The scientific correspondence of the historian Karl Hegel (1813-1901). Complete and exclusive digial edition, introduction, annotations and register

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Helmut Neuhaus
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2017 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 332784868

The extensive correspondence left by historian Karl Hegel (1813-1901); son of philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel; first active in Rostock, then Erlangen) offers a sweeping insight into the way scientific studies developed outside of universities in the mid-19th century. A major example is represented by the Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Historical Commission at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities), founded in 1858; in this context, the collaborative work on major editorial projects against the background of nationalistic movements and the nations unification is of special interest (with German studies first attempting an interdisciplinary approach). A concrete example is posed by the Chronicles of German Cities, from the 14th to the 16th Century. Thus a central aspect of the formation of the historical sciences as a discipline (historico-critial method of the editorial sciences) is shed ligth on in the complete and exclusive digital edition of his letters. Hegels correspondence also offers a glimpse on the extensive scientific networks and communication structures, which transcended the subject itself by far, and which were indispensable to the succesful implementation of such a gigantic project. The tight-knit network of institutions dealing with historical siences and their organs such as the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, the Historische Kommission, or the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg becomes clearly recognizable. Hegels countless letters to his numerous correspondence partners - also family members - represent a whole panorama that might be considered an outstanding example of a scholars life and work in the 19th cntury which may also be of interest to those dealing with different subdisciplines.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants