European Turn of the Century

The project laid the groundwork for an expanded understanding of European modernity. At its core was the documentation and analysis of German, French, and Italian cultural journals from the years around 1900. The results were presented in a dedicated database. Specifically, the journals included were Deutsche Rundschau, Freie Bühne, Mercure de France, Nuova Antologia, and Westermanns illustrierte deutsche Monatshefte.

A prerequisite for the project’s success was the interdisciplinary collaboration of participating scholars, who represented not only German and Romance studies but also fields such as philosophy, Scandinavian studies, classical philology, law, and medical microbiology. This diversity made possible the project’s chosen approach: all cultural phenomena discussed in the journals were examined – both individually and in context – at conferences from an international and interdisciplinary perspective.

Database of Cultural Journals around 1900