Protestant Pluralities: Cultures of Correspondence and the Formation of Religious Groups in the Early Eighteenth Century.

Principal Investigator: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Alexander Schunka

Researcher: Dr. Sebastian Kühn

Student Assistant: Olivia Dunder

Funded by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

This research project stands at the intersection of ecclesiastical history and early modern history. It focuses on the relationship between practices of communication and community-building among German Protestants, circa 1700. It is based predominantly upon correspondences by theologians who, according to existing research, stand for different theological and devotional milieus: Traditional (“Orthodox”) Lutheranism (E.S. Cyprian), Reformed Irenicism (D.E. Jablonski), and Halle Pietism (A.H. Francke). In all these environments, the writing of letters served as a means of community-building and cohesion between the protagonists and their followers. Letter-writing made possible a regular exchange within and beyond groups while letters also contain numerous reflections on particular modes of communication. Therefore, epistolary practices created Protestant (sub-) communities and formed social ties. Letter writing standardized and affirmed the features of each group, especially across long distances. The project promises new insights into community-building within Protestantism in the early eighteenth century. Moreover, it focuses on the cohesion, durability, and impact of different milieus in order to reveal the fault lines within seemingly homogeneous settings as well as contemporaneous designations and self-images of these groups. In a more general perspective, this research project addresses the mechanisms of religious community-building in a historical perspective.

 

Associated Researchers:

• Prof. Dr. Juliane Engelhardt (Københavns Universitet), Alexander von Humboldt Fellow 2020/21.

Saxo Institute of the University of Copenhagen:

https://saxoinstitute.ku.dk/staff/?pure=en/persons/32249

Current Research Topic: Radical Pietism in Germany and Denmark-Norway.

Email: juliane@hum.ku.dk

• Lennart Gard, MA (FU Berlin, PhD student)

Current Research Topic: Johann Wilhelm Überfeld (1659-1731) and the “Angelic Brethren” (Engelsbrüder). Correspondence and Community in the Early Eighteenth Century (Scholarship funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation).

Email: lennart.gard@fu-berlin.de