The journeys of the botanist Carl Haussknecht (1838 - 1903) to the Ottoman Empire and Persia (1865 and 1866 - 1869). The annotated digital edition of his travel diaries
Final Report Abstract
The hitherto unpublished diaries of two journeys through the Ottoman Empire and Persia by the botanist Carl Haussknecht (1838-1903) in 1865 and 1866-1869 are now available as an annotated digital edition. During his travels, Haussknecht, founder of the internationally renowned Herbarium Haussknecht (at Friedrich Schiller University, Jena), in addition to collecting thousands of plants, made numerous observations and collected information about the regions he visited and their people, which he recorded in Kurrent script in travel diaries running to almost 1000 pages. These have now been transcribed and published in their entirety for the first time. Informative for the history of science, botany, Islamic studies, the history of West Asia, Iranian studies and other disciplines, this edition will stimulate further research questions. Numerous comments and detailed indices (plants, places, people, things, foreign language expressions, quotations) enrich Haussknecht’s text, supplementing the option of free text search and making it more easily accessible and usable in a variety of ways. It also offers virtual links between entries in the travel diaries and collection objects, as well as to archive, library and map materials. On the instructions of the botanist Edmond Boissier (1810-1885), who commissioned the expeditions, Haussknecht did not usually follow the main travel routes of his time and the diary therefore provides insights into local conditions in hitherto rather unknown regions. In addition, he provides valuable information on collection practices in the 19th century, on infrastructure and social conditions in the areas travelled – unfiltered, since the diary was not intended for publication in this form. Haussknecht's outstanding contribution to Oriental botany is enhanced by equally outstanding cartographic achievements. The edition thus fulfils a long-standing ambition. It was realized by an interdisciplinary team of botanists from the herbarium in Jena and specialists in 19th century Ottoman and Persian history from the universities of Halle-Wittenberg and Bamberg. The digital edition was created using the University of Trier's FuD virtual research environment and was implemented in cooperation with the Thuringian University and State Library in Jena. The interdisciplinary edition has already generated interest and exchange with other projects. In its modular complexity, it has served as a model for Web portal creators and as a template for the Thuringian Edition Portal for depicting complex structures and contents. It has created a virtual research infrastructure that will enable a broad range of disciplines to conduct further quantitative and qualitative analyses in the future.
Publications
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The botanist Carl Haussknecht (1838–1903) in the Ottoman Empire and Persia (1865 and 1866–1869):. Travellers in Ottoman Lands (2018, 7, 13), 147-158. American Geophysical Union (AGU).
Hellwig, Frank H. & Victor, Kristin
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Between Plants, Foreigners and Government Officials: The Journeys of Carl Haussknecht in Qajar Persia (1866-1869). In Newsletter der Association for Iranian Studies, Spring 2020
Kämpfer, Christine & Victor, Kristin
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Digitale Edition der Reisetagebücher Carl Haussknechts (1838-1903): Osmanisches Reich und Persien. Bamberg, Halle, Jena, Marburg, 2017-
Hellwig, Frank H., Kämpfer, Christine, Knost, Stefan, Schönig, Hanne, Victor, Kristin, Werner, Christoph U. (Hrsg.)
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A Reluctant Observer Between Two Empires? The Travels of the Botanist Carl Haussknecht to the Ottoman Empire and Qajar Persia (1865 and 1866–1869). On the Way to the "(Un)Known"? (2022, 8, 22), 69-90. American Geophysical Union (AGU).
Kämpfer, Christine & Knost, Stefan
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Carl Haussknecht und seine botanischen Aufsammlungen – wie der Orient nach Thüringen kam. Verhandlungen zur Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie 24: 219-230. 2022
Victor, Kristin & Hellwig, Frank H.
