Neue Ansätze und Perspektiven in der Seuchengeschichte. Eine thematische Einleitung

in Mein, Georg; Pause, Johannes (Eds.) Self and Society in the Corona Crisis. Perspectives from the Humanities and Social Sciences (2020)

Bacteria and parasites are constant companions of humankind. Usually, they are harmless. When they turn against their hosts, however, they become harbinger of diseases. It seems to be a paradox of history ... [more ▼]

Bacteria and parasites are constant companions of humankind. Usually, they are harmless. When they turn against their hosts, however, they become harbinger of diseases. It seems to be a paradox of history that diseases and their global spread may be seen as indicators for the process of civilisation. We investigate this phenomenon from two angles: the so-called Black Death and leprosy. [less ▲]

Continuity and change: Transformations in the urban history of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

in Kurfürst, Sandra; Wehner, Stefanie (Eds.) Southeast Asian Transformations. Urban and Rural Developments in the 21st Century (2020)

Die Pest als „die“ Pandemie der Weltgeschichte in der Geschichtsschreibung

in Mein, Georg; Pause, Johannes (Eds.) Self and Society in the Corona Crisis (2020)

Bacteria and parasites are constant companions of humankind. Usually, they are harmless. When they turn against their hosts, however, they become harbinger of diseases. It seems to be a paradox of history ... [more ▼]

Bacteria and parasites are constant companions of humankind. Usually, they are harmless. When they turn against their hosts, however, they become harbinger of diseases. It seems to be a paradox of history that diseases and their global spread may be seen as indicators for the process of civilisation. We investigate this phenomenon from two angles: the so-called Black Death and leprosy. After a short general introduction by Martin Uhrmacher and Thomas Kolnberger, the latter presents the globalization of “the plague” in three historical waves. Michel Pauly then scrutinizes the impact the second wave had in the fourteenth century on the region of today’s Luxembourg. In the last part, Martin Uhrmacher introduces leprosy, its social consequences and the history of its perception. [less ▲]

The material culture of burial and its microgeography: A Luxembourg cemetery as a methodological example of an object-centred approach to quantitative material culture studies

in Journal of Material Culture (2019), 24(2), 1-26

This article uses a novel quantitative methodology to examine sepulchral material culture. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of social spatialization and art as agency, the authors contend that ... [more ▼]

This article uses a novel quantitative methodology to examine sepulchral material culture. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of social spatialization and art as agency, the authors contend that variations in grave designs and materiality cannot simply be explained in terms of changes in fashion and mentality. Other factors also need to be taken into account. Using a digital data collection tool, the Cemetery Surveyor Application (CSA) developed at the University of Luxembourg, they compile a set of data encompassing all the material aspects of each grave in a cemetery in Luxembourg (Western Europe), the setting of their case study. The graves are dated from the 1850s to 2015. |The authors compare the chronological evolution of the most recurrent material features with a GIS-based spatial analysis of the same features. The results of the spatial analysis not only largely confirm the chronological study, but also allow them to be more precise (dating is often problematic) and include undated graves (a third of the sample). The digital data collection tool also allows them to compare cemeteries and to highlight variations in these that cannot merely be imputed to chronology, but also to spatial proximity and material agency. [less ▲]

Friedhof, Heldenhain oder Totenburg? Der Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge und die Soldatenfriedhöfe Sandweiler und Clausen im Großherzogtum Luxemburg.

in Philippart, Robert L.; Reuter, Antoinette; Kmec, Sonja (Eds.) Ewige Ruhe? Concession à perpétuité? - Grabkulturen in Luxemburg und den Nachbarregionen - Cultures funéraires au Luxembourg et dans les régions voisines (2019)

Zwischen Mensch und Ding

in Hahn, Hans Peter; Neumann, Friedemann (Eds.) Dinge als Herausforderung: Kontexte, Umgangsweisen und Umwertungen von Objekten (2018)

Cemeteries and urban form: a historico-geographcial approach

in Urban Morphology (2018), 22(2), 119-139

Research in urban morphology rarely takes account of the specific forms of burial grounds. This paper offers a synthesis of how Christian cities of the dead mirror the cities of the living, and provides ... [more ▼]

Research in urban morphology rarely takes account of the specific forms of burial grounds. This paper offers a synthesis of how Christian cities of the dead mirror the cities of the living, and provides an overview of different Western European 'funeral epochs'. The shifting location of burial grounds realtes to major changes in town planning and building. Adopting a historico-geographical approach, micro-morphological transformatins of grave-plot forms and their cardinal orientations and accessibility are explored in the context of changing religious beliefs, rules of hygiene, and practical and aesthetic consideration. The role of cemeteries in fringe-belt development is presented, using Vienna as a historical case study. [less ▲]

Tote Soldaten und ihre Gräber: Kriegs- und Militärfriedhöfe des Ersten Weltkrieges in Luxemburg

Article for general public (2018)

Während des Ersten Weltkrieges gehörte Luxemburg weder in die Gruppe der kriegsführenden Nationen noch war sein Territorium Teil der Kampffront gewesen. Trotzdem wurden hier hunderte deutsche ... [more ▼]

Während des Ersten Weltkrieges gehörte Luxemburg weder in die Gruppe der kriegsführenden Nationen noch war sein Territorium Teil der Kampffront gewesen. Trotzdem wurden hier hunderte deutsche, französische und US-amerikanische Soldaten begraben. Die meisten von ihnen wurden in der Nachkriegszeit exhumiert und innerhalb oder außerhalb des Großherzogtums ein zweites Mal bestattet. Dieser Artikel zeichnet die geschichtliche Entwicklung dieser Soldatengräberstätten in Luxemburg nach. Zitierung: Kolnberger, Thomas. "Tote Soldaten und ihre Gräber: Kriegs- und Militärfriedhöfe des Ersten Weltkrieges in Luxemburg" (2018). Éischte Weltkrich: https://ww1.lu [less ▲]

Eine Militärgeschichte Luxemburgs? Auch das noch!

Article for general public (2017)

(Untertitel) Überlegungen über Sinn und Möglichkeiten einer "neuen" Militärgeschichtsschreibung zum Großherzogtum

Funerary Culture and Modernisation in the State of Luxembourg (1800-2000)

in Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire (2017), 95

This article discusses funerary politics in relationship to the political culture of the small state of Luxembourg in northwest Europe during the age of modernisation. During the long nineteenth century ... [more ▼]

This article discusses funerary politics in relationship to the political culture of the small state of Luxembourg in northwest Europe during the age of modernisation. During the long nineteenth century, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg experienced several political changes which affected sepulcral culture, but this did not lead to a 'Kulturkampf' over cemeteries between the Church and the State as is occurred in neighbouring countries. Disputes were resolved at the local level. We apply small power theory to explain the relatively harmonious co-existence of State power with the Catholic clergy, and hightlight the important role of local government. For the top-down introduction of cremation, we need ot change scale and focus on an urban elite setting the national agenda. Luxembourg was one of the last member states of the European Union to place body/earth burial andd cremation on an equal legal footing and its own 'national' crematorium only opened in the 1990s. [less ▲]