Melchior Hoffman: The Writings. Critical Edition

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Thomas Kaufmann; Dr. Christine Ruhrberg
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology ; German Medieval Studies (Medieval German Literature)
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 527191597

The aim of the project is to produce an annotated, documentary hybrid edition of all the writings by Melchior Hoffman, a lay theologian, furrier and printer (* around 1495 in Schwäbisch Hall, † 1543 in Strasbourg in prison), who initiated an anabaptist succession in the Netherlands and north-west german territories and marked it with a strong current of apocalypticism. The edition attempts to counteract any tendencies towards monumentalisation or creation of an aura of theological dignity, as well as any uncritical interpretations of Hoffman's writings. It presents the work chronologically, arranged according to the oldest preserved printed or handwritten text version. The hybrid format comprises, on the one hand, a web portal presentation in the TIDO viewer developed by the Niedersächsischen Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen, with a synoptic arrangement of edited text (with source-differentiating markings that can be switched on and off) and digitised images, windows for the introductory texts, two apparatuses, registers, tables of contents (for quick switching between and parallel viewing of edition units), as well as bibliographies and materials (transcriptions, downloads, etc.). On the other hand, a print edition (without illustrations) is expected to appear in four volumes in the series „Quellen und Forschungen zur Reformationsgeschichte“, published by Gütersloher Verlagshaus.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professorin Dr. Heike Sahm