Digital Edition and Annotation of the Diary of Prince Christian II of Anhalt-Bernburg (1599-1656)

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Ronald G. Asch; Professor Dr. Peter Burschel
• Subject Area: Early Modern History ; General and Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies
• Term: since 2013
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 239112743

Written between 1621 and 1656, the diary of Prince Christian II of Anhalt-Bernburg (1599–1656) not only illustrates the history of the Thirty Years' War and its aftermath, but is also an outstanding example of an autobiographical document from this troubled period in German history. Its vast range of subjects addressed, the sophisticated language and rhetoric, and the author's attempts to analyse and reveal his innermost thoughts and emotions clearly distinguish it from similar sources. It provides us with an enormous amount of multifaceted information that will undoubtedly inspire further and deeper research into this period when the diary becomes more accessible. The diary is important not only for the history of the self and subjectivity, but also for the political and military history of the period as well as for social change and ordinary life. Other areas of research that will benefit from the publication of the diary include the history of the nobility as a class, the history of language, literary and cultural history, religious history and the history of confessional identities, and the history of emotions and dreams. For a long time, the publication of the diary has been recognized as a desideratum. The technical tools of a digital scholarly edition finally allow us to publish the diary in its full extent, meeting established academic standards and providing readers with a wealth of information and material through – inter alia – facsimile scans, critical comments including explanatory notes for events, persons, place names etc. and maps. Such a scholarly edition, providing historians and the general public alike with access to an exceptional 17th-century autobiographical text and will fill a serious gap in the hitherto available source material – especially in comparison to other European countries, particularly France.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants