in a methodologically innovative way or focus on actors, spaces and formats that have received little attention to date.
Contact:
26 March 2026
9:00 – 9:15 Einführung (Introduction)
I Wissenskulturen, Netzwerke und institutionelle Transformationen (Cultures of knowledge, networks and institutional transformations)
9:15 – 10.00
Prof. Dr. Martin Mulsow (Gotha/Erfurt): Naturwissenschaftliche Netzwerke als Hintergrund der Radikalaufklärung? Christian Ernst Wünsch, die Illuminaten und das 19. Jahrhundert (Scientific networks as a background to the Radical Enlightenment? Christian Ernst Wünsch, the Illuminati and the 19th century)
10.00 – 10.45
Prof. Dr. Hiram Kümper (Mannheim): Von der Akademie zum Press-Verein: das Nachleben aufklärerischer Milieus in der Kurpfalz (1770–1830) (From the Academy to the Press Association: the afterlife of Enlightenment milieus in the Electoral Palatinate [1770-1830])
10:45 – 11.15 Coffee break
11.15 – 12.00
Dr. habil. András Forgó (Pécs): Blütezeit und Niedergang? Ungarische Piaristen vor und nach der Französischen Revolution (Flourishing and decline? Hungarian Piarists before and after the French Revolution)
12.00 – 12.45
Karolina Belina, M. A. (Tübingen): Aus aufgeklärter Jugend – aufklärerische Staatsmänner? Beamte des Herzogtums Warschau (From enlightened youth - enlightened statesmen? Officials of the Duchy of Warsaw)
12.45 – 14.15 Lunch break
14.15 – 15.00
Robert Proske, M. A. (Jena): Gewaltbereite Geheimgesellschaften der deutschen Nationalbewegung im Kontinuum der Gegenaufklärung. 1780-1830 (Violent secret societies of the German national movement in the continuum of the Counter-Enlightenment. 1780-1830)
II Aufklärung, Religion und intellektueller Wandel (Enlightenment, religion and intellectual change)
15.00 – 15.45
Dr. Markus Meumann (Gotha/Erfurt): Das personifizierte Nachleben der Aufklärung: Adam Weishaupts ‚zweites Leben‘ in Gotha, 1787–1830 (The personified afterlife of the Enlightenment: Adam Weishaupt's 'second life' in Gotha, 1787-1830)
15.45 – 16.15 Coffee break
16.15 – 17.00
Isabel Heide, M. A. (Halle): Von der Zürcher Aufklärung zur Wiener Zensur: Johann Michael Armbruster und sein Verhältnis zum Illuminatenorden (From the Zurich Enlightenment to Viennese censorship: Johann Michael Armbruster and his relationship to the Illuminati Order)
17.00 – 17.45
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Burgdorf (München): Ein Geheimbund gegen Geheimbünde. Der Anti-Illuminaten-Orden des Johann Ludwig Klüber (A secret society against secret societies. The Anti-Illuminati Order of Johann Ludwig Klüber)
17.45 – 18.30
Book presentation „Aufklärung und Residenzstadt. Das intellektuelle Gotha um 1800“, hg. von Martin Mulsow und Dirk Sangmeister
27 March 2026
9.00 – 9.45
Prof. Dr. Arne Klawitter (Tokio): Vom Freigeist zum gläubigen Christen. Der Gesinnungswandel des Diplomaten, Philosophen und Orientalisten Heinrich Friedrich Diez (1751–1817) (From free spirit to devout Christian. The change of heart of the diplomat, philosopher and orientalist Heinrich Friedrich Diez [1751-1817])
9.45 – 10.30
Dr. Diethard Sawicki (Halle): „Juden, Heiden, Türken können nicht Maurer sein“ – Christliche Freimaurerei und Erweckungsbewegung im frühen 19. Jahrhundert (" Jews, pagans, Turks cannot be masons" - Christian freemasonry and the revivalist movement in the early 19th century)
10.30 – 11.00 Coffee break
III Öffentlichkeit, Geschlecht und Publizistik (Publicity, gender and journalism)
11.00 – 11.45
Prof. Dr. Theo Jung (Halle): Die Debatte im Salon: André Morellet und die Politisierung der Geselligkeit im postrevolutionären Paris (The debate in the salon: André Morellet and the politicisation of sociability in post-revolutionary Paris)
11.45 – 12.30
Dr. Adelheid Müller (Berlin): Aufklärerisches Orientierungswissen in enzyklopädischer Form – Elisa von der Reckes ‚Gedankenbuch‘ (Enlightenment orientation knowledge in encyclopaedic form - Elisa von der Recke's 'thought book')
12.30 – 14.00 Lunch break
14.00 – 14.45
PD Dr. Tobias Winnerling (Düsseldorf): Unbeirrtes Sich-Fortschreiben? Das Weiterleben der Gelehrtenlexika (Unwavering continuation of writing? The survival of scholarly encyclopaedias)
14.45 – 15.30
PD Dr. Demian Berger (Zürich): Zur Rolle polemischer Verfahren in der literarischen Öffentlichkeit zwischen Aufklärung und Moderne um 1815 (On the role of polemical procedures in the literary public sphere between the Enlightenment and modernity around 1815)
Date: Friday, 24 April 2026
Location: Lecture hall at the Gotha Research Centre, Schloßberg 2
Contact: Prof Dr Martin Mulsow, Dr Thomas Moenius
E-mail: forschungszentrum@uni-erfurt.de
Programme
Chair: Martin Mulsow
9.30 am - 9.45 am
Introduction
9.45 a.m. - 10.15 a.m.
Florian Ebeling (Munich): Die Alchemie als ägyptische Weisheit in der Freimaurerei des 18. Jh. (Alchemy as Egyptian wisdom in 18th century Freemasonry)
10.15 a.m. - 10.45 a.m.
Holger Zaunstöck (Halle): Der Medicus Malabaricus von 1712 – eine Quelle für die Alchemiegeschichte? (The Medicus Malabaricus of 1712 - a source for the history of alchemy?)
10.45 a.m. - 11.00 a.m.
Coffee Break
Chair: Thomas Moenius
11.00 a.m. - 11.30 a.m.
Volkhard Wels (Berlin): Alchemie und das literarische Spiel (Alchemy and the literary game)
11.30 a.m. - 12.00 p.m.
Kathrin Pfister (Heidelberg): Briefwechsel von Joachim Polemann (1624-?) (Correspondence of Joachim Polemann [1624-?])
12.00 p.m. - 2.00 p.m.
Lunch at the Augustinian Monastery
Chair: Rainer Werthmann
14.00 - 14.30
Alexander Kraft (Eichwalde): Wege zur Universaltinktur: Dorothea Juliana Wallich. Ihr Leben und ihre Werke (Paths to the universal tincture: Dorothea Juliana Wallich. Her life and her works)
2.30 p.m. - 3.00 p.m.
Nils Lenke (Rheinbach): Gertraud von Veltheim (1585-1622) – „verständige Matrone“ oder versteckte Alchemistin? (Gertraud von Veltheim (1585-1622) - "Wise matron" or hidden alchemist?)
3.00 p.m. - 3.30 p.m.
Coffee Break
Chair: Alexander Kraft
3.30 pm - 4.00 pm
Rainer Werthmann (Kassel): Baron von Schwarzstein – ein Sammler alchemischer Vorschriften für Herzog Friedrich I. von Sachsen-Gotha (Baron von Schwarzstein - a collector of alchemical prescriptions for Duke Friedrich I of Saxe-Gotha)
4.00 p.m. - 4.30 p.m.
Juergen Hollweg (Bayreuth): Netzwerkstrukturen frühneuzeitlicher Chemiker um 1600. Regionale Verteilung (Network structures of early modern chemists around 1600: regional distribution)
16.30 - 17.00
Conclusion