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Department of History and Philosophy of Science

 

Science, technology and medicine in German-speaking Europe since 1800

Research guide

Nick Hopwood

German-speaking Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was a powerhouse of the science and learning that shaped the modern world. The region's history also invites exploration of the production and uses of knowledge in different political systems. While for PhD work good German, or the willingness to acquire it, is essential, topics for Part II and MPhil coursework can be chosen so as not to require the language (though you will be in a much stronger position if you can at least read it).

Contents

Histories of STM

Surveys

  • Kathryn M. Olesko, 'Science in Germanic Europe', in The Cambridge History of Science, vol. 8: Modern Science in National and International Context (CUP, forthcoming). See also several chapters in vols 5–7 of the series. REF (SCI 83)
  • Mark Walker, 'Twentieth-century German science: Institutional innovation and adaptation', in Science in the Twentieth Century, ed. John Krige & Dominique Pestre (Harwood, 1997), 795–819. C503
  • David Cahan (ed.), From Natural Philosophy to the Sciences: Writing the History of Nineteenth-Century Science (Chicago, 2003). C626
  • Charles E. McClelland, State, Society and University in Germany, 1700–1914 (CUP, 1980). D173
  • Wolfgang U. Eckart, Geschichte der Medizin 4th edn (Springer, 2000). X1935 (3rd edn)
  • Ilse Jahn et al. (ed.), Geschichte der Biologie. Theorien, Methoden, Institutionen, Kurzbiographien, 3rd edn (Fischer, 1998). REF (LIS 28)

Long nineteenth century

  • Kathryn M. Olesko (ed.), Science in Germany: The Intersection of Institutional and Intellectual Issues, Osiris 5 (1989).
  • Christa Jungnickel & Russell McCormmach, Intellectual Mastery of Nature: Theoretical Physics from Ohm to Einstein, 2 vols (Chicago, 1986). P316
  • Gert Schubring (ed.), 'Einsamkeit und Freiheit' neu besichtigt: Universitätsreformen und Disziplinbildung in Preußen als Modell für Wissenschaftspolitik im Europa des 19. Jahrhunderts (Steiner, 1991). C481
  • Lynn K. Nyhart, Biology Takes Form: Animal Morphology and the German Universities, 1800–1900 (Chicago, 1995). W656
  • Timothy Lenoir, Instituting Science: The Cultural Production of Scientific Disciplines (Stanford, 1997). E754
  • John Fauvel, Raymond Flood & Robin Wilson (eds), Möbius and His Band: Mathematics and Astronomy in Nineteenth-Century Germany (OUP, 1993). C399
  • M. Norton Wise (ed.), The Values of Precision (Princeton, 1995). C451
  • Ute Frevert, Krankheit als politisches Problem 1770–1880. Soziale Unterschichten in Preußen zwischen medizinischer Polizei und staatlicher Sozialversicherung (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1984). X808
  • Claudia Huerkamp, Der Aufstieg der Ärzte im 19. Jahrhundert. Vom gelehrten Stand zum professionellen Experten. Das Beispiel Preussens (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1985). X830
  • William Coleman & Frederic L. Holmes (eds), The Investigative Enterprise: Experimental Physiology in Nineteenth-Century Medicine (California, 1988). X866
  • Andrew Cunningham & Perry Williams (eds), The Laboratory Revolution in Medicine (CUP, 1992). X1176A, B
  • Erna Lesky, The Vienna Medical School of the Nineteenth Century (Johns Hopkins, 1976; X285); Die Wiener Medizinische Schule im 19. Jahrhundert (Böhlau, 1965; X194)
  • Kees Gispen, New Profession, Old Order: Engineers and German Society, 1815–1914 (CUP, 1989). T240
  • David F. Lindenfeld, The Practical Imagination: The German Sciences of State in the Nineteenth Century (Chicago, 1997). C531
  • Irmtraut Scheele. Von Lüben bis Schmeil. Die Entwicklung von der Schulnaturgeschichte zum Biologieunterricht zwischen 1830 und 1933 (Reimer, 1981). Wellcome Library

c. 1800 – c. 1871

  • Timothy Lenoir, The Strategy of Life: Teleology and Mechanics in Nineteenth-Century German Biology (Chicago, 1982). V379
  • Robert J. Richards, The Romantic Conception of Life: Science and Philosophy in the Age of Goethe (Chicago, 2002).
  • Theodore Ziolkowski, German Romanticism and Its Institutions (Princeton, 1990). UL 746:17.c.95.287; 9001.c.8096
  • Brigitte Lohff, Die Suche nach der Wissenschaftlichkeit der Physiologie in der Zeit der Romantik. Ein Beitrag zur Erkenntnisphilosophie der Medizin (Fischer, 1990). UL 303:12.c.95.34
  • Andrew Cunningham & Nicholas Jardine (eds), Romanticism and the Sciences (CUP, 1990). F292
  • Thomas H. Broman, The Transformation of German Academic Medicine, 1750–1820 (CUP, 1996). X1643
  • Kathryn M. Olesko, Physics as a Calling: Discipline and Practice in the Königsberg Seminar for Physics (Cornell, 1991). P389
  • Eric Dorn Brose, The Politics of Technological Change in Prussia: Out of the Shadow of Antiquity, 1809–1848 (Princeton, 1993). T312
  • Arleen M. Tuchman, Science, Medicine and the State in Germany: The Case of Baden, 1815–1871 (OUP, 1993). X1319
  • Myles W. Jackson, Spectrum of Belief: Joseph von Fraunhofer and the Craft of Precision Optics (MIT, 2000). Q467
  • Frederick Gregory, Scientific Materialism in Nineteenth-Century Germany (Reidel, 1977). G351
  • William H. Brock (ed.), 'German chemistry', Ambix 50 (2003), no. 1

c. 1848 – c. 1918

  • Karl-Heinz Manegold, Universität, Technische Hochschule und Industrie: Ein Beitrag zur Emanzipation der Technik im 19. Jahrhundert unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Bestrebungen Felix Kleins (Duncker & Humblot, 1970). UL 220:01.c.48.16
  • Peter Borscheid, Naturwissenschaft, Staat und Industrie in Baden, 1848–1914 (Klett, 1976). UL 249.c.208.18
  • William M. Johnston, The Austrian Mind: A Social and Intellectual History, 1848–1938 (California, 1972). UL 608:6.c.95.2
  • Fritz K. Ringer, The Decline of the German Mandarins: The German Academic Community, 1890–1933 (Harvard, 1969). E314
  • Konrad H. Jarausch, Students, Society, and Politics in Imperial Germany: The Rise of Academic Illiberalism (Princeton, 1982). UL 240.c.98.705
  • Alan Beyerchen, 'On the stimulation of excellence in Wilhelmine science', in Another Germany: A Reconsideration of the Imperial Era, ed. Joachim Remak & Jack Dukes (Westview, 1987), 139–168. UL 571:5.c.95.76
  • Russell McCormmach, 'Academic Science in Wilhelmine Germany', in Science and Its Publics: The Changing Relationship, ed. G. Holton & William A. Blanpied (Reidel, 1976). G32 v. 33
  • Thomas P. Hughes, Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society, 1880–1930 (Johns Hopkins, 1983). T162
  • Wolfgang Schivelbusch, The Railway Journey: The Industrialization and Perception of Time and Space in the 19th Century (Berg, 1986). UL 9428.c.3953
  • Wolfgang Schivelbusch, Disenchanted Night: The Industrialization of Light in the Nineteenth Century (Berg, 1998). T223
  • David Cahan, An Institute for an Empire: The Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt, 1871–1918 (CUP, 1989). E535
  • Christoph Meinel, Karl Friedrich Zöllner und die Wissenschaftskultur der Gründerzeit. Eine Fallstudie zur Genese konservativer Zivilisationskritik (Sigma, 1991). E599
  • Jim Bennett et al., Empires of Physics: A Guide to the Exhibition (Whipple Museum, 1993). REF FILE 35 B:15
  • Richard J. Evans, Death in Hamburg: Society and Politics in the Cholera Years, 1830–1910 (Clarendon, 1987). X811
  • Wolfgang U. Eckart, Medizin und Kolonialimperialismus: Deutschland 1884–1945 (Schöningh, 1997). UL 300:15.c.95.320
  • Kurt Danziger, Constructing the Subject: Historical Origins of Psychological Research (CUP, 1990). Z1010
  • Volker Hess, Der wohltemperierte Mensch. Wissenschaft und Alltag des Fiebermessens (1850–1900) (Frankfurt am Main: Campus, 2000). X1995
  • Andrew Zimmerman, Anthropology and Antihumanism in Imperial Germany (Chicago, 2001). F436
  • H. Glenn Penny, Objects of Culture: Ethnology and Ethnographic Museums in Imperial Germany (Chapel Hill, 2002). Z1612
  • R. Steven Turner, In the Eye's Mind: Vision and the Helmholtz-Hering Controversy (Princeton, 1994). W627
  • Jeffrey Allan Johnson, The Kaiser's Chemists: Science and Modernization in Imperial Germany (North Carolina, 1990). R152
  • Eugene Cittadino, Nature as the Laboratory: Darwinian Plant Ecology in the German Empire, 1880–1900 (CUP, 1990) V464
  • Herbert Mehrtens, Moderne Sprache Mathematik. Eine Geschichte des Streits um die Grundlagen der Disziplin und des Subjekts formaler Systeme (Suhrkamp, 1990). O459
  • Peter Galison, Einstein's Clocks, Poincaré's Maps: Empires of Time (Sceptre, 2003). H380
  • Alfred Kelly, The Descent of Darwin: The Popularization of Darwinism in Germany, 1860–1914 (North Carolina, 1981). W377
  • Andreas W. Daum, Wissenschaftspopularisierung im 19. Jahrhundert. Bürgerliche Kultur, naturwissenschaftliche Bildung und die deutsche Öffentlichkeit, 1848–1914 (Oldenbourg, 1998). E793
  • Angela Schwarz, Der Schlüssel zur modernen Welt: Wissenschaftspopulisierung in Grossbritannien und Deutschland im Ubergang zur Moderne (ca. 1870–1914) (Steiner, 1999). C555
  • Anson Rabinbach, The Human Motor: Energy, Fatigue, and the Origins of Modernity (California, 1992). E681
  • Nicola Lepp et al. (eds), Der neue Mensch. Obsessionen des 20. Jahrhunderts (Cantz, 1999). E860
  • Michael Hau, The Cult of Health and Beauty in Germany: A Social History, 1890–1930 (Chicago, 2003). X2242

Weimar Republic and National Socialism

  • Paul Forman, 'Weimar culture, causality, and quantum theory, 1918–1927: Adaptation by German physicists and mathematicians to a hostile intellectual environment', HSPS 3 (1971), 1–116.
  • Jeffrey Herf, Reactionary Modernism: Technology, Culture and Politics in Weimar and the Third Reich (CUP, 1984). D112
  • Paul Weindling, Health, Race and German Politics between National Unification and Nazism, 1870–1945 (CUP, 1989). N50
  • Jonathan Harwood, Styles of Scientific Thought: The German Genetics Community, 1900–1933 (Chicago, 1993). W590
  • Anne Harrington, Reenchanted Science: Holism in German Culture from Wilhelm II to Hitler (Princeton, 1996). E719
  • Mitchell G. Ash, Gestalt Psychology in German Culture, 1890–1967: Holism and the Quest for Objectivity (CUP, 1995). Z1209
  • Martin Kusch, Psychological Knowledge: A Social History and Philosophy (Routledge, 1999). Z1318
  • Mitchell G. Ash & Ulfried Geuter (eds). Geschichte der deutschen Psychologie im 20. Jahrhundert. Ein Überblick (Westdeutscher Verlag, 1985). Z908
  • Cornelie Usborne, Politics of the Body in Weimar Germany: Women's Reproductive Rights and Duties (Macmillan, 1991). X1598
  • Atina Grossmann, Reforming Sex: The German Movement for Birth Control and Abortion Reform, 1920–1950 (OUP, 1995). X1623
  • Monika Renneberg & Mark Walker (eds), Science, Technology and National Socialism (CUP, 1994). C406
  • Robert Jay Lifton, The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide (Basic Books, 1986). Z868
  • Anna Bramwell, Blood and Soil: Richard Walther Darré and Hitler's 'Green Party' (Kensal, 1985). W588
  • U. Geuter, Die Professionalisierung der deutschen Psychologie im Nationalsozialismus (Suhrkamp, 1988; transl. CUP, 1992). Z1068
  • Mark Walker, German National Socialism and the Quest for Nuclear Power, 1939–1949 (CUP, 1989). Q330
  • Michael H. Kater, Doctors under Hitler (North Carolina, 1989). X1105
  • Benno Müller-Hill, Murderous Science: Elimination by Scientific Selection of Jews, Gypsies, and Others: Germany, 1933–1945 (OUP, 1988). Z918
  • Michael Burleigh & Wolfgang Wippermann, The Racial State: Germany, 1933–1945 (CUP, 1991)
  • Kristie Macrakis, Surviving the Swastika: Scientific Research in Nazi Germany (OUP, 1993). E666
  • Robert N. Proctor, The Nazi War on Cancer (Princeton, 1999). X1859
  • Kees Gispen, Poems in Steel: National Socialism and the Politics of Inventing from Weimar to Bonn (Berghahn, 2002). E1061
  • Adrian Weale, Science and the Swastika (Channel 4 Books, 2001). E931
  • Publications in the series 'Geschichte der Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft im Nationalsozialismus'

GDR and FRG

  • Kristie Macrakis & Dieter Hoffmann (eds), Science under Socialism: East Germany in Comparative Perspective (Harvard, 1999). E834
  • Gisela Staupe & Lisa Vieth (eds), Die Pille. Von der Lust und von der Liebe (Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, 1996). X1613

General historical surveys

  • Mary Fulbrook, A Concise History of Germany (CUP, 1992). D109
  • David Blackbourn, The Fontana History of Germany, 1780–1918: The Long Nineteenth Century (Fontana, 1997)
  • Volker Berghahn, Imperial Germany, 1871–1914: Economy, Society, Culture and Politics (Berghahn, 1994). D110
  • Mary Fulbrook, The Fontana History of Germany, 1918–1990: The Divided Nation (Fontana, 1991)
  • Thomas Nipperdey, Deutsche Geschichte, 1800–1866. Bürgerwelt und starker Staat (Beck, 1983); Deutsche Geschichte, 1866–1918, vol. 1: Arbeitswelt und Bürgergeist; vol. 2: Machtstaat vor der Demokratie (Beck, 1992)
  • James J. Sheehan, German History, 1770–1866 (Clarendon, 1989)
  • Detlev J. K. Peukert, The Weimar Republic: The Crisis of Classical Modernity (Penguin, 1991)
  • Ian Kershaw, The Nazi Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation, 4th edn (Arnold, 2000)
  • Mary Fulbrook, Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR, 1949–1989 (OUP, 1995)

A few primary sources

  • Wolfgang Schirmacher (ed.), German Essays on Science in the 19th Century (Continuum, 1996). C494 A
  • Wolfgang Schirmacher (ed.), German Essays on Science in the 20th Century (Continuum, 1996). C494 B
  • Hermann von Helmholtz, Science and Culture: Popular and Philosophical Essays, ed. David Cahan (Chicago, 1995). C478
  • Emil du Bois-Reymond, Reden, 2 vols, 2nd edn (Veit & Comp., 1912). STORE 59:18-19
  • Two Great Scientists of the Nineteenth Century: Correspondence of Emil du Bois-Reymond and Carl Ludwig (Johns Hopkins, 1982). X625

Histories of books and other media

  • Books. See Reinhard Wittmann, Geschichte des deutschen Buchhandels: Ein Überblick (Beck, 1991). The Institut für Buchwissenschaft at the Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg runs an excellent site with good reading lists (see Studium/Materialien).
  • Wallcharts. See Massimiano Bucchi, 'Images of science in the classroom: Wallcharts and science education, 1850–1920', BJHS 31 (1992), 161–84; and Jutta Schmidt, So bleibt man gesund! Gesundheitserziehung in visuellen Medien von 1900 bis 1950 (Die Blaue Eule, 1995). X1845.
  • Models. See Soraya de Chadarevian & Nick Hopwood (eds), Models: The Third Dimension of Science (Stanford, 2004).
  • Photographs. See Klaus Tenfelde (ed.), Bilder von Krupp. Fotografie und Geschichte im Industriezeitalter (Beck, 1994). UL S405:9.b.9.41
  • Film. See Ulf Schmidt, Medical Films, Ethics and Euthanasia in Nazi Germany: The History of Medical Research and Teaching Films of the Reich Office for Educational Films / Reich Institute for Films in Science and Education, 1933–1945 (Matthiesen, 2002). X2228
  • Libraries. See Cristoph Meinel (ed.), Fachschrifttum, Bibliothek und Naturwissenschaft im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (Harrassowitz, 1997; E869); and Wolfgang Schivelbusch, Eine Ruine im Krieg der Geister. Die Bibliothek von Löwen, August 1914 bis Mai 1940 (Fischer, 1993).
  • Collecting, collections and museums. See Anke te Heesen & E.C. Spary (eds), Sammeln als Wissen. Das Sammeln und seine wissenschaftgeschichtliche Bedeutung (Wallstein, 2001; E955); James J. Sheehan, Museums in the German Art World: From the End of the Old Regime to the Rise of Modernism (OUP, 2000); Susanne Köstering, Natur zum Anschauen. Das Naturkundemuseum des deutschen Kaiserreichs 1871–1914 (Böhlau, 2003; E1089).
  • Exhibitions. See e.g. Robert Brain, Going to the Fair: Readings in the Culture of Nineteenth-Century Exhibitions (Whipple Museum, 1993). REF FILE 35 B:16.
  • Panoramas. See Stephan Oetterman, Das Panorama. Die Geschichte eines Massenmediums (Syndikat, 1980; transl. Zone, 1997); Bernard Comment, The Panorama (Reaktion, 1999; D190).
  • Panopticons and popular anatomy museums. See Hannes König & Erich Ortenau, Panoptikum. Vom Zauberbild zum Gaukelspiel der Wachsfiguren (Isartal, 1962); Stephan Oettermann, 'Alles-Schau: Wachsfigurenkabinette und Panoptiken', in Viel Vergnügen. Öffentliche Lustbarkeiten im Ruhrgebiet der Jahrhundertwende, ed. Lisa Kosok (Pomp, 1992), 36–56, 294–302.
  • Zoos. See Nigel Rothfels, Savages and Beasts: The Birth of the Modern Zoo (Johns Hopkins, 2002; W904); and Mitchell G. Ash & Lothar Dittrich (eds), Menagerie des Kaisers – Zoo der Wiener (Pichler, 2002).
  • Buildings. See The Architectures of Science, ed. Peter Galison & Emily Thompson (MIT, 1999; Q467); and Glenys Gill & Dagmar Klencke, Bauten der Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, 1993; E933).

Biography

Individual biographies

  • Nicholas Boyle, Goethe: The Poet and the Age, 2 vols so far (1991–2000)
  • W.-H. Hein (ed.), Alexander von Humboldt (Frankfurt am Main, 1985). C326 Oversize
  • David Cahan (ed.), Hermann von Helmholtz and the Foundations of Nineteenth-Century Science (California, 1994). C409
  • William H. Brock, Justus von Liebig: The Chemical Gatekeeper (CUP, 1997). R186
  • Michael Hagner & Bettina Wahrig-Schmidt (eds), Johannes Müller und die Philosophie (Akademie, 1992). W611
  • Constantin Goschler, Rudolf Virchow: Mediziner, Anthropologe, Politiker (Böhlau, 2002). X2215
  • Georg Lamberti, Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (1832–1920): Leben, Werk und Persönlichkeit in Bildern und Texten (Deutscher Psychologen Verlag, 1995). UL 9006.c.1823
  • Georg Uschmann, Ernst Haeckel: Forscher, Künstler, Mensch (Urania, 1961)
  • M. Heidelberger, Nature from Within: Gustav Theodor Fechner and His Psychophysical Worldview (Pittsburgh, 2004). Z1704
  • Wilfried Feldenkirchen, Werner von Siemens: Inventor and International Entrepreneur (Ohio State, 1994). T305
  • Thomas D. Brock, Robert Koch: A Life in Medicine and Bacteriology (Science Tech, 1988). X912
  • Otto Glasser, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen and the Early History of the Roentgen Rays (1934; Norman, 1989). P483; UL 357.b.93.1
  • Margit Szöllösi-Janze, Fritz Haber, 1868–1934. Eine Biographie (Beck, 1998). R198
  • Gerit von Leitner, Der Fall Clara Immerwahr. Leben für eine humane Wissenschaft (Beck, 1993). UL 571:54.d.95.15
  • J. L. Heilbron, The Dilemmas of an Upright Man: Max Planck as Spokesman for German Science (Berkeley, 1986). P322
  • Fritz Stern, Einstein's German World (Princeton, 1999). E937
  • Russell McCormmach, Night Thoughts of a Classical Physicist (Harvard, 1982). P285
  • David C. Cassidy, Uncertainty: The Life and Science of Werner Heisenberg (Freeman, 1992). P395

Biographical reference works

  • Much the most important resource is the Deutsches Biographisches Archiv, a compilation of biographical reference works on microfiche (in a filing cabinet in the UL Reading room; ask for the key at the central desk). DBA I covers the period to about 1910 and has a 4-volume index; DBA II, the Neue Folge, is a sequel to the mid-C20; and DBA III covers 1960–99. These are accompanied by the Deutscher Biographischer Index, of which the 5th edn (1999) is on CD-ROM.
  • For prominent figures the major national biographies are useful: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (1875–1912; R457.G5), Neue Deutsche Biographie (1953–; R457.G7) and the less significant Deutsche biographische Enzyklopädie (R457.G6), as are those of the German Länder, e.g. Badische Biographien and Sächsische Lebensbilder. See also Österreichisches biographisches Lexikon, 1815–1950 (R457.A19), Felix Czeike, Historisches Lexikon Wiens (5 vols, 1992–97; R560.A59) and Historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz (7 vols, 1921–34; R560.S90).
  • For autobiographical material, mostly memoirs, diaries and letters, see especially the Bibliographie der Autobiographien; vol. 3 is for mathematicians, scientists and engineers, vol. 4 for medics. R457.G19
  • For medics, see August Hirsch (ed.), Biographisches Lexikon hervorragender Ärzte aller Zeiten und Völker, 6 vols (1884–88; 2nd edn in 5 vols, 1929–35; reprinted 1962; R301.1; REF [MED 108 A–F]); Julius Pagel, Biographisches Lexikon hervorragender Ärzte des 19. Jahrhunderts (Berlin, 1900–1; reprinted 1989); Biographisches Lexikon hervorragender Ärzte der letzten fünfzig Jahre, vols 1–2, ed. Isidor Fischer (1932–33; reprinted 1962; R301.2) and vols 3–4: Nachträge und Ergänzungen, ed. Peter Voswinckel (2002–). See also Eulner, Entwicklung der medizinischen Spezialfächer.
  • Poggendorff Biographisch-Literarisches Handwörterbuch der Exakten Wissenschaften. R340.35
  • Hugo Freund & Alexander Berg (eds), Geschichte der Mikroskopie. Leben und Werk grosser Forscher, 3 vols (Umschau, 1963–66). 375.1.c.95.7–9
  • Zoologisches Adressbuch, 2nd edn (R. Friedländer & Sohn, 1911). An example of a useful, if scarce, genre.
  • Werner Röder & Herbert A. Strauss (eds), Handbuch der deutschsprachigen Emigration nach 1933 = International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Émigrés 1933–1945, 2 vols (Saur, 1983). R457.G24

Other reference works

Dictionaries

  • The most comprehensive German dictionary is Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm's invaluable Deutsches Wörterbuch (33 vols, 1854–1971). REF (DIC GER 4 A–Z, AA–AG) and online.
  • Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe. Historisches Lexikon zur politisch-sozialen Sprache in Deutschland, ed. Otto Brunner, Werner Conze & Reinhart Koselleck, 8 vols (Klett, 1972–97). R206.24
  • H.E. Ziegler & E. Bresslau, Zoologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd edn (Jena, 1912). One of several useful specialized dictionaries.

Handbooks

  • Christa Berg (ed.), Handbuch der deutschen Bildungsgeschichte (Beck), vol. III: 1800–1870. Von der Neuordnung Deutschlands bis zur Gründung des Deutschen Reiches (1987); vol. IV: 1870–1918. Von der Reichsgründung bis zum Ende des Ersten Weltkriegs (1991); vol. V: 1918–1945. Die Weimarer Republik und die nationalsozialistische Diktatur (1989); vol. VI: 1945 bis zur Gegenwart. 1: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 2: Deutsche Demokratische Republik und neue Bundesländer (1998). UL 240.c.98.1548–
  • Hartmut Titze, Datenhandbuch zur deutschen Bildungsgeschichte, vol. I: Hochschulen... (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1995). UL 240.b.98.100
  • Hans-Heinz Eulner, Die Entwicklung der medizinischen Spezialfächer an den Universitäten des deutschen Sprachgebietes (Enke, 1970). REF (MED 116). Who was professor of what, where and when.
  • Hermann Aubin & Wolfgang Zorn (eds), Handbuch der deutschen Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte, vol. 2: Das 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (Klett-Cotta, 1976). Includes currency conversions.

Atlases

  • Geoffrey Barraclough (ed.), The Times Atlas of World History (Times Books, 1989). REF OVERSIZE

Catalogues and bibliographies

The major German libraries and their catalogues

Germany's federal history produced no single national library equivalent to the British Library. Only in 1913 was the Deutsche Bücherei founded in Leipzig and charged with collecting all German books published from that date, a role now played by the Deutsche Bibliothek in Leipzig and Frankfurt. For books published earlier, five libraries are collecting systematically to expand their holdings in a series of periods: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München (1450–1600), Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel (1601–1700), Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen (1701–1800), Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main / Senckenbergische Bibliothek (1801-70) and Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (1871–1912).

The best place to start a search is the Karlsruhe Virtual Catalogue (KVK), which allows simultaneous searching of the online catalogues of the major German, Austrian and Swiss libraries and the comprehensive German union catalogue of serials (Zeitschriftendatenbank), as well as many other catalogues around the world, including Copac (which itself includes UL, BL and Wellcome catalogues) and the major bookselling sites. Be aware, though, that major holdings are not yet listed online, e.g. those of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek between 1841 and 1952. The Zentrales Verzeichnis antiquarischer Bücher (ZVAB) in many ways represents the C19 and C20 book market better than any library catalogue – and with the added temptation that the books are for sale. Also search WorldCat and/or the RLG Union Catalog of research libraries in the United States (RLIN) – access is via the UL's libraries worldwide page – which are very rich in German material. To establish the existence of a book it is still worth consulting the multivolume, if by no means comprehensive, Gesamtverzeichnis des deutschsprachigen Schrifttums for 1700–1910 and 1911–65 (R854.G6), and Gesamtverzeichnis des deutschsprachigen Schrifttums ausserhalb des Buchhandels (R854.G8).

Bibliographies of science and learning

  • Burghard Weiss, Wie finde ich Informationen zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Technik? 2nd edn (A. Spitz, 1990).
  • Arne Hessenbruch (ed.), Reader's Guide to the History of Science (Fitzroy Dearborn, 2000). REF (SCI 81)
  • Hermann Mundt, Bio-bibliographisches Verzeichnis von Universitats- und Hochschuldrucken (Dissertationen): Vom Ausgang des 16. bis Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts, 4 vols (Charlsohn, 1934–36). R856.G3
  • Wilhelm Erman & Ewald Horn, Bibliographie der deutschen Universitäten: Systematisch geordnetes Verzeichnis der bis Ende 1899 gedruckten Bücher und Aufsätze über das deutsche Universitätswesen, 3 vols (Teubner, 1904–5). 857.b.240.1–3
  • Martin Scheele & Gerhardt Natalis (eds), Biologie-Dokumentation. Bibliographie der deutschen biologischen Zeitschriftenliteratur 1796–1965, 24 vols (Saur, 1981–82). 379:1.b.95.88–111. Organized by author, with extensive indices.
  • Bibliographie der deutschen Rezensionen (1901–12), continued as the Internationale Bibliographie der Zeitschriftenliteratur. Abt. C. R908.9. An invaluable, if cumbersome, index of reviews.
  • Sperlings Zeitschriften-Adressbuch. Annual publishers' guide to the periodical press of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, under various titles, 1851–1947.
  • Gerhard Fichtner, Index wissenschaftshistorischer Dissertationen and Udo Benzenhöfer, Verzeichnis der medizinhistorischen Dissertationen.
  • Petra Hauke, Bibliographie zur Geschichte der Kaiser-Wilhelm-/Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Wissenschaften (1911–1994) (Archiv zur Geschichte der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, 1994). E934A–C

Organizing research

Planning trips

Several institutions in Cambridge and London have rich holdings of German academic books, journals and other objects. In London, the most useful libraries are the BL, Wellcome and German Historical Institute. Even when working in Britain, though, you will find it useful to research the holdings of German and American libraries, in part in order to request interlibrary loans through the UL.

PhD research will usually take you also to libraries, archives and/or museums in Germany, Austria and/or Switzerland, because even many printed books are simply not obtainable here. The federal system and the ravages of war, fascism and occupation can make this work complex and sometimes frustrating, but it is also often extremely interesting and even exciting. Prepare reasonably carefully in advance so that you avoid wasted trips and make the most of what you find, but don't delay a first visit. At a fairly early stage in a project, you should survey the secondary literature and guides to libraries, archives and museums and, where appropriate, write to the more promising institutions for information on holdings and opening times. It is rarely worth making a trip to see a few letters of which you could more cheaply order copies or a microfilm.

It is generally best to arrange a set of short preliminary visits first and go back to mine the richest seams. Even then, shorter visits, with pauses for reflection and writing inbetween, may be more productive than staying for many months at a stretch. Opening times are sometimes extremely restricted, but with careful planning you'll easily fill your days productively. Be nice to archivists and librarians, and cultivate local historians and scientists; they can teach you a great deal and may be able to help with accommodation. Ordering copies and slides is easier and cheaper on the spot.

Don't forget that the most important collections of some German materials are in other countries. Examples for late C19 biology are the archives and libraries of the Naples Zoological Station and the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

German archives, libraries and museums

To find the papers of, and especially letters to or from, a particular person, the best place to start is an online catalogue. The Berlin State Library hosts MALVINE (Manuscripts and Letters via Integrated Networks in Europe), an expanding search service for post-medieval manuscripts in Europe. It gives access to the British Library's Molcat, major Swiss and Austrian collections, and (above all) the State Library's own German union catalogue, Kalliope, which includes an ever-increasing number of the old record cards of the Zentralkartei der Autographen. See also the online version of the Repertorium der handschriftlichen Nachlässe in den Bibliotheken und Archiven der Schweiz.

Often though, the only way to find out what an archive might have for you is to ask. The best online guide through the labyrinth of state, municipal and university archives is the directory produced by the Archivschule at Marburg. For museums, see the Virtual Library Museen. For Swiss archives, see the site of the Verein Schweizerischer Archivarinnen und Archivare, and for Austrian archives, Archive in Österreich.

Imagine you are working on the activities of a university professor. The university archive may have a Personalakte, files of the institute, clinic and/or collections, and faculty and senate or rectoral files. Matriculation records are often published. Sometimes university archives hold other items, like lecture notes, but more often these are in the manuscript departments of state and university libraries along with various Nachlässe and correspondence, of which the Sammlung Darmstädter of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin is a particularly important repository. The ministerial files in the main state archive of the relevant Land, e.g. the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin-Dahlem and the Badisches Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe, contain files organized in a similar way to the university archive, but these may be much thicker or thinner. At the federal level, the Bundesarchiv looks after the files of the Reichsuniversität Strassburg and, for example, the Notgemeinschaft der deutschen Wissenschaft, and has a film archive. Sometimes also important are the archives of the various academies, especially the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, the Leopoldina in Halle and the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften in Munich.

Though less frequented by historians of science, lower-level Staatsarchive and the Stadtarchive may be invaluable sources of hospital records, police and court files (which may give more than basic personal information), photographs and newspaper clippings. Along with the local libraries, they are also useful sources of Adressbücher, periodicals, Vorlesungsverzeichnisse and other scarce publications. University museums are an obvious port of call, but it is also worth seeing what is left in and of the institutes. Consider going to the city museums, too.

Last but not least come the specialist archives, museums and libraries. Among the most important public institutions are the Deutsches Museum, Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, Ernst-Haeckel-Haus Jena, Archiv zur Geschichte der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft and Institut für Geschichte der Medizin der Universität Wien. Of the company archives, some administered by the firms themselves and others deposited in other institutions, publishers' are the most generally useful, e.g. Vieweg in Braunschweig, de Gruyter (including Georg Reimer) in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and Gustav Fischer (not yet fully accessible) in the Thüringisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Weimar.

Start learning C19 German handwriting before you go (advice here); you may still want to take a crib with you.

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