Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Early Modern European History

Dissertation project: The Truth of Others: Testimony, Doubt, and Magic in Baroque Topography (ca. 1630–1720)

This dissertation project examines the epistemic function of witnessing in Baroque topographies of the 17th and early 18th centuries and explores its role in the formation of "truth offerings" in the Early Modern period. It focuses on large-scale knowledge compilations in which everyday accounts of experiences about regions of Europe, its natural phenomena, social practices, and local events were collected, evaluated, and hierarchized. Particular attention is paid to epistemically unstable zones of early modern knowledge-making, where natural observation and demonological explanation competed – such as in cases of weather anomalies, hauntings, or alleged witchcraft.

Teaching in Winter Term 2025/26

Übung: Zeugnis und Zeug*innenschaft in der Frühen Neuzeit (mehr)

Projekttutorium: Wahnsinn und Ordnung: Dimensionen frühneuzeitlicher ‚Geisteskrankheiten‘ (mehr)