DFG Funding for Research Group on Jewish History in the 15th and 16th Centuries

On 12 December 2024, the German Research Foundation (DFG) approved funding for the research group (FOR) 5663 “Aschkenas in neuen Lebenswelten. Akteure, Praktiken und Räume in der jüdischen Geschichte Mitteleuropas während des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts” (“Ashkenaz in New Living Environments: Actors, Practices and Spaces in the Jewish History of Central Europe during the 15th and 16th Centuries”), based at the University of Trier and led by Professor Dr. Stephan Laux. The project will receive approximately €2.5 million in funding. The research initiative starts from the observation that Jews in Central Europe – the so-called Ashkenazim – were subject to mass expulsions for a period of around 200 years beginning in approximately 1390. Over an initial four-year phase, six subprojects will examine this period through the lenses of historical studies, Jewish studies, and digital humanities. The participating institutions include the Universities of Trier and Münster as well as the Salomon Ludwig Steinheim Institute in Essen. A second funding phase is planned

Subprojects (TPs):

  • TP 1: Interaktion und Organisation: Aschkenasische Juden in Oberitalien während des 15. und frühen 16. Jahrhunderts (Interaction and Organization: Ashkenazic Jews in Northern Italy during the 15th and early 16th centuries) Project lead: Prof. Dr. Lukas Clemens, University of Trier (Medieval History)
  • TP 2: Bücher, ihre Hersteller und ihre Besitzer in neuen Siedlungsräumen (15.–16. Jahrhundert) (Books, Their Makers and Their Owners in New Settlements, 15th–16th Centuries) Project lead: Prof. Dr. Katrin Kogman-Appel, University of Münster (Jewish Studies)
  • TP 3: Extra muros, intra muros – Zugangsregulierungen gegenüber Juden in den Reichs- und Autonomiestädten der Frühen Neuzeit zwischen Norm und Praxis (Extra muros, intra muros – Access Regulations for Jews in Imperial and Autonomous Cities of the Early Modern Period between Norm an Practice) Project lead: Prof. Dr. Stephan Laux, University of Trier (Historical Regional Studies)
  • TP 4: Aschkenasische Juden in neuen urbanen Lebenswelten des Ostens am Beispiel Großpolens (1386–1434) (Ashkenazic Jews in New Urban Environments in the East Using the Example of Greater Poland, 1386–1434) Project lead: Dr. Jörg Müller, University of Trier (Arye Maimon Institute for Jewish History)
  • TP 5: Kontinuität und Wandel jüdischer Raumorganisation in den deutschen Landen zwischen Mittelalter und Früher Neuzeit (Continuity and Change in Jewish Spatial Organization in the German Territories between the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period) Project lead: Prof. Dr. Lucia Raspe, University of Duisburg-Essen (Salomon Ludwig Steinheim Institute for German-Jewish History)
  • TP 6: Jüdische Personendaten des 15.–16. Jahrhunderts: Computergestützte Modellierung und Auswertung (Jewish Biographical Data of the 15th–16th Centuries: Computer-Assisted Modeling and Analysis) Project leads: Prof. Dr. Christof Schöch (University of Trier, Trier Center for Digital Humanities) and Dr. Christoph Cluse (University of Trier, Arye Maimon Institute for Jewish History)
  • Coordination project (IT Support: Dr. Joëlle Weis)

More information on the research group (FOR) is available on its website!