Nationalism and Transnationality, as exemplified by the Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt (1863-1938)

• Applicant: Dr. Susanne Voss Kern
• Subject Area: History of Science ; Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies ; Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2018 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 402752704

The project aims to contribute to nationalism research from the micro-milieu of Egyptology and the organized German community in Egypt. For the first time, findings of the prospering methodological science and disciplines of Egyptology are linked with higher-level research questions on the mental, ideological and organizational-historical interrelationships of civilian German foreign affairs. By means of a systematic analysis of the organized structures and the self-understanding of German emigrants in Cairo in the 19th and 20th centuries, a connection with transnational historiography is sought.The starting point is the extensive archive of the Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt (1863-1938) at the ‘Swiss Institute for Architectural and Archaeological Research on Ancient Egypt’ in Cairo. As one of the most influential and best-connected personalities of the German foreign community in Egypt, and due to the fortunate circumstance of the integrated estates of the 'German Evangelical Church in Cairo' and the nationalist 'Association of the Germans in Cairo', Borchardt's archive offers ideal conditions for a study on nationalism and trans-nationality of German emigrants in Egypt. The archive was only partially accessible. The predominant part is still under lock and key. The grant of unrestricted access to the material exclusively offered to the applicant provides the opportunity of a political, cultural and historical biography of Ludwig Borchardt as a representative of German nationalist actors and activities in Egypt from the imperial age to National Socialism.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Cornelius von Pilgrim; Professor Dr. Tonio Sebastian Richter