| Gotha Research Centre

Lecture and conference programme of the research centre starts

A rich and varied scientific programme of guest lectures by renowned scientists as well as workshops and conferences will be held at the Gotha Research Centre (FZG) during the summer semester.

The FZG's lecture and conference programme will kick off on 23 April 2026 with a lecture by Bielefeld historian Jan Siegemund on uncertain news in the European periphery around 1700. Further guest lectures will be given by the Berlin cultural historian Philipp Felsch on 7 May, the historian Till van Rahden (Montréal) on 21 May and the literary scholar Hendrikje Schauer (Jena) on 9 July. On 28 May, Jens-Christian Wagner (Jena/Weimar) will speak as part of the Jena project Geschichte statt Mythen" ("History instead of myths")  on the still uncritically revered 'Heimat poet' Herman Löns. The new Friedenstein Fellow at the University of Erfurt, Hiram Kümper, will give a lecture on 4 June entitled "Welchen Preis hat Happiness? Zum prekären Bündnis von Freiheit und Eigentum in der Entwicklung der jungen USA".

The FZG will also be hosting workshops organised by the Alchemy Network and the Illuminati Research Centre, the latter of which is being held this year to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Illuminati Order. The highlight of the semester will be the alumni meeting of the Gotha scholarship programmes entitled "Being Social, Doing Knowledge, Connecting For and Wide" in June, which will also see Martin Mulsow bid farewell to his former director, who will be organising a summer school on food history at the FZG in August.

To mark the 200th anniversary of the double duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a conference on divorced women in the high nobility between 1600 and 1850 will take place from 28 to 30 September, focusing on the social and legal situation of outcast and exiled wives.

All events are open to the public and will take place in the lecture hall of the FZG at Schloßberg 2.

Download Summer Programme 2026

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