Brandenburg 1717. An early 18th century topography of a state in words and images
Final Report Abstract
The primary goal of the project was to publish the description of Brandenburg from the estate of Johann Christoph Bekmann, along with the original city views. This gives a comprehensive impression of the state of the country in 1717 in words and pictures, which facilitates new research. A wealth of historical information is available in an organized, easily accessible form for numerous towns in Mittelmark, the county of Ruppin, Neumark and the southern parts of the country: name and antiquity of the town, location, sources and literature, walls, ramparts, gates, streets, extensions, former fortifications, castles, fortresses, churches and their external and internal features (name, structure, altar, baptismal font, pulpit, organ, choirs, memorial plaques and gravestone inscriptions), chapels, monasteries, clergy, hospitals, churchyard, spinning house, schools, noble families, town hall, members of the magistrate, courts, number of citizens and their trades, fairs, town coats of arms, customs, justice, privileges, history, war events, fires, floods, weather damage, plague periods, suburbs and outlying places, neighborhoods, mills and sights in and outside the town. The inscriptions, some of which are very artistically worded, are presented in the original Latin and in German translation. The images that have often been handed down alongside the texts are of just as high documentary value as the texts on the towns: the 94 images that still exist today are reproduced in their original size and mostly show vedute - of several towns they are even the first verifiable views ever. The manuscript concludes with copies of 94 Latin and German documents. The detailed order already created by the author and the indices created by the editor (around 4,600 names of people and 1,300 names of places) make it easier to evaluate Brandenburg 1717, even for specific questions. The literature used by Bekmann has been deciphered and listed in the bibliography. An overview commentary completes the edition, which will first be published in print as a text and plate volume and, after a grace period, as a digital copy. Initial classification and evaluation of the work were further goals of the project and were already reflected in the overview commentary: Why Bekmann was commissioned to describe the country, to what extent financial and denominational constraints hindered its creation, how the views came about and what their value is, why the print remained unfinished in 1751–1753 and what has been handed down from the entire work were examined in this context, as well as the potential of the edition for further research.
Publications
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Brandenburg 1717. Thomas Fischbacher erweckt eine 300 Jahre alte Landesbeschreibung zu neuem Leben. In: Portal Wissen. Das Forschungsmagazin der Universität Potsdam 2 (2021), S. 88–93
Zimmermann, Matthias
