Verabschiedung von Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Stürner am 13. Februar 2006

Inhalt: Stürner, Wolfgang: Kaiser Friedrich II. - Mythos und Persönlichkeit (S. 7 - 38) - Pyta, Wolfram: Rede des Dekans zur Verabschiedung von Herrn Prof. Dr. Stürner am 13. Februar 2006 (S. 39 - 42) - Quarthal, Franz: Zur Emeritierung von Professor Dr. Wolfgang Stürner am Montag, dem 13. Februar 2006 (S. 43 - 46) - Reichert, Folker: Wolfgang Stürner als Wissenschaftler, Kollege und Freund (S. 47 - 50

Heinrich von Treitschke in London

Heinrich von Treitschke, Nachfolger Leopold von Rankes auf dem historischen Lehrstuhl in Berlin, „Historiograph des preußischen Staates“ und der wahrscheinlich reinflußreichste „politische Historiker“ im zweiten Deutschen Kaiserreich, hat bis kurz vor seinem Tod die Britischen Inseln nie besucht. Zwar hatte er in jungen Jahren mehrfach seine Bewunderung für das politische System Englands zum Ausdruck gebracht und auch dessen Übertragung auf Preußen oder Deutschland in Erwägung gezogen. Seine Berliner Lehrtätigkeit, die er 1874 aufnahm, war jedoch zunehmend von chauvinistischen Tönen bestimmt und konnte – vor allem in seinen späteren Jahren – von seinen Hörern als ein „gewaltiger, historischer Haßgesang gegen England“ aufgefaßt werden

Nabel der Welt, Zentrum Europas und doch nur Peripherie Jerusalem in Weltbild und Wahrnehmung des späten Mittelalters

This article discusses the significance of Jerusalem for the Christian world view in the Late Middle Ages. Starting from at least the 12th century, Jerusalem was considered to be the centre of the world. Various more or less plausible arguments (taken from the Holy Bible, other authoritative texts or even from physical observation) were put forward to prove its centrality. All other countries and places seemed to be situated on the periphery around the Holy Land and the Holy City. This can be clearly seen on world maps (mappae mundi) from the 12th to the 14th and even the 16th century. Because of its sanctity Jerusalem became an important and extremely attractive goal for travellers during the Late Middle Ages. Thousands of pilgrims went to the eastern shore of the Mediterranean and visited the holy places in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, at the river Jordan and so on. All of them had three goals in mind: imagining the life and death of Jesus Christ at those places “where his feet stood” (ubi steterunt pedes eius); following in his footsteps and imitating his deeds (imitatio Christi); collecting stones, sand, oil or water as relics of the holy places and as souvenirs of their stay there. Therefore Jerusalem was seen as the spiritual centre of Europe and the most prestigious “lieu de mémoire” of Latin Christendom. Reality, however, was different. Jerusalem was not located in the centre of Europe, but on its periphery and Palestine was not that Promised Land “flowing with milk and honey”, but an impoverished and dilapidated province of the Mamluk Sultanate in Cairo. Most pilgrims were disappointed when they realized the misery, poverty and dryness of the Holy Land. Even the idea of pilgrimage was called into question by some visitors seeing the Holy City in ruins. Moreover, they found themselves in a hostile country and had to experience their stay as a hidden war at a cultural border. From this point of view, Jerusalem was Europe's centre and periphery at the same time. This very specific constellation might have influenced the so-called European expansion in Early Modern Times

Bateren und Samurai | Der Austausch von Wissen durch die Japanmission der Jesuiten

Summary Bateren and Samurai.The Exchange of Knowledge by the Jesuit Mission in Japan This article focuses on the production and exchange of knowledge stimulated by the missionary work of the Jesuit Order in Japan’s „Christian century“ (Charles R. Boxer). The paper shows how the printing and dissemination of Jesuit travel reports and letters created a new image of East Asia, which slowly replaced the older one based mainly on Marco Polo’s book. „Zipangu“ was replaced by „Japan“. The journey of four young Japanese nobles through Portugal, Spain and Italy, misunderstood by European observers as a spectacular diplomatic visit, aroused an overwhelming public interest in their physical appearance, habits and cultural background and made dialogues possible that led to a more detailed knowledge of the Japanese islands. On the other side of the globe, the Japanese were fascinated by the material goods, daily practices and customs of the „Southern barbarians“ (namban-jin), which is what they called the (South) European merchants and missionaries. This namban boom did not last for a long time, but it had significant effects for the geographical knowledge and cartographical practice of the time. In particular, the so-called namban world map screens, highly decorative pieces of art, brought different cultural traditions together and reflected the transcultural interactions that the Jesuit missionaries had initiated