Current Projects

Research Data Infracstructure for Historical Sources (Tinghui Duan, M.A.)

The HisQu project is dedicated to developing a digital research data infrastructure for historical sources. Its focus is on the methodological advancement of digital analysis processes, which are increasingly being used in the historical sciences and humanities. The aim is to establish tools and standards that provide digital support for the entire research process – from the preparation of sources to evaluation and documentation – and make it reproducible. The project is jointly supported by Friedrich Schiller University, the MEPHisto working group – Models, Explanations and Processes in the Historical Sciences (Prof. Dr. Clemens Beckstein, Apl. Prof. Dr Robert Gramsch-Stehfest), the Lower Saxony Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Germania Sacra (Prof. Dr Hedwig Röckelein), the German Historical Institute in Rome, Repertorium Germanicum (Prof. Dr Martin Baumeister) and the Gotha Research Centre of the University of Erfurt, FactGrid (Prof. Dr Martin Mulsow). The project is funded by the DFG.

About the project

The aim of the project is to catalogue the natural law teachings of Heinrich Cocceji (1644-1719) and his son, editor and continuator Samuel (1679-1755).

To the project page

The project idea consists of the digital edition of the personal correspondence between Hereditary Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (1786-1859) and her mother, Empress Dowager Maria Fedorovna. This correspondence, which is kept in the Weimar Main State Archives, provides unique insights into Weimar relations during Goethe's time and the international significance of the Weimar court after the reorganisation of Europe following the Congress of Vienna.

To the project page

The aim of the proposed research project is to systematically reconstruct and analyse the "Bibliotheca Anglicana" within the entire collection for the first time and to make its contextual relevance visible. Particular attention will be paid to the materiality of the "English" books. 

At the end of the funding period, the results will not only be presented in a monograph (printed), but the "Bibliotheca Anglicana" will also be prepared for the public (digitally, using the library reconstruction tool LibReTo). Both results offer valuable opportunities for follow-up projects in the early modern period.

The project, led by Gabriele Ball, is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for three years (1 November 2023-30 October 2026).

To the project page

This project examines the intertwined practices of producing and publishing botanical knowledge that characterised the networked knowledge culture of early modern botany. The focus is on text-based practices, which have long received little attention in research due to a persistent fascination with scientific objects. Specific forms of production and circulation of botanical texts created a publication system that was used by the botanical community and at the same time constituted it.

To the project page

The FZG is involved in the Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio CRC TRR 294 "Structural Change of Property", which was established in 2021, with a subproject on "Property and Habit. On the Political Anthropology of Property in Western Modernity".

To the project page

If you read about Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg, you can recognise this: The narrative of the enlightened prince, characterised by Masonic ideas, who devoted himself more intensively to his passion for science and the Arts than to politics, has remained powerful to this day. In historical research, this prince of the late 18th century has so far been considered primarily in terms of his regional sphere of influence; his activities have often been analysed in isolation. As the ruler of a small Central German principality, he presented himself as a patron of the arts - as was customary for the Ernestine family - and sought to enhance his reputation through close links with scholars and artists. Through his participation in central political and social movements, he combined the most diverse aspects of Enlightenment behaviour. As a high-ranking member of two important secret societies, the Freemasons and the Illuminati, Ernst was regarded as an influential, prominent figure in the arcane world of the late 18th century. With their political objectives, the Illuminati differed clearly from Freemasonry and were thus fundamentally opposed to the princely self-image. Ernst's activity in this secret society positioned him as a ruling duke between contradictory poles.

This tension is at the centre of the emerging research work and refers to the central period of investigation from around 1783 to 1787. On the basis of his correspondence, the study examines the prince's actions in these divergent areas of life of government and secret society activities and their possible mutual influences. With its focus on the practice of letter-writing, the work ties in with research on self-testimonies and, with its biographical approach, with research on societies. With this new perspective on his extensive correspondence, the project aims to contribute to new findings in Thuringian nobility and société research.

To the profile page of Dr. des. Marie Nosper