{"id":30688,"date":"2025-09-23T12:47:41","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T10:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hab.de\/50-jahre-forschungen-zum-18-jahrhundert-festvortrag-von-barbara-stollberg-rilinger\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T14:33:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T12:33:52","slug":"50-jahre-forschungen-zum-18-jahrhundert-festvortrag-von-barbara-stollberg-rilinger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hab.de\/en\/50-jahre-forschungen-zum-18-jahrhundert-festvortrag-von-barbara-stollberg-rilinger\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifty years of research on the 18th century: Commemorative lecture by Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wolfenb\u00fcttel, 23 September 2025<\/em><\/p>

The commemorative lecture \u2018Fantasies of rationality: On the past and present of the Enlightenment\u2019 was given by renowned specialist in early modern history, Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger. \u2018The 18th century was characterised by promises of progress that proved to be double-edged. One significant example of this were the fantasies of political rationality which, in some ways, are reminiscent of the promises we associate with artificial intelligence today. But to what extent can we learn from the Enlightenment regardless?\u2019<\/em><\/p>

As HAB director Peter Burschel stresses, \u2018That the DGEJ now looks back on 50 years of providing a stimulus for interdisciplinary engagement with the period of the Enlightenment is a testament to the enduring relevance of Wolfenb\u00fcttel as a research hub. The HAB is delighted to continue participating in this dialogue on the 18th century, which focuses on both remembrance and the world of tomorrow.\u2019<\/em><\/p>

The programme also included the first-ever award of the DGEJ Dissertation Prize to Dr Lisa Kolb of Universit\u00e4t Augsburg (University of Augsburg) for her doctoral thesis \u2018Semantics of Reform: Conceptualisation and Translation of Politico-Economic Languages in the Oekonomische Gesellschaft Bern (1758\u20131798)\u2019. Endowed with \u20ac5,000, the prize was donated by long-time DGEJ member Friedrich Waitz von Eschen.<\/p>

In addition to this, the book Ressourcen der Aufkl\u00e4rung: 50 Probebohrungen ins 18. Jahrhundert <\/em>(Resources of the Enlightenment: Fifty Explorations of the 18th Century), edited by Iwan-Michelangelo D\u2019Aprile, Annette Meyer and Vanessa de Senarclens and published to mark the society\u2019s 50th anniversary, was presented at the event. Comprising 50 essays, the book traces the perspectives and potentials of the cultural heritage of the Enlightenment in Europe and examines its ongoing significance as a means to address current problems and challenges.<\/p>

Founded in 1975, the DGEJ has grown into a collective of approximately 700 scholars and academic institutions in Germany and abroad. The society focuses on an interdisciplinary engagement with the 18th century, organising annual symposia and publishing the journal Das achtzehnte Jahrhundert<\/em>. The DGEJ has been collaborating with the HAB\u00a0\u2013 which is also the home of its administrative office\u00a0\u2013 for many years, and its members regularly visit Wolfenb\u00fcttel, where its annual meeting takes place every other year, alternating with other locations. The topics of the most recent meetings have been \u2018Racism and World Knowledge\u2019 (2023), \u2018The World in the Village\u2019 (2021), and \u2018Circulation and Control\u2019 (2019). The 2027 annual meeting will focus on Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, one of Germany\u2019s foremost Enlightenment figures, whose work is closely tied up with the history of the HAB.<\/p>

Links:<\/p>

https:\/\/dgej.hab.de\/<\/a><\/p>

https:\/\/www.wallstein-verlag.de\/reihen\/das-achtzehnte-jahrhundert-zeitschrift.html<\/a><\/p>

https:\/\/www.wallstein-verlag.de\/9783835358829-ressourcen-der-aufklaerung.html<\/a><\/p>

 <\/p>

Contact: Dr Julia A. Schmidt-Funke <\/strong>
Professor of Early Modern History, Universit\u00e4t Leipzig
Email: julia.schmidt-funke@uni-leipzig.de<\/a><\/p>

Photo: (from left to right) Prof. Peter Burschel (Director, HAB), Prof. Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger (Rector, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin), Prof. Christine Haug (President, DGEJ) and Prof. Julia Schmidt-Funke (Vice President, DGEJ)<\/p>

 <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wolfenb\u00fcttel, 23 September 2025The commemorative lecture \u2018Fantasies of rationality: On the past and present of the Enlightenment\u2019 was given by renowned specialist in early modern history, Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger. \u2018The 18th century was characterised by promises of progress that proved to be double-edged. One significant example of this were the fantasies of political rationality which, in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":30532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[141,283,285],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-info","category-press-releases","category-press"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hab.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hab.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hab.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hab.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hab.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30688"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.hab.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30693,"href":"https:\/\/www.hab.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30688\/revisions\/30693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hab.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hab.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hab.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hab.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}