idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
Some 15,000 historical photographs currently housed in the Gustaf Dalman Institute at the Faculty of Theology in Greifswald will be subjected to special scientific scrutiny over the next two years. This unique collection at the University of Greifswald presents moving and informative images of Palestine from around 1900. Funds in the order of 62,400 British pounds (74,000 euros) were raised by Professor Daniel Stein Kokin, Junior Professor for Jewish Literature and Culture in the Faculty of Theology, in order to enable the hiring of a full-time curator for the collection.
The Gustaf Dalman Institute has already digitized nearly 5,000 glass plate slides and aerial photographs. Two-thirds of these images are now available via two online databases. The new funds will enable the researchers to continue digitalization and to investigate the story behind the images. Dr. Karin Berkemann, the curator of the collection and an art historian and theologian, explains: "We want to answer a number of questions: Who took the pictures? Why where the photographs taken? Were they snap shots or carefully orchestrated scenes? Our goal is to identify all the places and people on the images and collate this information in the database. This can be tricky when a location has many different names in Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, Greek, Latin, as well as in English and French."
Often notes made by Gustaf Dalman himself are helpful in uncovering the stories behind the photographs. For the series "Aerial Images", aerial photographs taken in the early 20th century, Dalman placed translucent paper over the images and labeled towns and landscapes. The new curator is particularly interested in a series of 1,200 photographs, many of which are fine art prints and hand-colored. The photographs are from the early 1900s and feature motifs of the Holy Land in the style of traditional paintings. Rather than strict documentation, the images show artistic interpretations. Further photographs are from the private albums of Gustaf Dalman.
"Our Palestine collection is not a folkloric collection. All objects, and in particular the photographs, document Palestine and its inhabitants in the period before the First World War, the Land of the Bible, which no longer exists today. The photographs in the private albums of Gustaf Dalman capture unadulterated moments of intercultural exchange. Looking though the pages, one feels a part of the expedition. From these rare insights into the excursions of the Palestinian institute in the period 1903-1910, we can learn how research actually took place," said Prof. Dr. Stefan Beyerle, director of the Gustaf Dalman Institute.
The collection owes its existence to the theologian Gustaf Dalman (1855-1941). Beginning in 1902, he was head of the German Protestant Institute of Archeology of the Holy Land in Jerusalem. In addition to a comprehensive library on the geography and culture of Palestine, as well as on the history, religion and culture of the Jewish people, the collection encompasses nearly 15,000 glass plate slides and photographs. Dalman collected everything - from rock and wood samples to archaeological artifacts, relief maps, and over 2,000 plant specimens (which comprise one of the largest herbaria of Palestinian plants). Due to the turmoil of the First World War, Gustaf Dalman could not return to Palestine and instead accepted a professorship at the University of Greifswald in 1917, where he founded what later became the Gustaf Dalman Institute in 1920. He was able to bring a large portion of his collection to Greifswald; other materials remain in Jerusalem to this day.
During the next two years, the Dalman Collection will be made more accessible to scholars and others throughout the world. The collection will be properly catalogued for the first time, the historical photographs digitized, and the institute's website revamped and expanded. The new and existing digital resources will be consolidated in the central database of the University of Greifswald and made accessible for research via the website for scientific collections. Plans are also underway for cooperation with the National Library of Israel and University of Pennsylvania (USA) for the establishment of a web portal dedicated to early images of Palestine. There is growing interest among researchers worldwide in both the photographs and the stories behind the images that are preserved in Greifswald. And the Gustaf Dalman Institute is determined to ensure that its treasures receive the close attention and careful study which they deserve.
More information is available under:
http://www.wissenschaftliche-sammlungen.uni-greifswald.de/Sammlungseinrichtung/DE-MUS-035229
http://www.theologie.uni-greifswald.de/institute/gustaf-dalman-institut.html
http://www.holyland-dalman.de/
The photographs can be downloaded and used free of charge for editorial purposes in connection with the press release. The name of the author must be mentioned. Download:
http://www.uni-greifswald.de/informieren/pressestelle/pressefotos/pressefotos-2013/pressefotos-november-2013.html
Contact:
Gustaf Dalman Institute
Faculty of Theology
Am Rubenowplatz 2/3
17489 Greifswald
Germany
Phone +49 3834 86-2516
beyerle@uni-greifswald.de
Prof. Dr. Stefan Beyerle, the director of the Gustaf Dalman Institute
Photo: Jan Meßerschmidt
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