Funded Measures Collection Research
The Research Council has been promoting research on university collections in cooperation with the other three Research Councils since 2022. While the upgrading of previously inaccessible collections is being implemented across the university, Research Council 3 focuses its support on measures relating to research on and with selected collections. Projects were selected that promote networking or develop best practice examples for collection research. In addition, the Research Council supports the collections through a position held by Jennifer Moldenhauer for collection research (third-party funding advice, strategic overall concept, curating exhibitions).
Among other things, the following measures have been supported to date.
Collection Research
Research Network „Mammoth bones, plant robbery and bird skulls from Mexico“ (2024-2025)
The Heidelberg University Archives contain extensive documentation on the university's zoological and botanical collections, which were established from the beginning of the 19th century, initially rather sporadically and then increasingly systematically. In addition to the objects in the collections themselves or the Botanical Garden as physical evidence of many years of collecting practice, the multifaceted documents in the archive provide exciting insights into the structure and practice of scientific collections in the 19th century. However, the archival records on the zoological and botanical collections have so far been insufficiently accessible for in-depth research and are thus only known to a small specialist audience. In cooperation with the University Archives and the University Library, the project aims to make a substantial selection of these documents visible to international and national researchers in the history of collections, knowledge and museums from various institutions.
Project lead: Dr. Susann Liebich (susann.liebich@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de), Christian Stenz (christian.stenz@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de)
Network for archaeological provenance research (2024-2026)
The network aims to promote research into the antiquities trade, actors and contexts of archaeological collections. The measure builds on the citizen science project “Object & Provenance”, which focused on the development of sources on the history of Heidelberg University's antiquities collection and its objects. These sources are now to be prepared for research and made accessible with the help of digital tools and via the Heidelberg University Library. Among other things, this processing can serve as an example of best practice for other university collections. The Heidelberg model developed for provenance research will be discussed at several network meetings. Two further training courses for external colleagues are planned. The transfer of the methods developed in the project is intended to enable the networking of collections at different locations.
Project lead: Dr. Polly Lohmann (polly.lohmann@uni-heidelberg.de)
Research network „Anton Friedrich Justus Thibaut – Collector, networker, music thinker“ (2025)
In 2024, several initiatives were taken at the Department of Musicology for the long overdue cataloguing and public presentation of the music-historically significant partial estate of Anton Friedrich Justus Thibaut (1772-1840). It comprises a total of 413 mostly manuscript musical works with polyphonic vocal music from the early modern period as well as excerpts from numerous operas and oratorios from the 17th and 18th centuries. A collective publication on Thibaut and an exhibition with exhibits from the collection are in preparation. The collection is to be made more visible to the academic community and a first step is to be taken towards a larger and interdisciplinary research project. To this end, an international networking workshop will be held at the Department of Musicology, centred on the Thibaut estate as cultural heritage.
Project lead: Dr. Marcel Klinke (marcel.klinke@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de)
Restoration of the plaster cast collection of the Institute of European Art History (2024)
The plaster cast collection of medieval and early modern sculptures is a small but important collection at Heidelberg University. It was stored at the IEK under precarious conditions until 2024. The funding made it possible to clean, restore and photographically document the collection. The collection is now being made accessible for research, research-related teaching and transfer measures. An exhibition with an accompanying catalogue with student participation is planned for 2026. Digital copies of the IEK will be available on the heidICON platform oft he University Library, enabling networking with researchers elsewhere. From 2027, the collections will be permanently presented on the IEK premises.
Project lead: Prof. Dr. Rebecca Müller (r.mueller@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de)