Category: Billets
New publication by Jörg Rüpke
Publilius Syrus was one of the most successful mimes on the stages of 1st century BCE Rome. His plays were transmitted as Sententiae of Seneca and were subject to constant re-editing and agglomeration. It is hardly possible to isolate an original core, free of imperial or late ancient additions. In a reception perspective, however, a hermeneutical approach of this widely read corpus is possible. This chapter argues that the maxims formulated are not just a cynical commentary on contemporary society, but the proposal of a multi-faceted value “urbanity”, even if the very term urbanitas is not used in the text.
Tod im Bad – eine antike Kulturgeschichte
Badeunfall, Badeunglück, Badetod – allsommerlich liest man Meldungen über tragische Ereignisse an Baggerseen und Badestellen, was teilweise auf fehlende Bademeister und Rettungsschwimmer zurückgeführt wird. Doch auch so mancher Badegast beweget sich in gefährliche Gewässer, besucht verbotene Badestellen oder verhält sich schlicht unvorsichtig. Auch gibt es gibt einen erstaunlich hohen Anteil an Nichtschwimmern. Doch das hält die Betroffenen nicht davon ab, ins Wasser zu gehen. Zu verlockend ist das kühle Nass bei den warmen Temperaturen im Sommer.
Stadtreligion als analytisches Instrument für die südasiatische Religions- und Urbanisierungsgeschichte?
Wenn von „städtischer Religion“ die Rede ist, denken religionsgeschichtlich...
Congratulations to Susanne Rau on joining the Erfurt Academy of Public-Benefit Sciences
Susanne Rau, Professor for Spatial History at the University...
Holy and Healing Waters in Erfurt
The bilingual exhibition “Holy and Healing Waters” („Heiliges und...
„Healthy Living” Stufu Podcasts (1/2)
Physical and mental health is (and was) an essential dimension of the liveable city. I explored this idea in a Studium Fundamentale (“Stufu”) which I offered in the summer term 2025 with my colleague Dr. Colleen Kron. This Stufu entitled “Healthy Living: History of Spatial Design for Health and Well-being” was opened to students in pedagogy and education, history, religious studies and other Bachelor’s programs of the Erfurt University…
KFG Closing Conference 2026
The KFG “Religion and Urbanity: Reciprocal Formations” (FOR 2779) is organising its closing conference “Religion and Urbanity New Research Paradigms for a Global Perspective?” on the 1-5 June 2026 in Erfurt. Since 2018, the research group “Religion and Urbanity” has challenged established views about urban structures, religious groups and their reciprocal formations. Over 100 Fellows have come together for longer and shorter stays, conferences, workshops and discussions. As the project is slowly coming to an end in the winter term 2026/27, it is time to look back and at the same time look to the future. What has this research perspective achieved? Has it changed the research landscape in the long term, and what needs to be modified and expanded? How can these topics be explored in greater depth or transferred to other areas?
14th City Walk: Built Nature
The 16th of April in 2025 was a warm and bright spring day, and a lovely environment for the KFG’s 14th City Walk: “Building Nature.” This program, organized by doctoral students Aileen Becker and Constanze Schaller together with spokesperson of the “Urbanity & Religion” research group Jörg Rüpke, introduced the newly-arrived cohort of fellows, as well as regular members, to some of the finer, greener points in Erfurt’s history.
13th City Walk on Urban and Religious Spaces of Knowledge
On 16th October 2024 we delved into hidden treasures and fascinating Spaces of Knowledge in a city walk excellently prepared by Aileen Becker and Constanze Schaller. As always, the event presented a joyful opportunity to learn more about Erfurt’s history and topography and get to know other members of the KFG better. During the tour, the question of accessibility to Spaces of Knowledge emerged as a common thread.
Emiliano Rubens Urciuoli publishes habilitation thesis: Citifying Jesus
Religion and urban life are the most successful strategies of handling, enhancing, and capitalizing on human sociability. By integrating religious studies, archaeology, and spatial theory, Emiliano Rubens Urciuoli aims to re-describe the formation of Christ religion as urban religion. Spanning almost four centuries of Christian literature from Paul to Augustine, the author shows that several characteristics commonly attributed to Christ religion are, in fact, outcomes of the distinct ways in which religious agents enact urbanity and interact with the urban space.
New entries in “Religion and Urbanity online” (upload 2/2024)
The peer-reviewed, open access database of the “Religion and Urbanity” research...
Running in the city forest: 87th Steiger (spring) run
Tom Hamilton, Associate Professor in Early Modern European History at Durham University, UK and fellow of the Max Weber Centre in summer 2024, took part in the 87th Steiger (spring) run in Erfurt. They met on 21 April 2024 in Erfurt, Am Reitplatz. The race comprises several parts and always takes place in spring…
‘Of Looseness and Depravity’ – Contextualising Magdalene Asylums
Why was the Seán Mc Dermott St Magdalene asylum – which contained also a Magdalene Laundry – located where it was? And how does this placing relate to discourses on Irish women in the city? The article offers an introduction to the historical context of the Magdalene Laundries in nineteenth and early twentieth century Ireland.
Latrines make urbanity ?!
Sara Keller, postdoc with the Religion and Urbanity group, on the link between waste infrastructures and urban lifestyles. Not just prestigious fountains in large public squares, luxurious bath houses and monumental stepwells are outstanding expressions of urbanity: latrines also can contribute to the production of an urban, cultured and sophisticated way of life.
