Institute for Cusanus Research

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The Institute for Cusanus Research at the University and the Theological Faculty of Trier is a scientific institute sponsored by the Cusanus Society and deals with the research of the life and work of Nikolaus von Kues (1401–1464), but also refers to it intellectual-historical environment and its impact history. The institute maintains close contacts with Cusanus researchers and the Cusanus societies around the world: Argentina, Japan, USA, Italy, Ireland, France, Russia, Bulgaria, Portugal, Spain and others.

The Institute for Cusanus Research in Trier

Prehistory

From an article from the " Trierischer Volksfreund " from 1951 it can be learned that in May 1951 "a society for the research and publication of the ideas of Cusanus and for the promotion of young talent for this area" was founded in Trier. This society should produce a "Cusanus Institute". Even then, reference was made to the international orientation, which to this day forms an important basis for Cusanus research in general as well as the work of the institute in Trier. What happened to this early Cusanus Society and Institute is not clear. It probably still existed in 1958 because it sponsored the publication of a dissertation. Presumably a short time later, however, this Cusanus Association stopped its work.

history

The institute was founded by Rudolf Haubst (1913–1992). During his time as spiritual rector at Nonnenwerth and doctoral student at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Josef Koch, the then director of the Thomas Institute at the University of Cologne, asked him whether he was in charge of the edition of the Cusanus - Sermones as part of the Heidelberg Academy edition. In 1958 Rudolf Haubst was offered the chair for dogmatics and theological propaedeutics at the Catholic-Theological Faculty of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Haubst himself wrote that during his preliminary negotiations for the chair, members of the state government at the time had shown keen interest in an institute. He considered the establishment of such an institute to be necessary for a project on the scale of the Sermon Edition. The establishment of an institute, however, was tied to the condition that there had to be a “Cusanus Society” that would act as the sponsor of the institute. On August 26, 1960, the "Cusanus Society" was founded as an "Association for the Promotion of Cusanus Research" on the initiative of various state and local politicians. On November 18, 1960, the Senate decided to found the "Institute for Cusanus Research" at the University of Mainz. As early as the 1970s, Rudolf Haubst feared that the shortage of space at the University of Mainz could endanger the continued existence of the institute after his retirement. That is why he started semi-official discussions with representatives of the university and the theological faculty of Trier as well as the chairman of the Cusanus Society at the time, in order to investigate a possible move of the institute from Mainz to Trier. In Trier, people were impressed by the idea of ​​moving the institute to the Moselle city and saw it as an enrichment for the young university and the theological faculty, which had been in existence for a long time and which is supported by the diocese of Trier .

After Haubst retired, the institute was officially relocated to Trier in 1980, with its headquarters in the Domfreihof 3 building. The sponsor was and is the Cusanus Society with the support of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate and the Diocese of Trier. The university and the theological faculty of Trier count the institute among their affiliated institutes, which is why the official title is "Institute for Cusanus Research at the University and the Theological Faculty". Since the move to Trier, an endowed professorship has also been set up at the institute, which is financed by the diocese.

The death of Rudolf Haubst on July 19, 1992 marked a deep turning point in the history of the institute, which he founded and headed as director for 30 years. The gap left by Rudolf Haubst was closed by a double leadership by the year 2000. Klaus Kremer, Full Professor of Philosophy at the Faculty of Theology, and Klaus Reinhardt , Chair of Dogmatics and the History of Dogma at the Faculty, were to jointly lead the fate of the institute. Kremer took over the chairmanship of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Cusanus Society from Haubst and Reinhardt was entrusted with the management of the sermon edition of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences . In the summer of 2000, Kremer resigned from the management of the institute. From this point on until March 31, 2007 the management was in the hands of Klaus Reinhardt. He was followed from April 1, 2007 to September 30, 2016 by Walter Andreas Euler, professor of fundamental theology and ecumenical theology at the Trier Theological Faculty. After a short period of vacancy, Petra Schulte , Professor of Medieval History at the University of Trier, has been Director of the Cusanus Institute since May 2, 2017 . With her, a historian took over the management of the institute for the first time.

Projects / research

The edition of the sermons formed the basis of the institute's work for decades. It was headed by Rudolf Haubst and Klaus Reinhardt and Werner Beierwaltes , the chairman of the Cusanus Commission of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences. The project was completed at the turn of 2004/2005. The edited sermons are available in four extensive volumes. This major project was followed by smaller ones. The “Cusanus Portal” was created in cooperation with the “ Competence Center for Electronic Cataloging and Publication Processes in the Humanities ” (Trier Center for Digital Humanities). As part of this project (2007-2011), which was funded by the German Research Foundation, the Latin Opera omnia Nicolai de Cusa German and English translations of his works as well as a bibliography of the literature by and about Cusanus were electronically indexed so that they can now be digitally imprinted in the Internet available. Another important project that has not yet been completed is the complete translation of the sermons of Nikolaus von Kues into German. Volumes 3 (sermons 122–203) and 2 (sermons 27–121) have been published. The fourth and final volume (Sermons 204–293) is being prepared for printing. In 2012 the institute began work on the first handbook on Nikolaus von Kues, in which numerous national and international researchers took part. The manual was published in 2014 by the Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt. The creation of an online library catalog in conjunction with the library of the St. Nikolaus Hospital / Cusanusstift Bernkastel-Kues and the Klausen monastery library is another project that benefits research and is well advanced. In cooperation with the Scientific Advisory Board of Cusanus Research, the institute organizes an international scientific symposium every two years.

The library of the institute

The library of the Institute for Cusanus Research is a special and research library on the life and work of Nikolaus von Kues. There is also literature on its historical and intellectual-historical environment. The core consists of text editions and translations of the works of Nikolaus von Kues, an extensive collection of ancient, medieval and early modern text editions as well as numerous specialist publications on international Cusanus research. The existing literature comes primarily from the fields of theology, philosophy and history. The library also houses microfilms of the entire collection of manuscripts from the St. Nikolaus Hospital / Cusanuss pen in Bernkastel-Kues. The reference library comprises a total of approx. 5,100 volumes, approx. 1,100 articles, offprints and small fonts and 750 microfilms.

Publications

In addition to the edition of the sermons of Nikolaus von Kues and the translation of the same, which is also mentioned, the institute and its staff compile and publish numerous other publications. This includes the communications and research contributions of the Cusanus research , the Cusanus yearbook , the Cusanus lecture , the small writings of the Cusanus Society as well as the selection of texts in German translation, etc. a. m.

Teaching

The Institute for Cusanus Research participates in the teaching of the Theological Faculty and the University of Trier through the Cusanus Lecturer, which is an endowed professorship and is located at the Trier Theological Faculty. In addition, the institute regularly organizes study days on various topics from Cusanus research and their environment, either alone or with changing cooperation partners (e.g. VHS Trier and Weberbach City Library / Trier City Archives).

Foundations

There are two foundations at the institute: the “Satoshi Oide Foundation” for the promotion of science and research by the Institute for Cusanus Research and the “Dr. Birgit Helander Foundation for the Promotion of Cusanus Research ”to support Cusanus research and the Cusanus Institute. The Helander Foundation awards the Cusanus Prize at irregular intervals. Previous winners are: Hermann Hallauer, Erich Meuthen and Anna Reuter.

literature

  • Marco Brösch u. Walter Andreas Euler: From unity in multiplicity. The Cusanus institutions worldwide, in: Voices of the Time , Vol. 232, Issue 8, Verlag Herder, Freiburg 2014, pp. 537-546.
  • Walter Andreas Euler: The Institute for Cusanus Research at the University and the Theological Faculty of Trier. Past, present, future, in: 50 Years of the Cusanus Society and Institute for Cusanus Research, by Marco Brösch and Walter Andreas Euler (Small writings of the Cusanus Society, issue 19), Paulinus-Verlag Trier 2011, pp. 33–51 .
  • Rudolf Haubst : On becoming and working of the Cusanus Institute, in: Access to Nikolaus von Kues / Festschrift for the 25th anniversary of the Cusanus Society, ed. by Helmut Gestrich , Johen, Bernkastel-Kues 1986, pp. 25–32.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Marco Brösch: “The work needs new impulses and initiatives”. Farewell to Professor Euler as Director of the Institute for Cusanus Research. In: Uni-Journal. Journal of the University of Trier 42, issue 2 (2016). Pp. 28–29 , accessed on May 10, 2017 .
  2. ^ Hahn, Katharina: A professor gives full throttle. In: Trierischer Volksfreund. May 4, 2017, accessed on May 10, 2017 (also: Merten, Michael: Historian at the head of Cusanus research, in: Paulinus weekly newspaper in the Diocese of Trier, No. 19, from May 14, 2017, p. 11) .
  3. ↑ Cusanus Portal