Religion and Urbanity: Reciprocal Formations Blog

Preisverleihung zum Schulwettbewerb „Stadt und Religion“

Kollegforschungsgruppe „Religion und Urbanität“ (FOR 2779) hat am 16. November 2023 die siegreichen Schülerinnen und Schüler der Klassen 9a und 9b der Staatlichen Regelschule Floh-Seligenthal und die betreuenden Lehrerinnen in einer Preisverleihung im neuen Forschungsbau auf dem Campus der Universität Erfurt geehrt. Das Preisgeld wurde großzügig von der Sparkassenstiftung Erfurt zur Verfügung gestellt und den SchülerInnen überreicht.

Jewish Heritage (11th City Walk)

At the beginning of the 2023/24 winter semester, we organised our eleventh city walk, which was dedicated to the topic of “Jewish Heritage”. The occasion was the recent designation of Erfurt’s Jewish-Medieval heritage as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 17 September 2023.

Royal Funerals and Saints’ Topography in Merovingian Paris

This case study focuses on the question of how Paris acquired metropolitan significance as early as the 6th and 7th centuries through the presence of rulers and important saints, although the city did not historically occupy a prominent position among the cities of Gaul and was hardly larger than an unfortified suburb of Rome or Constantinople in the Merovingian period. In these two centuries, a close topographical and symbolic connection of residence, royal burial and veneration of saints emerged, which is constitutive for the dynamic development of Paris throughout the Middle Ages…

Robert Wiśniewski’s Lecture on Stealing and Preventing Theft in Late Antique Cities

How did people try to avoid being robbed and how did they react when it happened? Wiśniewski, drawing from a complex and varied set of sources (including letters, petitions, hagiography and inscriptions) focused on the interface of religion and society, showing how people used various strategies like divination or seeking help from religious figures. Theft in his lecture appeared to us as a complex societal phenomenon, shaking the sometimes fragile trust in local communities.

Sufi Sites as Oases of Resonance: Jamal Malik on “Architectural Resonance”

Prof emeritus Jamal Malik commented on the notion of “architectural resonance” in Muslim cultural history, during the book launch of Architektonische Resonanz. Das Mausoleum des indischen Sufi-Meisters Shah Vajihudin Alvi by Sara Keller. Amongst other things, he noted how a Sufi shrine vibrantly interacts with its surrounding, transforming the Sufi convent into a Resonance oasis.

Erfurt’s Blue – Erfurter Blau

During the late Middle Ages, Erfurt was a prosperous city with a dynamic trade center, and home to one of the first universities in Europe. While its success was a result of many factors, including its geographical location, few people are aware that the colour blue had a significant impact on the development of the city.

Erfurt Lectures in Late Antiquity

The ELLA series of lectures will bring to Erfurt the foremost experts in the field from Germany and abroad to discuss their research and to present new approaches on various aspects of this dynamic and fascinating time. In line with the focus of the “Urbanity and Religion” centre in Erfurt, a keen eye will be kept o the intersection of religion and urbanity.

Urban religion and objects

by Jörg Rüpke. The summer school “Roman rituals: dynamics, topography and objects: Introduction to Roman religion through the prism of its materiality” – co-organized by the “Religion and Urbanity” group in Erfurt with the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris, La Sapienza, Rome, and the Université catholique de Louvain in cooperation with the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, the Ecole française de Rome, the Academia Belgica and the Museo Nazionale Etrusca Villa Giulia in September 2023 – has addressed the questions of urbanity as being reflected in and constitutive for religious objects.

City Branding: UrbRel panel at DHT 2023

Susanne Rau, Martin Christ and Sara Keller are convening a panel at this year’s Historikertag which will take place from 19 – 22 September 2023 in Leipzig. The speakers include current and former fellows of the “Religion and Urbanity” research group as well as established reseachers in the field of urban history.

Changing Religious and City Images of Goa under the Habsburgs (1580-1640)

Pius Malekandathil on how the city branding of Goa changed with Hapsburg rule in the 16th and 17th century. The Hapsburgs resorted to different mechanisms during this period to mask the internal contradictions within the city and to fill up the “hollowness” of the urban enclave of Goa and to prevent the Portuguese and Luso-Indians from moving away from the power centre of Goa to other enclaves. The fabrication and circulation of pride-evoking epithets like “Goa Dourada“ (Golden Goa) and religious metaphorical usages like “Rome of the East”, and the creation of ‘relic-loving’ devotees within the city were some of the mechanisms sought by the Hapsburgs not only to camouflage the harsh urban reality of Goa, but also to give a positive, if inflated, imagery of the city.

Review of Nina Kreibig, Institutionalisierter Tod: Die Kultur- und Sozialgeschichte der Berliner Leichenhäuser im 19. Jahrhundert

Die Beschäftigung mit Sterben und Tod hat Konjunktur. Nina Kreibig hat eine wichtige Studie vorgelegt, in der sie die Entwicklungsgeschichte der Leichenhäuser in Berlin grundlegend und quellengesättigt rekonstruiert. Rezension von Carolin Kosuch.

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