Scientific Partnership with Ethiopia

Thanks to the generous funding of the German-Ethiopian Scholarship Initiative (ResScholarGE) by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, four Ethiopian doctoral students are also working at the Research Centre for Transcultural Studies: Samuel Kidane Haile (Mekelle University) is conducting research here on his dissertation project "Historical Sources, Oral Traditions and Interpretations on the Period of Ras Sihul Mikael 1692-1780", while Zegeye Woldemariam Ambo (Mekelle University/ Bonga Teacher's College) is continuing work on his dissertation on "The Kingdom of Kafa: An Ecological and Political Ethnohistory from the late 14th to the early 20th centuries". In autumn 2022, Fesseha Berge Gebregergis (Mekelle University) also returned to Gotha to complete his ethnohistorical dissertation on the "Dobᶜa of Ethiopia". All three are former scholarship holders of the Gotha Herzog Ernst Scholarship Programme. With the support of the Gerda Henkel Foundation, Bereket Hasen Beddecha (Mekelle University) is also associated with the Research Training Group as a visiting scholar. His dissertation on "Political Communication Strategy and Diplomacy: The Ethiopian war and the country's communication and diplomatic crisis" is anchored in the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Erfurt in the field of media and communication studies.

In autumn 2022, we had two conferences on our programme: Firstly, at the end of September, the conference "Africa and the Global Cold War III" took place in Erfurt at the end of September. Research Centre for Transcultural Studies organised the the first annual conference of the German-Ethiopian Scholarship Initiative to which we invited the other fellows already studying and researching in Europe, including those working in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Mainz, Munich, Paris and Würzburg, to a networking meeting in Gotha. The German-Ethiopian Fellowship Initiative is the brainchild of former Duke Ernst Scholarship holder Wolbert Smidt (Friedrich Schiller University Jena/ Mekelle University): the programme aims to support young early-stage researchers and research assistants who are involved in existing German-Ethiopian cooperation projects with their work. Thanks to the generous support of the Gerda Henkel Foundation, thirteen early-stage researchers from the University of Mekelle are currently receiving a scholarship to continue their ongoing academic work at European universities. At the annual conference organised by the Forschungskolleg Transkulturelle Studien, the scholarship holders gave a comprehensive insight into their historical, anthropological, geographical and artistic work.

^{Pictures: Reception at the Forschungskolleg; Group picture Annual Conference of the German-Ethiopian Scholarship Initiative © Dr Alula Tesfay}

Unfortunately, concerns about the armed conflict in Ethiopia also accompanied our cooperative activities with our Ethiopian partners at the beginning of 2021. During this time, it was encouraging that, despite the adverse circumstances, Samuel Kidane Haile, a doctoral candidate from Mekelle University, was able to begin a research stay as a Herzog-Ernst Fellow at the newly founded Centre for Transcultural Studies in June. There, he is conducting research on his project "Bambilo Milash, Alawha Milash and Marab Milash in the Setting of Ethiopian History: A Geohistory of Northern Ethiopia in the 18th and 19th Centuries" as part of a larger doctoral project with holdings from the Gotha Perthes Collection. At the same time, Aychegrew Hadera Hailu arrived in Gotha, who is working as a Herzog-Ernst Fellow on the topic of "A History of the Qemant". Aychegrew Hadera Hailu was Assistant Professor at Mekelle University until 2019 and played a key role in our cooperation activities there. He now works at Bahir Dar University, so his visit will also contribute to the expansion of our recently initiated cooperation with this university.

_{Images: Welcoming the 2021 Duke Ernst scholarship holders © Claudia Berger}

In view of the ongoing difficult situation, we are also grateful for the Gerda Henkel Foundation's commitment in November 2021 to support our collaboration with Mekelle University as part of its Patrimonies focus. This support will enable us to expand our scholarship programme and continue our joint research activities on the Gotha Perthes Collection's holdings. This in turn creates new opportunities for our academic partners, who have suffered greatly from the severe damage to academic infrastructure and the restrictions on academic life in the crisis region over the past year.

The follow-up conference "Africa and the Global Cold War II" took place in Mekelle in March 2019. In addition to the Department of History and Heritage Management, the Department of Political Science and Strategic Studies at Mekelle University was also involved in the programme for the first time. With the aim of opening up new perspectives for interdisciplinary research on the Cold War in Africa, the thematic focus of this conference was on the changes and continuities in African relations with external actors. Following the conference, future co-operation activities were discussed with members of Mekelle University. In addition, a study trip provided the opportunity to establish contacts with the University of Bahir Dar.

_{Pictures: Iris Schröder on the Adi-Haqi Campus of Mekelle University © Ned Richardson-Little / Lecture by Solomon Abraha on "Reckoning with the Post-Cold War, the End of Liberal Internationalism, the Era of Strongman and the Horn of Africa: Changes, Continuities and Context", Theatre Hall, Adi-Haqi Campus © Paul Sprute / Adi-Haqi Campus, Mekelle University © Franziska Rantzsch / Aychegrew Hadera speaks at the conference on "Development Interventions in the Kobo-Alamata Valley: 1960s-2017", Theatre Hall, Adi-Haqi Campus © Franziska Rantzsch / Participants of the conference "Africa and the Global Cold War II" in front of the Theatre Hall, Adi-Haqi Campus © Paul Skäbe / Main Campus of Bahir Dar University © Ned Richardson-Little}

In summer 2019, the international exhibition "The Ethiopia of Mapmakers", organised by Gotha collections and research institutions, was shown in Addis Ababa and met with great interest. The exhibition was organised by the ETHIOMAP research project, which is based at the Gotha Research Centre of the University of Erfurt, the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris and Mekelle University in Ethiopia, with the support of the Gotha Research Library. The next stops for the exhibition have already been decided: after Addis Ababa, it will be shown at the Alliance éthio-française in the Ethiopian city of Dire Dawa and then at several Ethiopian universities.

^{Pictures: Map exhibition in Addis Ababa © Wolbert Smidt}

In November/December 2019, Felix Schürmann was a guest lecturer at the University of Bahir Dar at the invitation of the Department of History and Heritage Management. In addition to leading a methodology workshop for doctoral students, he gave a lecture on the significance of natural politics for the history of decolonisation in Africa. Felix Schürmann also visited the Martyrs Memorial Monument Museum Bahir Dar and recorded his impressions for us in a review.

_{Pictures: Bahir Dar © Felix Schürmann}

In July, the conference "Africa and the Global Cold War" marked the official start of closer cooperation in research into the international history of the Horn of Africa. Aychegrew Hadera Hailu, Assistant Professor at the Department of History and Heritage Management, represented Mekelle University as conference chair. The workshop once again served to identify open research desiderata and develop further questions. In the subsequent working discussions, the participants from the two partner universities agreed on key points for future cooperation in this field.

The agreements also relate to the research project "Annexations and Secessions in the Age of the Global Cold War" by Christian Methfessel, funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and starting in October 2018. The conceptualisation of the project already benefited from the exchange with the Ethiopian colleagues, and there are plans to closely interlink it with the joint activities on Cold War research in Africa in the future.

_{Pictures: Lecture by Aychegrew Hadera Hailu / Lecture by Iris Schröder / Closing remarks by Achim von Oppen © Philipp Metzler}

The University of Mekelle hosted the 20th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies at the beginning of October this year. At a panel on "Cartographies and Itineraries" organised by Wolbert Smidt and Eloi Fiquet, Iris Schröder presented research on Gotha cartography. Following the conference, this year's annual workshop of the Ethiomap project took place in Wukro.

_{Pictures: 20th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies in Mekelle / Landscape around Wukro / Wukro / Fesseha Berhe Gebregergis and Wolbert Smidt / View from the Axum Hotel in Mekelle / Iris Schröder with employees of Mekelle University © Iris Schröder}

In spring 2015, Iris Schröder travelled to Mekelle to sign a Memorandum of Understanding. This official cooperation agreement, which was concluded between Mekelle University and the University of Erfurt, was intended to provide a framework for further activities. In addition to joint research activities on the history of cartography, the participants also agreed on an exchange of teaching staff.

It all began with the extraordinary holdings on Ethiopian cartography – a hitherto largely unknown part of the Gotha Perthes Collection – which brought Wolbert Smidt, Associate Professor in Mekelle, to Gotha in 2014 as a Duke Ernest Scholarship holder. In collaboration with Wolbert Smidt, the extraordinary potential of the Gotha collections quickly became clear, as the Gotha Perthes Collection offers a wealth of previously little-known sources for research into the history of the Horn of Africa. Accordingly, the idea of a broader research co-operation soon emerged.