The Magazine of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena
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EXCELLENCE STRATEGY NUTRITION WAFFEN-SS LICHTGEDANKEN THREE PROPOSALS WATER LENSES ARE WHY NON- FOR RESEARCH NUTRITIOUS AND GERMANS SERVED IN The Magazine of the CLUSTERS HEALTHY THE FORCE Friedrich Schiller University Jena Online The FSU's topics in the excellence An inconspicuous plant could The motives of the roughly 500,000 competition make up for a poor diet volunteers from the whole of Europe
The magazine of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena – also available as an e-paper on the Internet:
www.uni-jena.de/en/lichtgedanken FEATURE 500 YEARS OF REFORMATION
When Martin Luther protested against The Magazine of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena Schiller University The Magazine of the Friedrich the Church's sale of indulgences, he set a reform movement of epochal proportions in motion. The traces of it are visible to this day in Jena and Thuringia. GEDANKEN 02 02 GEDANKEN LICHT Become a Friend & Patron of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Contact: The Association of Friends and Patrons Gesellschaft der Freunde und of Friedrich Schiller University Jena Förderer der Friedrich-Schiller- supports academic work, teaching and Universität Jena e. V.* research, and also promotes and gives financial support to national and inter- Dr Renate Adam national conferences, student excursi- Fürstengraben 1 · 07743 Jena ons, internationalization, printing of publications, music in academia, and to Phone: 03641 9-31000 the University’s collections. Fax: 03641 9-31002 Email: [email protected] We warmly invite you to join the Asso- ciation (annual membership fee: € 45; companies and associations: € 150) or to support us by giving a donation. For further information and for a mem- bership application form, please visit: A note on fi xing the ›95 Theses‹ by Georg Rörer www.uni-jena.de/univerein
Held by the Thuringian State and University Library (ThULB), the edition of the New Testament published in 1540 also contains a handwritten note by Luther’s con dant Georg Rörer (1492–1557) on the posting of the Theses in 1517: Anno domini 1517 in profesto omnium Sanctorum, pr<…> Wittemberge in valuis templorum propositæ sunt pro
Visible, sustainable and globally connected
2017 is a signifi cant year for the Frie- Applications«, originated in collaborati- drich Schiller University Jena (FSU). It on with the University of Würzburg. The is exactly 500 years since the Reforma- planned cluster pools the special exper- tion was set in motion in Wittenberg: a tise on receptor research established at major European event that resulted in both universities. The third draft propo- Prof. Dr Walter Rosenthal President of Friedrich Schiller University Jena immense upheavals in many walks of sal, entitled »Dialectics of the Global«, life – and to which our university owes was jointly submitted by the well-estab- its foundation. lished university alliance of Halle – Jena – Leipzig. Collaborating across Federal This issue of our research magazine States, the three universities have joined
PUBLISHER: Central Communications/Press Offi ce on LICHTGEDANKEN is therefore de- forces with further partners to conduct behalf of the President of the Friedrich Schiller University dicated to the subject of the Reforma- research on the processes of globaliza- Jena tion. It offers insights into the diverse tion. I would like to thank all scientists EDITORIAL AND DESIGN: Dr. Ute Schönfelder, Juliane Dölitzsch, Stephan Laudien, Axel Burchardt (re- research on Martin Luther and the Re- involved for their great commitment sponsible under German press legislation), Liana Franke, formation conducted by FSU scientists in preparing and completing the draft Kai Friedrich, Monika Paschwitz (editorial assistant) and in the last decade and in collaboration proposals. Kerstin Apel (secretariat) GRAPHIC DESIGN: Timespin – Digital Communication with numerous partners in Thuringia. GmbH, Sophienstraße 1, D-07743 Jena The results of their research are avai- Excellent research at the University ADDRESS: Friedrich Schiller University Jena lable to the broad public – in publicati- of Jena is, however, not limited to the Fürstengraben 1, D-07743 Jena Phone: ++49 3641/9-31040, Fax: ++49 3641/9-31032, ons and on the Internet (see p. 10 ff.). cluster proposals submitted. Scien- Email: [email protected] tists are working at the highest level in OVERALL PRODUCTION: Druckhaus Gera GmbH, However, 2017 is also the year in which many – also small – areas, and connect Jacob-A.-Morand-Straße 16, D-07552 Gera TRANSLATION: BAKER & HARRISON, Fachübersetzun- the FSU, like many other universities in with research partners all around the gen und Lektorat, Ferdinand-Maria-Straße 30, D-80639 Germany, is again competing for fun- world. In this issue of LICHTGEDAN- München ding as part of the »Excellence Strate- KEN, we present some of the resear- INTERNET: www.uni-jena.de/en/lichtgedanken ISSN: 2510-3849 gy« pursued by the Federal and State chers with their latest research topics. PUBLICATION DATE: May 2017 governments. Success in the Excellence I wish you a stimulating read. We will PHOTOS: Kasper (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18, 23, Strategy is an important step towards be happy to receive your suggestions 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 44, 49, 50, 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57), AsÚ (5), Günther (6, 9, 13, 22, 31, permanently sustaining the level hither- or criticisms on the current issue. You 34, 43, 48, 55, 58), HKI (8), Szabó (9), P. Scheere (14), to attained in research and teaching. The can reach the editorial team by email ThULB (14, 17), Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein (15), FSU is participating in the Excellence at: [email protected]. Landesarchiv Thüringen – Hauptstaatsarchiv Weimar (16), J. Scheere (20, 53), Wartburg-Stiftung (33), Christoph (46), Stra tegy with three proposals for re- Jandt (47), Apel (48), Harries (50), Voigt (58). search clusters (p. 8–9). One draft propo- Reproduction only permitted with approval. No liability is sal with the title »Balance of the Micro- assumed for spontaneously submitted manuscripts, pho- tos or similar material. Articles carrying the name of the verse« builds on the successful graduate author do not necessarily refl ect the views of the publisher school »Jena School for Microbial Com- or the editorial team. The signatories are responsible for munication« and has been submitted by the content. In some places we have only used the male form in articles to improve their readability. The formulati- the FSU and its Jena partners. The sec- ons chosen denote men and women in equal measure. ond draft proposal, »Enlightening the Receptome: From Biophysics to Clinical Jena, May 2017
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 4 Editorial
FEATURE Time of upheaval — 500 years of Reformation
10 LUTHER AND THE REFORMATION. ON LUTHER’S TRAIL IN JENA AND THURINGIA How did the Reformation come to Jena? How did its ideas and dogmas spread? How can testimonies and cultural assets from the time of the Reformation be preserved and also be used for scientifi c purposes in the future? FSU researchers supply answers.
20 »LUTHER WAS A GENIUS.« A discussion of the Lutheran faith and the reformer himself with Church historian and Luther expert Christopher Spehr.
23 REFORMER IN A CELLULOSE BATH The Thuringian State and University Library possesses an extensive collection of books and manuscripts from the time of the Reformation. The reportage gives an insight into the everyday work of the restorers who preserve these treasures for the future.
30 »SOMETIMES IT’S A HELP, SOMETIMES A HINDRANCE« Scarcely anyone at the FSU has studied the events surrounding the Reformation as intensively in the last few years as the former Rector Klaus Dicke. A portrait.
33 A LEAF FROM THE CALENDAR The Wartburg Festival was held 200 years ago. The signal for political awakening is one of the most multifaceted events in German history. But the event would never have taken place without Jena’s students. Contents 5
08 EXCELLENCE STRATEGY 36 NUTRITION 42 WAFFEN-SS THREE PROPOSALS WATER LENSES ARE WHY NON-GERMANS FOR RESEARCH CLUSTERS NUTRITIOUS AND HEALTHY SERVED IN THE FORCE
44 PORTRAIT 50 BEHIND THE SCENES 56 TICKER ADRIAN PFEIFFER GEOSCIENTISTS TREES OF LIFE SHUNS NO RISKS HUNT THE FIREBALL ROOTED IN JENA
NEWS SCIENCE PHOTO BEHIND THE SCENES 06 The latest from town and gown 40 Seeing through fi sh 50 The hunt for the fi reball
TOPICS PORTRAIT TICKER 34 Mathematics in vegetable oil 44 Science rollercoaster 55 Research in brief 36 From the pond to the pot
42 Not just men of conviction PROJECTS 52 Troublemakers stick in the memory 46 The whole world at a glance 47 Germs on the wing 48 Electromobility where you live 49 Taking a camera into class
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 6 Editorial
To be found today in the museum: symbols of the political organisations of the East German State.
new training group, »The GDR and the European dictator- Comparing dictatorships ships after 1945« highlights its focus: »We want to direct the focus onto East and West Europe,« says PD Dr Jörg Ganzen- müller who will run the group’s business. Not only the regi- New Post Graduate Research Training Group examines mes in the Soviet power block but also dictatorships similar European dictatorships after 1945 to those in Spain, Portugal and Greece are to be compared. Twelve doctoral students will conduct the research in the Post Graduate Research Training Group. Ten posts will be What social basis do dictatorships have? How do societies funded through Thuringia’s Ministry for Economic Affairs, function under the conditions of a dictatorship? What modi- Science and Digital Society, and the Ettersberg Foundation fi cations must people make, and in what way do they at the will sponsor two scholarships. A total of €1.5 million will be same time exploit the dictatorship for their own aims and available to the Training Group. The Post Graduate Research interests? Questions such as these are being pursued in a Training Group took up its work in March; it has been set up new Post Graduate Research Training Group. The title of the initially for three years. sl
Healthy ageing
As part of the Pro Excellence Initiative, the Free State of Thuringia is funding a group of junior scientists with €3.9 million
When people get older, the outward effects are visible to everyone. Over the course of time, the fi rst wrinkles are joined by grey or thinning hair, overall fi tness decli- nes and they struggle with age-related illnesses. The rea- sons for these changes lie primarily within the body. What happens in human cells during the ageing process is of great interest not only to scientists but also to the Thu- ringian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Science and Digi- tal Society. The ministry is providing €3.9 million as part of the Pro Excellence Initiative in order to drive research into cellular ageing in three core subject areas until 2020. The research project carries the name »RegenerAging«. As part of this project, the group of junior scientists, »Epi- age and can contribute to signs of ageing and age-related genetics of Ageing«, headed by Dr Holger Bierhoff (photo), illnesses at a molecular level,« explains Holger Bierhoff. took up its work at the start of the year with initial fun- The 40 year-old would like to fi nd out with his team how ding for fi ve years. »Epigenetics looks at the packaging of non-coding RNA molecules help to turn the gene switches our genome and how as a result certain genome strands are for cell growth and cell passivity on and off, and the role activated or shut down. These mechanisms change with they play in keeping retroviral DNA elements at bay. jd EditorialNews 7
The value of the FSU
Independent study determines the signifi cance of the university for the regional economy of the Free State of Thuringia
Special glass block with special optical characteristics and a grid model on which the glass chemists with Prof. Wondraczek are conducting research. While private investors have scarcely any chance now of growing their wealth meaningfully, the State has things better. Universities generate €190 bn per year as demons- trated by the Donors’ Association for the Promotion of the Sciences and Humanities in Germany in 2013. A stu- Functional glass dy conducted by the consultancy company »DIW Econ« belonging to the German Institute for Economic Re- search in Berlin, has now proved the value the Friedrich The Friedrich Schiller University (FSU) is supporting Schiller University (FSU) has for Thuringia. Slovakian partners in Trenčín in setting up a European research centre for high-performance glass €1 becomes €2.50
»Centre for Functional and Surface-Functionalized Glas- Every euro of state funds invested by the Free State of ses«, or »FunGlass«, is the name given to a project worth €25 Thuringia generates economic output in the region worth million which is to establish a centre of excellence in Trenčín €2.50. This, in summary, is the result of extensive inves- in Slovakia to research new glass materials. Scientists at the tigations. The university creates this additional economic FSU are playing a central role in setting up this centre. Fun- output as an employer, trainer and investor. It is therefore Glass is supported by the European Commission as part of an important economic factor in the region and contri- its »Widening Participation« Initiative (TEAMING, Horizon butes emphatically to a very good employment situation. 2020) with €15 million. The Slovakian government is provi- In 2013, the FSU’s direct and indirect value added effect ding a further €10 million. and employment impact (excl. the hospital) totalled €274 With this funding measure, the EU is aiming to set up po- million and 5,262 persons in employment in the Free Sta- werful research centres in member states with a weak scien- te. Regional purchasing power also improved as a result tifi c and technological base. Throughout the process, these with the result that there was greater demand for goods countries are to be supported by excellent partners from the and services. This stimulated additional value added of European centres with the strongest research activity. The €79.1 million via so-called »induced effects« which is as- FunGlass project team was able to prevail with its concept sociated with a further 1,770 persons in employment. The against stiff competition: A mere 10 centres across Europe additional tax revenue in Thuringia alone that is due to are receiving funding in this pilot phase while there were the FSU, comes to a total of €46.5 million. applications from 169 consortia.
Central role in the innovation system New functionalities enable new applications — in solar cells or medical engineering The important role of the FSU in the Free State, however, goes beyond the direct effects which are relatively easy to Research is focusing on the functional characteristics of glass quantify in monetary terms. The FSU produces innova- and its use in new applications. The new centre is primarily tions and technological progress and – with its smart to conduct research into how glass characteristics change, minds from all over the world – plays a central role in the for example, by varying its chemical composition, thereby innovation system in the Jena region. Here, it represents enabling new functionalities to be created. Possible areas of the internationally visible anchor point, the effect of which application include solar power and medical engineering. is to inspire the numerous non-university research insti- Prof. Dr Lothar Wondraczek from the Chair of Glass Che- tutes and companies and to promote spin-offs of innova- mistry II – Laboratory of Glass Science is taking on the lea- tive companies thanks to numerous patent applications. ding role in setting up the »Functional Glass« Department However, as the authors of the study underline, the ef- which, together with subjects such as Biomaterials, Material fects of research and teaching activity at the University Processing and Coatings, forms one of the fi ve departments of Jena as part of the regional system of innovation, can at the centre. AB only be quantifi ed approximately. AB
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 8 EditorialNews
Petri dishes with fungal cultures. The »Jena School for Microbial Communication« (JSMC) has received funding in the Excel- lence Initiative since 2007.
Research clusters in the excellence competition
The FSU is entering three draft projects for research clusters in the current competition organized by the Excellence Strategy of the Federal and State governments. The draft proposals were submitted at the be- ginning of April. A decision will be reached by the autumn on which proposals may be developed to form full-blown applications. In the previous phase of the Excellence Initiative, the FSU received funding for its Graduate School for Microbial Communication (JSMC) – as the only project in Thuringia to qualify.
BY UTE SCHÖNFELDER
The universe of the tiniest in which microorganisms cohabit and the interaction of micro- bes and their host organisms. These are the subjects being ad- dressed by the consortium for the cluster application »Balance of the Microverse« in which numerous non-university research One application from the FSU builds on the Jena Excel- institutes in Jena are participating under the leadership of the lence Graduate School for Microbial Communication FSU: the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and which has been in existence since 2007, and it addresses Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute (HKI) –, the Fraun- scientifi c but at the same time socially pressing questions. hofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering, the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology, the Max Planck Institutes for Chemical Ecology, for Biogeochemistry and for The tiniest organisms determine the biggest questions facing the Science of Human History, the Helmholtz Institute Jena as humanity. Whether it’s a matter of combating dangerous in- well as the new DLR Institute for Data Science. fectious diseases, keeping the environment healthy, sustain- »Together with our partners, we are outstandingly well posi- able agriculture or a stable climate, microorganisms – bacteria, tioned to tackle these subjects comprehensively,« emphasizes fungi or viruses – play a crucial role in all areas. The key to the spokesperson for the consortium, Prof. Dr Axel Brakha- answering these questions lies in exact knowledge of the way ge (photo), pointing out that the FSU has already proved its expertise in these matters by acquiring three Collaborative Research Centres (Sonderforschungsbereich – SFB). »These SFBs have only recently arisen from the Excellence Graduate School which is testament to the incredible pace of research which we have developed here in Jena in the fi eld of microbial communication,« says Brakhage. The holder of the Chair of Microbiology and Molecular Biology and Scientifi c Director of the HKI sees the application in the Strategy for Excellence programme in itself as a success: »Regardless of any possible funding, we have positioned ourselves clearly for the coming years in scientifi c terms.« Editorial 9
Molecular switchboards
The aim of the research alliance of the universities in Jena and Würzburg is to systematically decipher the »receptome«, the total of all receptor molecules in an organism, and exploit it for the treatment of diseases.
Receptors are »molecular switches«. They consist of protein ology (MPICE) are also involved. Prof. Dr Markus Sauer (Uni- and their job is to control metabolic processes within and bet- versity of Würzburg), Prof. Dr Klaus Benndorf (Photo, r.) and ween the cells of an organism. This occurs through interac- Prof. Dr Christian Hübner (l.), both from the Jena university tion with other molecules. Receptors are therefore mainly hospital, are acting as spokespersons. to be found like tiny antennae on cell surfaces where they With the research cluster, the scientists want to further ex- interact with the right neurotransmitters. The »receptome« – pand their successful collaboration from the Collaborative the sum of all receptor molecules of an organism – makes up Research Centre, »Receptor Light: High-end light microscopy more than fi ve percent of its protein. elucidates membrane receptor function«. »In the last few Due to their function, receptors are ideally suited as targets for years, both of our facilities have already established themsel- a variety of therapeutic applications. The aim of the proposed ves as internationally recognized centres for high-resolution research cluster »Enlightening the Receptome: From Biophy- light microscopy,« Prof. Benndorf emphasizes. sics to Clinical Applications« is to decipher the receptome in Basic research is to be extended on this basis even to the stage all its diversity and exploit it for the treatment of diseases. The of developing approaches for clinical applications. »Achie- cluster application has been submitted by the universities of ving a better understanding of how receptors work, will lead Würzburg and Jena and their hospitals. Jena research groups to new diagnostic and therapeutic methods, for example for from the Leibniz Institute on Aging – the Fritz Lipmann In- tracing and combating tumour cells,« states Prof. Hübner stitute (FLI) – and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ec- with conviction.
Levels of the global community
Together with the University of Erfurt and further part- ners, the university alliance of Halle – Jena – Leipzig is submitting an application for a research cluster that analyzes the advancing intermeshing of cultures in the globalization process.
The research cluster applied for by the name of »Dialectics of the Global« is based on a paradox. While more and more people are included in the process of globalization, scep- ticism towards the globalized world is growing. »Techni- cal progress is leading to an ever closer intermeshing and cultural perspective. Besides the universities in Jena, Hal- intertwining of cultures,« says Prof. Dr Stefan Matuschek le, Leipzig and Erfurt, the Max Planck Institute for Social (photo). »As a result, individual, culture-specifi c norms are Anthropology (Halle), the Leibniz Institutes for Regional more and more fl agrantly confronted with other, external Geography and the History and Culture of Eastern Europe norms culminating in the juxtaposition and opposition of in Leipzig as well as the Simon Dubnow Institute at the Uni- different concepts of the world and world order that we versity of Leipzig are also participating. Further spokesper- want to examine in the cluster,« states the literary scholar sons are Prof. Dr Matthias Middell (Leipzig) and Prof. Dr who acts as a spokesperson for the FSU. Yvonne Kleinmann (Halle). The consortium is building on The scientists want to explore the different cultural, legal, the already existing »Forum for the Study of the Global Con- political and social levels of the global community. They will dition« organized by the university alliance of Halle – Jena – pool their expertise in European, American, East Asian, ori- Leipzig. »The Strategy of Excellence is an additional catalyst ental and African cultures and languages to obtain a global for this process,« says Matuschek.
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 10 SCHWERPUNKT
University founder Johann Friedrich I. in Jena’s market- place. The Ernestinian was a staunch supporter of Luther’s Reformation. Luther preached a sermon in the Church of St. Michael’s, seen here in the background, in 1524. This is where the refor- mer’s original gravestone is to be found. SCHWERPUNKT 11
FEATURE Time of upheaval — 500 years of Reformation
On Luther’s trail in Jena and Thuringia
When Martin Luther protested against the Church’s sale of indulgences with his 95 Wittenberg Theses 500 years ago, he set a reform movement of epochal proportions in motion. The Reformation not only affected the Church and reli- gion but also changed the whole of Europe. Signifi cant sites of where Luther lived and worked are located in Thuringia, and numerous sources and docu- ments in Thuringia’s archives and libraries testify to this day to the far-reaching upheavals in culture, education, society and politics. Research on Luther and the Reformation enjoys a long tradition at the University of Jena, the founding of which was also a direct consequence of the Reformation, and it is highly regarded in international circles. »
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 12 SCHWERPUNKT
Time of upheaval — time of awakening
Without Luther, no »Hohe Schule«, without the Reformation, no University of Jena. One can only speculate as to what would have become of this little town of farmers and winegrowers without its university. One thing is clear, namely that without the great upheavals of the Reformation which found committed supporters in the dynasty of the Ernestines, the town would look very different today. How the Reformation came to Jena, how ideas and dogmas spread, but also how testimonies and cultural assets from the time of the Reformation can be preserved and used for scientifi c purposes in the future – these are topics of current research at the FSU.
BY UTE SCHÖNFELDER
Photo above: View onto the interior courtyard Did he or didn’t he? Martin Luther and many of his pioneering ideas and of Collegium Jenense. The »Hohe Schule« was published his famous 95 Theses in Wit- deeds are rooted in Thuringia: he stu- founded by the Elector Johann Friedrich I. in tenberg on 31 October 1517 in which he died in Erfurt and joined the local Au- the former Dominican monastery in 1548, and ten years later it was declared a university. denounced the Church’s abuse of sel- gustinian monastery, and he transla- ling indulgences and which became ted the Bible in Wartburg Castle near the starting-point of the Reformation. Eisenach. Whether – as is frequently maintai- And Luther was also a guest in Jena. ned – he nailed his Theses to the door He resided in the town several times of Wittenberg’s Schlosskirche or not, between 1522 and 1537. He preached at is still a matter of debate in acade- the Church of St. Michael’s and deba- mia. However, the trail left by Luther ted with the reformer and his former and other reformers throughout Eu- doctoral supervisor, Andreas Boden- rope is beyond doubt. Luther himself stein, known as Karlstadt. SCHWERPUNKTFEATURE 13
Martin Luther’s gravestone in the Church of St. Michael’s. Commissioned by Johann Friedrich I. after Luther’s death, the bronze epitaph was intended for Luther’s grave in Wittenberg’s Schlosskirche, but it never arrived. Since 1571, the stone has been in the ownership of the university.
It was above all the consequences of of the Thuringian State and University the Reformation that were dramatic for Library (ThULB). They include Luther’s the town and its development to this personal copies of the Old and New day. After Luther’s death in 1546, Em- Testaments with hand-written annota- peror Charles V waged war against the tions. Further collections of Protestant »Schmalkaldic League«, an alliance of manuscripts and cultural assets were local Protestant rulers, in order to push added in the course of the centuries; to back against the Reformation and Pro- preserve Luther’s legacy, the Ernestine testantism in the country. Besides the Dukes – in competition with the Witten- Hessian Landgrave Philipp, Johann bergs – had a Jena edition of all Luther’s Friedrich I. from Saxony, was also at the writings published. A printing works head of the Schmalkaldic League. was established in 1554 on the premises In 1547, the alliance had to acknowledge of Jena’s Carmelite monastery on what defeat against the imperial troops, while is today Engelplatz. The fi rst edition Johann Friedrich I. – today affectiona- of the »Jena Luther Edition« was pub- tely known as Hanfried by the people lished there from 1555 to 1558. of Jena – was taken prisoner and lost large parts of his lands. He also had to relinquish Wittenberg and his univer- Scientifi c networks established — sity. In 1548, the staunch supporter of contemporary witnesses made public the Lutheran Reformation therefore set up the »Hohe Schule« in his remaining All this today forms the basis for nu- dominions, or in the former Dominican merous research projects which in the monastery in Jena, to be more precise. course of the past Luther decade have Ten years later, it was raised to the status produced insights under the leadership of a university. »The foundation of the of the FSU, contributed to the scientifi c university is probably the most visible debate on the Reformation with sym- consequence of the Reformation for Jena posia, publications and ideas as well as to this day,« Prof. Dr Christopher Spehr establishing an active network between emphasizes. The Professor of Church research facilities, archives and libraries. History is the authorized representative Above all, however, research into the of the FSU’s Executive Committee for Reformation in Jena has paved the way the anniversary of the Reformation (in- for making the unique documents from terview p. 20). »The University of Jena Luther’s time available to a wider pu- was intended to be the ’better Witten- blic and preserving them for scientifi c berg’ from the outset.« research for posterity: They are available The royal house of the Ernestines to for viewing by anybody in the »Digital which Johann Friedrich I. belonged, Reformation Archive« (p. 16), and scien- supported the ideas of the Reforma- tists at the FSU were also instrumental tion and fl ew the fl ag for the Lutheran in designing the exhibition »Luther and faith. The Ernestines had their archive the Germans« (p. 14) which can be seen of manuscripts and prints transported in Wartburg Castle until November. from Wittenberg to Weimar; the royal These, and further research projects and library – the Bibliotheca Electoralis – their results are presented on the follo- came to Jena and today it forms part wing pages.
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 14 SCHWERPUNKT
Luther’s September New Testament dated 1522 from the Thuringian State and The Rector’s chain of offi ce from 1858 (above) and the seal of the university from University Library is displayed in the exhibition. the time of its foundation with an image of the Elector Johann Friedrich I. are also to be seen in Wartburg Castle.
well as the political instrumentalization of the reformer. The Luther and the Germans Thuringian State and University Library is contributing ele- ven prints to the exhibition, among them Luther’s September New Testament from 1522 of which there are only a few ori- The special national exhibition »Luther and the Ger- ginal copies in existence. The University of Jena is principally mans«, which can be seen in Wartburg Castle in Eise- donating pieces from the time of its foundation in the middle nach until 5 November, refl ects the relationship of the of the 16th century, e.g. the University seal and the seal of the Germans with the famous reformer over the course of Theological Faculty. A few further objects, such as the Rector’s 500 years. The University of Jena is providing the cura- chain of offi ce, date back to the 19th century when Luther was tors of the exhibition not only with objects but also its increasingly stylized as a »national German hero«. »The image formidable scientifi c expertise. of a hammer-wielding Martin Luther is a clear expression of this trend,« Joachim Bauer explains. »He was already venera-
BY JULIANE DÖLITZSCH ted in the 16th century, and the 17th century saw his sacralisa- tion with depictions of him with a halo, for example, or as an angel with an everlasting gospel to preach,« adds Christopher Luther is not just Luther – the image of the great reformer has Spehr. instead been subject to regular revision in the last fi ve cen- turies, changing from a prophet all the way to a separatist. The reasons for this fi ckle relationship are illuminated by the The Germans and their view of the world special national exhibition »Luther and the Germans« on view in Wartburg Castle. No fewer than four scientists from the FSU The exhibition shows not only all facets of Martin Luther: form part of the unit of scientifi c advisors for the exhibition. »For the Germans, it was not necessarily a question of The historian of the Early Modern, Prof. Dr Georg Schmidt, Luther’s perspective but of fi tting him into their current the historian of the Reformation and Head of the University world view,« Bauer explains. It is of course true that Luther Archives adjunct professor Dr Joachim Bauer, the theologian expressed ambivalent opinions on the Jews. But during the Prof. Dr Christopher Spehr and the Germanist Prof. Dr Jens Third Reich, his highly negatively formulated judgments Haustein lent their support with insights into their particular were very deliberately picked up for propaganda purposes fi elds during the preparations lasting several years. in support of NS ideology, Spehr explains. And in this sense, The exhibition is divided into three sections, dealing with the exhibition is not only a show about Luther but also qui- Luther’s time in Wartburg Castle, his services to religious, te literally about the Germans. Ultimately, they themselves personal and family freedom and the German language as and their history are refl ected in Luther. SCHWERPUNKTFEATURE 15
Flyer based on a template from the Cranach workshop: Martin Luther, coloured Flyer by Michael Ribestein: Elector Johann Friedrich I., Duke of Saxony, coloured woodcut with text in type, Magdeburg 1546, Foundation Schloss Friedenstein Gotha woodcut with text in type, Berlin 1547, Foundation Schloss Friedenstein Gotha
sity of Jena and the Gotha Foundation, consisted in preser- Flying paper ving the fl yers, processing their content and fully digitizing them for the fi rst time. »This has fulfi lled a long-held deside- ratum of our research work,« explains the head of the project, They were the means of mass communication at the Christopher Spehr. Now – 500 years after the start of the Re- time of the Reformation. In the same way as photos, formation – the fl yers offer a vivid illustration of Reformation opinions and news are disseminated today via tweets times not just to scientists but also to any interested audience, and posts, people in the 16th century used the recently according to Jena’s Church historian (interview p. 20). invented techniques of printing to distribute information After all: »The Reformation was a media event,« says Prof. in illustrated leafl ets. The reformers also exploited this Spehr. With the spread of book printing in the 15th and 16th development to spread their ideas and dogmas. centuries, print products of all kinds became increasingly important for communication processes. »The fl yers, in par-
BY UTE SCHÖNFELDER ticular, were an easily affordable alternative to books and they were especially successful in spreading.« Renowned artists, among them Lucas Cranach the Elder and The collection of one-page prints among the copperplate en- the Younger or Albrecht Dürer, produced the woodcuts for gravings of the Foundation Schloss Friedenstein Gotha is one the single leaf prints. of the most comprehensive of its kind. But the roughly 700 The pages that were approx. 40 by 30 centimetres in size fl yers illustrated with woodcuts from the 15th and 16th cen- focus on the events of the time. »We fi nd numerous portraits tury slumbered unnoticed for decades. The unique collection of secular and religious representatives, among them images that had grown over time had only been partially scientifi - of the reformers Luther and Melanchthon, but also Charles cally recorded and published, and scarcely anyone had a V or the founder of Jena’s university,« reports Ulrike Eydin- complete overview of the collection which mostly dates back ger, a project staff member from the Schloss Friedenstein to the Saxon Ernestinian electors. Foundation. We also fi nd subjects from everyday life, politi- But that is in the past: The »Project Group for the History of cal reports – for example on military confl icts – all the way to the Reformation«, formed in 2012 under the aegis of the Uni- natural phenomena and sensationalist gossip. versity of Jena, has now conducted a comprehensive review »However, a very substantial part of Gotha’s collection of of the entire collection which is to be found in a recently pu- fl yers is devoted to matters of religious denomination,« Ey- blished catalogue (ISBN 978-3-89790-413-2). dinger states. She explains that polemical disputes with the The joint project work in which the university and research Catholic faith and Reformation teachings were frequently library of Erfurt/Gotha also participated besides the Univer- the topic of such illustrated texts.
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With this document, members of the Schmalkaldic League seal the extension of their contract to defend all attacks in matters of faith in 1536. The alliance of Protestant princes and towns founded in 1531 under the leadership of Elector Johann Friedrich I., had to acknowledge defeat, however, against the troops of Emperor Charles V. The document is in the possession of Thuringia’s State Archive – Central State Archive of Weimar – and can be found as one of around 750 documents in the »Digital Archive of the Reformation«: www.reformationsportal.de.
Archive of Thuringia – Central State Archive of Weimar, the Digital Archive Thuringian State and University Library (ThULB) is also part of the project consortium and is primarily responsible for the technical implementation of the online portal. The ThULB also Pope Leo X threatened to excommunicate Martin Luther uses the multimedia platform UrMEL (Universal Multimedia in 1520 if he did not recant his views within 60 days. Electronic Library) to link the Reformation portal to further Luther rejected this demand as we know today from Reformation-specifi c sources such as the collection of Luther’s the history books. But what form did such a threat of private secretary Georg Rörer. punishment — the so-called bull of excommunication — The Reformation portal that is aimed equally at historians, actually take? What form did indulgences take and what theologians and the general public is divided into two areas. was Martin Luther’s handwriting like? Scientists and Contemporary witnesses of the events of the Reformation are amateur historians can fi nd answers to these questions presented in the exhibition module – the »showcase«. »All in the »Digital Archive of the Reformation« (www.refor- documents can be viewed as high-resolution images and the mationsportal.de). original texts have been transcribed and changed to modern German,« explains Dagmar Blaha, project coordinator from
BY UTE SCHÖNFELDER the Central State Archive of Weimar. The second area of the portal contains a research module and is dedicated to the »visitation protocols« at the time of The »Digital Archive of the Reformation (DigiRef)« on the In- the Reformation (see also interview on p. 17). The protocols ternet comprises around 750 written records from the time of for the fi rst visitation after the launch of the Reformation are the Reformation – from the bull of excommunication against documented for each territory inspected in the core States of Luther, via personal correspondence from the reformers all Cen tral Germany. 118 archive records from Central German the way to the protocols of the inspectors who registered the territories have been selected for this purpose. This database situation in church communities in the country on behalf of allows a targeted search to be conducted for places and people. local rulers. Planned in 2012 and implemented from 2013, Members of the public interested in history, for example, can the digitization of the State archives from Thuringia, Saxony- fi nd out when the Reformation began in their own town and Anhalt and Hesse has been a joint project. Besides the State what kind of reaction it provoked. SCHWERPUNKTFEATURE 17
A visit from the defenders of the faith
The Reformation was a time of unprecedented upheaval for people at the end of the middle ages: entrenched certainties began to topple, and the old order, cemented over the course of centuries, crumbled. Monasteries were refused their dues, and the authority of the clergy evaporated in many places. In this situation – exacerbated still further by the peasants’ war of 1525 – the Elector Johann of Saxony (1468–1532) felt compelled to take the initiative. He despatched inspectors to towns and villages to ask the priests about their teachings and their circumstances. An interview with Church historian Prof. Dr Christopher Spehr and head of the University Ar- chives, adjunct professor Dr Joachim Bauer. Front cover of the »Inspectors’ Instructions to the Priests in the Electorate of Saxony« by Philipp Me- lanchthon (1528). BY STEPHAN LAUDIEN
Who were the inspectors, and what revenues and outlays. The central ques- could be understood and the hymns can be said about their work? tion, however, was that of their faith. were catchy. Anyone who did not want Bauer: The inspectors were mostly theo- What were the priests and preachers to embrace the new faith could secretly logians and offi cials who were instruc- teaching their congregations? Were stick to the old one or offi cially leave the ted by the Elector to review the situation they clinging to the old faith, or had area. Nevertheless, there was a lengthy on the ground. Probably the best-known they become Protestants? transitional period during which the »visitator« was Philipp Melanchthon. papal customs were still tolerated. Spehr: The Latin term »visitator« was Did the priest lose his position if he used for visits by the bishop to his refused to follow the new teaching? So the Reformation prevailed peace- diocese in the Early Medieval Church. Spehr: There were further inspections in fully? This duty of the bishops was transfer- the Electorate of Saxony after the 1530s. Bauer: By and large, yes. But there were red to the local ruler in the wake of the The reviews focused more closely on the some legal disputes. For example, the Reformation extent to which the new teaching was legal fi ght conducted by Jena’s Domini- being followed and whether the priests can friars to keep their monastery con- What happened on these visits and were fi nancially provided for. If a priest tinued well into the 16th century. They how do we know about them today? refused to follow the orders of the local did not leave it voluntarily... Bauer: The inspectors arrived in the ruler, he might lose his position. But the towns and called the priests there to- Reformation did not make an immedia- The Collegium Jenense? gether. »The Inspectors’ Instructions« te break with the old Church. Instead, Bauer: Exactly. In the wake of the Refor- served as a guide and was de facto a the fi rst few years saw wide-ranging mation, Thuringia’s monasteries were Reformation manual. This book fi rst transitions and compromises, and we valued from 1526 and their fi nances appeared in 1528 in a print run of over can therefore assume that this was a and remaining occupants registered. 700 copies, and later it served in further phase of transformation. The most per- Anyone wanting to leave the monaste- regions to enforce the Reformation. The manent impetus for establishing the ry could lead a civil life in the laity. The archives contain numerous visitation Protestant Church in the Electorate of buildings vacated by Jena’s Dominican protocols which constitute valuable Saxony emanated from Martin Luther monastery later housed the newly esta- sources for us. We know, for example, and his colleagues. Ultimately, the cler- blished »Hohe Schule«. that the fi rst major inspection took gy was obliged to follow this teaching place in 1527. The parishes in the Saale- from Wittenberg. Orla region were visited, beginning in Two books have also been published on Weida and continuing to Auma and What about ordinary people? Were the this subject: Joachim Bauer, Stefan Michel Ziegenrück. subjects forced to recognize the new (pub.): Der »Unterricht der Visitatoren« teaching? und die Durchsetzung der Reformation in So the priests were accountable to the Spehr: In most cases, people adopted Kursachsen (ISBN 978-3-374-04755-0) as inspectors? the new teaching as they were now able well as: Dagmar Blaha, Christopher Spehr Spehr: The inspection was accompanied to understand much more than before. (pub.): Reformation vor Ort. Zum Quellen- by a kind of inventory. The priests had Services, for example, were now held wert von Visitationsprotokollen (ISBN 978- to open their books and declare their in German. The liturgy and the sermon 3-374-04162-6).
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Thuringia in the century of the Reformation
The Reformation is inseparably linked to the name of Martin Luther. But the focus on Luther blurs our vision of other reformers, as well as the process of the Reformation which began before Luther’s appearance and exten- ded far beyond him. »Outside Germany, people normally talk of the age of reforms rather than the Reformation«, says Dr Alexander Krünes. The historian is coordinating the research project »Thuringia in the Century of the Reformation« which will run to the end of 2017.
BY STEPHAN LAUDIEN
The project was initiated by Prof. Dr triggered by the Protestant movement doctoral students set out to search in Werner Greiling as Chairperson of the shaped by events in Wittenberg. archives, church registers and admi- Historical Commission for Thuringia nistrative records. Much of what was and Professor of Modern History in found portrays a new, more accurate Jena as well as Prof. Dr Uwe Schir- Core State of the Reformation image of every day life at the time of mer who teaches Thuringian Regional the Reformation. »Some of the fi ndings History. Five research projects which In geographical terms, the research can have never been presented and descri- junior scientists have been entrusted be confi ned to the Thuringian, central bed in this fashion before,« Uwe Schir- with form the centrepiece. Their focus German area, and predominantly to mer states. For example, Julia Mandry is on the school system, poverty and Thuringia as the »core state of the Re- has discovered that building on the means of combating it, the Elector Jo- formation«. The researchers wish to well-organized systems in place for the hann of Saxony, the Reformation in the understand the far-reaching transfor- poor in pre-Reformation times, efforts country and universities in the age of mation processes which affected the were made to redesign welfare for the the Reformation. Church and State, the judiciary and poor, both fi nancially and structural- »We are researching the social history case law, towns and villages as well as ly. So-called Common Boxes played a of the late 15th and early 16th century,« schools and universities in the wake of central role in this process. Revenues says Uwe Schirmer. In concrete terms, the Reformation. from the Church’s possessions fl owed this means the far-reaching political, New insights are to be found in old into these municipal coffers. »The mo- social, cultural and religious upheavals sources. True to this principle, the fi ve ney from the Common Boxes was ulti- SCHWERPUNKTFEATURE 19
Church in Thuringia. The hilltop Church of St. Mary’s in Schleiz (see also cover photo) dates back to the 12th century. After the launch of the Reformation, the fi rst Protestant church service was held here on 8 June 1533. Jena historians are currently researching in minute detail how the »age of reforms« proceeded in concrete terms in Thuringia with the aid of numerous archives. The project »Thuringia in the Age of the Reformation« is receiving fi nancial backing from the Free State of Thuringia, the Sparkassen Kulturstiftung Hessen–Thüringen and the Landesbank Hessen–Thüringen. Funding for the project that fi nishes at the end of 2017 is in excess of €560,000.
mately only partially used for looking around the year 1300. Later, when Er- agriculture, medicine or cattle bree- after the poor,« says Mandry. As the furt was going through a crisis, the uni- ding were covered in print media ledgers prove, even before the Refor- versities of Leipzig and Jena fl ourished. (books, calendars, magazines). Later, mation, up to 3,000 needy people recei- the ordinary people experienced their ved free bread and money on some »There was clearly a need for higher own legal, morally religious, cultural days in Weimar. The reasons for the education,« says Andreas Dietmann and political enlightenment. »When the high number of poor are diverse and who is studying Thuringia’s education priests left the universities, they took hard to establish in detail. However, it system in the 15th and 16th centuries. with them an educational assignment, is worth noting that attitudes towards He notes a wide variety of different as it were, to the villages,« Alexander the poor and poverty were changing. schools in the towns at the end of the Krünes explains. From 1800, the charac- Whereas before the Reformation alms Middle Ages: Latin parish schools, ter of Luther served as a role model for were seen as pleasing God, there was a town council schools, German schools an enlightened citizen as the reformer gradual move towards something akin for literacy and numeracy as well as had paved the way for the Enlighten- to a right of basic care. This was accom- small, private independent schools. ment. The formula that applied ran as panied by administration for the needy The town schools offered an education follows: no Enlightenment without Re- and an attempt to reduce the number programme for villagers. This fl ourish- formation. The way in which Luther of freely roaming beggars. »It was part ing system encountered diffi culties in and the Reformation were received is of Luther’s basic world view that every- the early stages of the Reformation as also the subject of research. one should be able to feed themselves a result of anti-clerical infl uences, and from the fruits of their own labour,« it then collapsed. »In the years that fol- In his work, Martin Sladeczek refutes says Julia Mandry. Wishful thinking. lowed, Luther made the case for school the theory of any special church-buil- Linked to this idea is the increasing education through appeals to towns ding style during the Reformation. Al- stigmatization of the poor and beggars. and citizens,« says Dietmann. This though various churches were conver- gave rise to a new school system, sha- ted after 1530, this was primarily due What was the policy pursued towards ped by the Reformation, which in turn to the increase in the population. Only the Church by Johann of Saxony (1468– fl ourished impressively. It was closely later is specifi cally Protestant church- 1532) like? Doreen von Oertzen-Becker linked to the new confession and it was building established. Its characteris- has studied this question. She has iden- adopted by church constitutions of the tics include the removal of the side tifi ed the impetus provided by Johann 16th century as part of the growing sta- altars and an altered system of images – later Johann the Constant – himself in te Church. Andreas Dietmann assumes and inscriptions. »The Catholic saints the policy pursued towards the Church that the literacy rate in the region in the disappear, classical motifs are scaled in the Electorate of Saxony. She notes 1570s was at least 50 percent. Where back and Protestant personalities such in the process that Johann was for long did this obvious hunger for education as Luther, Melanchthon and the local unjustly in the shadow of his brother come from? The high density of towns priests are portrayed as the teachers of and co-regent Friedrich the Wise (1463 – in Thuringia defi nitely played a part. the true faith,« Sladeczek states. 1525) in terms of public perception. She The established professions in these investigated how the sovereign main- towns demanded educated staff. Alex- tained contact with personalities of the ander Krünes also thinks it was the ex- There is no way around Luther Reformation and how they infl uenced tremely fragmented nature of the area him and shaped his thinking. She also that led to competition in culture and The results of the research will be pub- analyzed how religiously motivated education that was sustained into the lished in a separate series of publicati- confl icts were successfully solved. 19th century. ons. The historians are also on the road »The Reformation was also a revolution The foundations laid at that time were in Thuringia, presenting their research of knowledge,« Schirmer notes. Thurin- to continue to have an impact for a long to the public. And the exciting thing gia and Central Germany were rightly time to come. The fact that the ideas of about it is that their presentations focus to be viewed as »pioneering regions of the Enlightenment fell on particularly on subjects of local Reformation his- scholarship,« he states. But the Refor- fertile ground in Thuringia, for exam- tory – coordinated to fi t the particular mation was by no means responsible ple, can be interpreted as a direct con- location of the presentation. There is no for the boost in education according sequence of this education offensive. way for the scientists to avoid the sub- to Schirmer. Even in the decades befo- Frequently it was the priests who acted ject of Martin Luther. But the reformer re 1517, the region of Central Germany as »popular educators« in imparting is not the sole focus. The history of the had a high density of schools. In additi- in-depth knowledge to the common Reformation in its »core state« is simply on, the University of Erfurt blossomed men. Subjects such as horticulture and too varied for that.
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»Luther was a genius.«
500 years ago, Martin Luther came on the scene with his 95 Theses against the sale of indulgences, thereby setting the Reformation in mo- tion. How the movement came to Jena, the developments that the Luthe- ran faith triggered and his own very personal view of the reformer – these are the questions that Church historian and Luther expert Prof. Dr Chris- topher Spehr addresses.
BY UTE SCHÖNFELDER SCHWERPUNKTFEATURE 21
We are now in the anniversary year of and other groups who were thought of tion have for Jena and the university, 2017. It is exactly 500 years since Mar- as dissenters in those days, must also and what role did Jena play for the Re- tin Luther triggered the Reformation not be forgotten. formation? and with it wide-ranging and far-rea- Probably the most important result ching processes of change. What was How relevant are Luther’s teachings of the Reformation for Jena was the the deciding factor in your view? today? foundation of the university! Johann Luther gave people direct access to God. Luther certainly raises questions and Friedrich I. founded the »Hohe Schule« Whereas in the late Middle Ages, priests concerns that stimulate and inspire us in Jena from his prison cell in 1548. The acted as the intermediaries between today. But I would like to state clearly »Salana« was set up because the Ernesti- God and the people, after Luther every that the Reformation of the 16th cen- nians had lost Wittenberg University to individual stands directly before God. tury is behind us! It was 500 years ago. Moritz of Saxony after their defeat in the In 1522 he said the following. You are I don’t believe we can simply transpose Schmalkaldic war, and Johann Friedrich responsible for yourself in your hour of Luther onto today’s reality. The world I. needed a training centre for priests and death. And nobody will be with you in then – and our worldly experience too offi cials. Here the »true spirit of Luther« this hour to carry you through death – – were different. We have to see Luther was to be taught. One expression of this only God can do that. With this insight, and the Reformation in their historical preservation of the »authentic Luther«, Luther was contributing to a concept of context, otherwise we cannot do them for example, was the Jena Luther Editi- individuality that is commonplace for justice. From today’s perspective, we on which competed with the Wittenberg us today. The crucial factor for him is have a larger horizon than Luther and Edition. Jena and especially the Church to proclaim the gospel that awakens the his contemporaries. In Western Europe, of St. Michael’s evolved to become a certainty of faith in a person and gives we have experienced the Enlighten- place of memorial for the Reformation them confi dence in their actions in the ment, and have had to endure the dic- and at the same time a place where the world. tatorships of the 20th century – those Protestant theology and Lutheranism are experiences that have helped us to were nurtured and taught. How did that change the Church? make progress intellectually. These ex- The doctrine of justifi cation states that periences also apply to faith. Luther himself only stayed in Jena a a person becomes righteous from grace few times. Which people carried the alone in his belief in Jesus Christ. Al- Nevertheless, there are certainly ques- Reformation in Jena in that case? though a person is a sinner, they are ac- tions from the time of the Reforma- Jena was already open to new ideas in cepted by God, at no cost, without any tion that are still relevant for us today the early phase of the Reformation. Tho- deeds or accomplishments of his own. or have become so again. mas Müntzer, for example, established This insight has ramifi cations for the If we focus on the individual, one ques- contacts here in 1521. He conducted Church and the doctrine of the sacra- tion, for example, still relevant today is correspondence with Jena’s councillors ments. Luther, for example, reduces the the following: What carries me through and town judge Michael Klausbeck. sacraments to baptism and the Lord’s life and through death? And the answer Müntzer even tried to win a position as Supper. At the same time, Luther’s rea- provided by Luther and the reformers a preacher in Jena but did not succeed. lization impinges on ecclesiastical prac- was: belief in God. And this is still valid The most important Jena reformer until tice: the Protestant sermon, the service today. But subjects such as the relati- 1524 was Martin Reinhart who worked in German together with German hym- onship between Church and State, for- here from the autumn of 1521 or spring ns and the Lord’s Supper in both guises mulated in Luther’s so-called »two re- 1522. Reinhart who studied in Witten- – i.e. with bread and wine. The marria- alms teaching«, are still topical. Or the berg with Karlstadt, developed inde- ge of priests is introduced, the offi ce of commitment of the individual to their pendent teachings and emancipated priesthood raised to one of preaching fellow human beings or society. For himself from Luther. In 1523, Karlstadt and ministry and the local congrega- Luther, it went without saying to cam- moved to Orlamünde and reinforced tion upgraded to a community of the paign against errors and injustice and the early reformational movement in faithful. denounce the sale of indulgences even Central Saaletal. Overall, Jena and its The most fundamental effect of this if it put his own life in danger! In my surroundings acted like a kind of lab- process of change is the differentiati- opinion, it is also important for us today oratory for the Reformation in which on of western Christianity. I delibera- to raise our voices when we discover in- many things were tested. In terms of tely do not talk of a schism within the justices. substance, Reinhart and Karlstadt en- Church but of differentiation into sepa- couraged the priesthood for all believ- rate confessions. Besides the Roman Ca- Although Wittenberg is considered its ers and emphasized the independence tholic Church, the Reformation spaw- starting point, the Reformation took of the parish to a greater degree than ned the Lutheran Evangelical as well place in many locations in Europe. Luther. In 1524, Luther made a tour of as the Reformed Churches; the Baptists What signifi cance did the Reforma- inspection to Jena on the advice of the
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Church historian Prof. Dr Christopher Spehr is the authorized representative of the Executive Committee of the FSU for the anniversary of the Reformation, and has just co-published the brochure »Sites of the Reformation — Jena« which illuminates the local traces and sites of the Reformation as well as the history of its impact (ISBN 978-3-374-04415-3). We agreed to meet in Jena’s Church of St. Michael’s for the photo shoot — »the most important location for the Reformation in Jena«, as he says (see also photo on p. 20).
local ruler and criticized these experi- of All Saints – namely on 31 October all great intellectuals – was a man with ments. Reinhart and Karlstadt were ba- 1517 – in which he challenged him to ambiguities and not just a shining light. nished from Saxony. Anton Musa was a public disputation on the sale of in- appointed to Jena in 1524 as a pastor dulgences. He had his theses for this Is enough attention paid to this »dark« and later superintendent. He kept the disputation printed in the form of a pos- side of Luther – especially on the 500th Reformation on an orderly, Lutheran ter and we can assume that he also had anniversary of the Reformation? track. them proclaimed in Wittenberg. But of Yes, undoubtedly. The subject of his course, he never had a hammer in his writings on the Jews occupies the minds Where can the traces of the Reforma- hand for this purpose! He had them at- not only of historians and theologians tion be seen in Jena today? tached to church doors by the beadle, but is also one of the main topics of The most important site is the Church the attendant from the university. This the anniversary of the Reformation. It of St. Michael’s with the pulpit from was usual practice in those days. The has by no means been swept under the which Luther preached and the original poster was not attached with nails, ho- carpet as has been suggested by some gravestone. The second site is that of the wever, but with glue – the church doors journalists. The subject is discussed not »Schwarze Bär«, the inn where Luther would have never survived otherwise. just in colour supplements but also cri- argued with Karlstadt – in those days But there are no eyewitness reports for tically debated in position papers by the situated outside the gates of the town. the attachment of the Theses. Neverthe- Evangelical Church in Germany and in Of central importance – for the uni- less, there are some clues, among them Central Germany. versity – is the Collegium Jenense, the Georg Rörer’s note although he was not former Dominican monastery in which present on 31 October 1517. The con- What reforms would Luther advocate Johann Friedrich I. had the »Hohe Schu- temporary witness Melanchthon also today, in your opinion? le« established. The town hall is also a reports that the Theses were attached to He would have a serious heart-to-heart site of the Reformation, as is the Carme- the door. with the Church. He would ask: Where lite monastery in which the Jena Luther are you with the core message of Chris- Edition was printed and the remains of What do you personally think of tianity? What are your concerns regar- which can now be accessed again. Luther? Is he a hero in your eyes? ding faith and the people? What are you Luther was a genius. I regard the term undertaking to pass on the relevance of The Jena Luther Edition is currently on hero as inappropriate, as it allows no the faith that supports us in life and show in an exhibition of the ThULB. differentiation. For all the sympathy one death, to the next generation? Don’t ar- Also being presented is an edition of may have for Luther and admiration for gue about trivialities! Develop visions the New Testament from 1540, on the his amazing talents, there are aspects of for a living Church with a future! last page of which Luther’s close as- him which I fi nd alienating and diffi cult To put it succinctly: He would initiate a sociate Georg Rörer has left a hand- to accept. For example, the oppressive, reform of the Church. For him it would written note intended to document the anti-Semitic polemics in his late writings be about the truth, and so I think he nailing of the Theses in 1517. How do on the Jews. Nevertheless, it is beyond would warn us to focus more on enqui- you think the publication of Luther’s doubt that he was a religious teacher ring after the truth. And he also would Theses actually happened? Did he re- who provided the Christian faith with not tire of preaching that faith and love ally »nail« them to the door? signifi cant impetus such as his trans- belong together at an elemental level. If What is documented is that Luther lation of the Bible, his repertoire of we took that to heart, many aspects of sent a letter to Archbishop Albrecht of hymns, the Small Catechism, the subject our society and environment could be Brandenburg the day before the Feast of freedom, etc. But he – doubtless like designed to be more sustainable. SCHWERPUNKTFEATURE 23
Reformer in a cellulose bath
»Außer Thesen allerhand gewesen« – this is the title of the current exhibition on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation that can be seen in the Thuringian State and University Library (ThULB) until December. Among the exhibits are books and manuscripts from the time of the Reformation from the ThULB’s collec- tion: early writings of Luther and other reformers, hand-written notes and valuable prints. But the exhibition organizers and restorers had their work cut out before the centuries-old volumes could be shown off in the display cases in the room for antique treasures, thereby bearing vibrant witness to their time of creation.
BY UTE SCHÖNFELDER
The Thuringian State and University Li- brary (ThULB) is currently advertising its exhibition using the slogan »Treasu- res of the Reformation Age«. How could it be any different? We are in the year 2017 – THE anniversary year of the Reformation – so it’s obvious that the largest library in the Free State chips in with an appropriate contribution to the 500th anniversary of the major upheavals in the Church and society. After all, Thuringia is one of the core states of the Reformation; for the last ten years, during the »Luther Decade«, in- tensive research has been carried out at the FSU and other research institutions, results published, collections in archives and libraries digitized and made avai- lable online and exhibitions prepared and staged.
Unlikely treasures View into the exhibition room in which the »Treasures of the Reformation Age« are to be seen until 14 December. So, one morning in March, I follow Dr Joachim Ott in search of the local treasures of the Reformation. From the tration over the Church’s sale of indul- open pages are of solid paper in shades information counter of the ThULB, our gences on a church door in large letters. of yellow and brown. The few illustrati- search takes us to the room for antique ons are woodcuts in the same colour as treasures in which the exhibition »Au- With these scenes in my mind, I enter the the printed letters. ßer Thesen allerhand gewesen« can be exhibition expecting original documents This is hardly the stuff of treasures. As seen until December. The contrast could testifying to that major movement. But if sensing my silent reservations, Dr scarcely be more striking: from the glass- at fi rst glance, the open books presen- Ott explains: »All these books come roofed, spacious foyer, fl ooded with ted here in twelve modestly lit display either from Luther’s direct environ- spring light in spite of the scaffolded cases, hardly match my idea of »treasu- ment, contain writings by him or were entrance area, we proceed to the small, res«: These volumes, some of which are edited by him.« Ott runs the ThULB’s darkened exhibition room. The poster weighty tomes, have none of the pomp Manuscripts and Special Collections announcing the treasures is emblazoned and splendour to offer that I expected, Department, and he designed the exhi- on the entrance door. It shows a man in neither gold nor illustrations boasting bition and prepared it with his team. a monk’s habit with an oversized quill lavish colours. Instead, there are thick, So what the visitor sees here could also who – so it seems – is inscribing his frus- grey leather-bound volumes, and the be described as work materials: Luther
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Photo right: The »German Mass« by Martin Luther from the year 1526 has been part of UNESCO’s World’s Documentary Heritage since 2015 and can be seen in the exhibition.
and other reformers wrote the books or guage. The collection was printed in the a constant 19 degrees and relative hu- annotated the texts of others, adding Carmelite monastery on today’s Engel- midity of 50 percent, they will certainly endless notes between the printed lines platz that had been converted to a prin- survive the next few centuries as well, and in the margins. Their handwriting ting works and that has been open to as he explains with a grin. And he adds – small and scarcely legible for the un- the public for several weeks following that it is exhibitions like these that are trained eye of the viewer – makes the extensive restoration work. Published more likely to damage these valuable volumes before me unique specimens between 1555 and 1558, the edition is treasures. How come? »When the hea- and true treasures. the most important testament to Jena’s vy volumes are left open for weeks and book-printing history. »The edition was months, and also at an angle, when they commissioned by the Ernestinian Du- are exposed to light for longer periods – World document: Luther’s Mass kes as competition for the Wittenberg that affects the material.« edition, as at that time Wittenberg was This must be avoided, of course, he One small, outwardly nondescript volu- no longer under Ernestinian rule,« says adds, and prevented from occurring me, exhibited in the very fi rst display Ott. Luther’s close confi dante Georg from the outset. That is the task of the case, is a true rarity. The book is open Rörer gave personal instructions rela- restorers at the ThULB. They continual- at the title page of the »German Mass« ting to the edition and its printing. His ly inspect the huge stocks of books and by Martin Luther. Printed in Wittenberg handwritten and printed specifi cations manuscripts – the ThULB has around in 1526, the slim work has been part of are also displayed. 27,000 titles from the 16th century alo- UNESCO’s World’s Documentary Heri- ne – look after them, restore them and tage since 2015. »This book is probably The fi rst volume of the Jena Luther Edi- prepare them for exhibitions. the only completely preserved copy of tion lies open in its own showcase. The the second edition,« states Dr Ott, dra- massive book block weighs an estima- wing my attention to the border on the ted four to fi ve kilos. The other volu- A glimpse into the restoration frontispiece which originates from the mes are a match for it in terms of pages workshop workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder. and size and are lined up behind it. The With the »German Mass and Order of title page of the book »Erster Teil aller Restorer Frank Schieferdecker and his Service«, to quote the full title, Luther Bücher vnd Schrifften des thewren se- team – Annett Blumenthal, Susanne offered the complete liturgy of the main ligen Mans Doct. Mart. Lutheri« [First Kull and Ulrike Sachße – work one fl oor service in German for the fi rst time. Part of all Books and Writings of the below the exhibition room. Their work- While other reformers had been pub- beloved, blessed Doctor Martin Luther] shop is a large bright room looking onto lishing orders of service in the German is decorated by a woodcut showing the the Frommannscher Garten. Large work language since 1522, Luther continued founder of the university of Jena (»Han- desks are lined along the window front to conduct mass in Latin until 29 Octo- fried«) beside Luther, both in prayer with pots, brushes and paper, and there ber 1525. Only then did he also celebrate before Christ on the Cross. The text is are further work surfaces in the middle the service in German. printed in large ornate letters in black of the room with beside them huge al- The slim pamphlet around three mil- and red. Two brass clasps are attached ligator shears with blades one metre in limetres thick is part of an anthology to the front of the volume and are used length, mobile pedestals and cupboards bound in vellum containing a total of 32 to close the book. with endless rows of drawers. And abo- works by the reformers. But how does Even if the centuries have left their mark ve all: books. Books of very different such a work come to be in the middle of on these magnifi cent examples of early sizes, colours and ages on trolleys, wai- a hotchpotch of other writings? »It was modern artisanship – they defi nitely do ting to be digitized, books separated into normal in those days to sell texts separa- not look their age of almost 500 years. single leaves on shelves, freshly bound tely from bound books,« states Joachim »The books – as you see them here – are copies held down in screw clamps on a Ott. »Readers collected what interested largely in their original condition,« Dr large work surface. them and had it bound in their own in- Ott emphasizes. And returns my asto- »Treasures from the time of the Refor- dividual arrangement.« nished look by adding: »Paper and bin- mation« are also being worked on this ding from those days are very robust.« morning. In front of Susanne Kull lies a In the display case directly opposite lies No comparison with books from the large-format book with texts and songs what is probably the weightiest work of 19th or 20th century which can only be from the 16th century that was used in the exhibition: the twelve major, leather- preserved today with diffi culty. In addi- church services. The restorer inspects bound folio volumes of the Jena Luther tion, the books are kept in a special sto- the fresh binding of bright leather, Edition – the entire reformer’s writings reroom in the basement of the ThULB opens the thick book containing a good – eight in German, four in the Latin lan- when they are not being exhibited. At three hundred pages, and checks the ad- SCHWERPUNKTFEATURE 25
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hesion again as well as the freshly stiched headband. All over a stack of loose leaves lying on her desk. Right at the this has been created manually using the same tools and top is the title page with a likeness of Luther. »But we have techniques as in Luther’s time. our work cut out here,« she says, talking about the dama- The restoration log beside her records every single step of ge to the almost 500-year-old, thick, yellowish paper. »The the process that has restored the book in its yellowed con- edges are frayed, and in some cases the holes in the signa- dition with holes and mould spots to its former splendour tures are so large that the binding was no longer holding.« in the last few days. The aim of restoring books, however, Dark grey mould stains are appearing around the image is not to re-establish as perfect an appearance as possible. of the reformer. »The books are to be restored to their original condition as far as possible,« Susanne Kull says. And for that reason, The brittle pages come from an anthology of Luther’s ser- the weighty hymnbook is still to undergo a further restora- mons containing a total of 17 individual pamphlets. I am tion step. The original leather used for the binding is glued now familiar with the common practice in Reformation onto the new binding – irrespective of any damaged areas times of having various texts bound to form a separate on the edges or the spine. »We try to stabilize such areas,« book. Whoever did this with Luther’s sermons, we are no says the restorer who has been looking after the books of longer able to view the original binding from the 16th cen- the ThULB for more than 25 years. Finally, the two clasps tury. »It has not survived,« says Workshop Manager Frank and the labels on the spine are reattached, and the book Schieferdecker regretfully, looking at the very unattractive goes back to the special storeroom. grey library soft cover in which the printed matter from Kull’s colleague Annett Blumenthal is also working on a 1523 has so far been kept. »The binding was probably book from the time of the Reformation. She sits hunched changed around 1900,« Schieferdecker estimates. That was SCHWERPUNKTFEATURE 27
In the restoration workshop of the ThULB: Workshop Manager Frank Schieferdecker and member of staff Susanne Kull look after and preserve the extensive stocks of books in the largest library in Thuringia. From the 16th century alone – the time of the Reformation – the collection comprises around 27,000 titles.
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Before restoration: The title sheet of the anthology of Martin Luther’s sermons from 1523 is showing major signs of damage. The holes in the paper have now been repaired and the book has been returned freshly stitched to the ThULB’s special storeroom.
the last time the book was repaired, he level, large-format sheets of paper can the paper fi bres spread fi nely over the says. Nobody knows now where the be »made«. Or, as Frank Schieferdecker whole bath. The noise is reminiscent of volume originally came from or how it explains, new fi bres can be added to da- a laundrette when three washing ma- ended up in the ThULB. maged sheets. »For this we use cellulose chines drain simultaneously. About one fi bres which most closely approximate minute later, the bath is full. Switch off. Separated into separate folios, the da- to the colour tone of the original.« In Silence. maged paper is now ready to be repai- the present case, the restorer chooses a I try to imagine how at this moment red by bonding fi bres. »We can repair slightly brownish fi bre. Practised in the the fi ne fi bres snuggle up to the centu- small areas by hand,« Annett Blumen- art, Schieferdecker counts the quantity ries-old paper sheet and fi ll up every thal explains. But that would be much needed to fi ll the gaps in the original by hole, however tiny. There is nothing too complicated for large-scale damage hand. The cellulose is then mixed with to be seen of the process in the milky, such as on this Luther book. It is quicker water in a large blender and chopped cloudy liquid. A few moments later, the to repair the holes mechanically. up into small pieces. excess pulp is siphoned off, and Annett In the meantime, Annett Blumenthal has Blumenthal takes the sheets of the book carefully laid the damaged sheets on the out – now free of holes again and with a Mechanized papermaking sieve in the fi bre bonding bath. She adds frame of new paper – and lays them on the pulp from the blender and starts a a vacuum table, still gleaming moistly. The fi bre bonding unit is basically no pump. With a deafening roar, the water Another switch is pressed. If the noise more than a bath measuring almost two now rushes through a rubber hose with before was like a washing machine, it square metres with a sieve in the midd- a sprinkler head at the end of it, and now reminds you of the loud blast of le. By raising and lowering the water fi lls the bath, in the process of which air from a hairdryer. Air is now sucked SCHWERPUNKTSCHWERPUNKTFEATURE 29
Photo above: Restorer Annett Blumenthal prepares the historical folios for the fi bre bonding process. Cellulose fi bres are washed into the bonding bath (photo center) and fi ll in the gaps in the paper. Photo below: The restored pages are then dried, freshly cut and stitched.
through the bonded paper and the ma- jority of the moisture removed. Finally, the entire paper is coated with starch paste to fi x the fi bres and protect them from further decay. The entire procedure of converting the tattered, brittle printed sheet back into a sturdy sheet of paper, has barely taken ten minutes. »The fi nal steps are to dry press the paper and cut off the excess fi bres at the edges of the original paper,« Annett Blumenthal ex- plains as we leave the work shop again. I already know the steps that come later from Susanne Kull: pressing, stitching, binding and the Luther volume can be returned to the storeroom.
Reformation anniversaries from former times
On the way outside, I make a detour back to the exhibition. On our tour, Joa- chim Ott had drawn my attention to one display case in which specimens of a much more recent date are shown. The- se are anniversary writings composed for earlier major anniversaries of the Re- formation. Even in 1617, the university and Church in Jena celebrated a six-day festival to commemorate 100 years of the Reformation. The occasion of the major European upheaval was also mar- ked in 1717, 1817 and 1917. What will be presented here in 100 years, on the 600th anniversary of the nailing of Luther’s Theses? Who knows. But one thing seems to me to be certain: The books from Luther’s pen and bea- ring his signature, stored and preserved here in the ThULB, will still be in good condition – thanks to the work of the restorers, skilled craftsmanship and the latest technology.
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»Sometimes it’s a help, sometimes a hindrance«
Scarcely anyone — outside of the Theological Faculty and the Historical Institute — has studied the events surrounding the Reformation at the University of Jena in the last few years as assiduously as the former Rec- tor Klaus Dicke. He has played a major role in ensuring that besides the festivities, science, too, has not been short-changed during the Luther decade. But where does the political scientist and practising Catholic draw his passion for this of all subjects?
BY SEBASTIAN HOLLSTEIN
If you ask Klaus Dicke what he intends ticles and explained his view of things may lie in a fruitful blend of profession to do after the anniversary of the Re- in discussions. And all such work natu- and confession, as Dicke is a political formation is over, he does not have to rally has to be prepared, researched and scientist and a Catholic. Born near Kob- ponder long: »On All Souls Day, the fi rst organized. »A decade like this is a pretty lenz, he grew up in the Rhineland of the thing I’ll do is enjoy a morning-after long time,« says Dicke betraying a de- 1950s and 1960s. Catholicism was om- breakfast for the mind.« After all, in the gree of exhaustion. nipresent here and a part of the public last ten years, Luther and related items sphere that was taken for granted. »Al- have occupied no small amount of time But where does this extraordinary com- tar boy, processions, sacristan duties – I in the diary of the former Rector of the mitment to the anniversary of the Re- also experienced the full gamut,« says Friedrich Schiller University. Since lea- formation actually come from? Why is the 63-year-old. »The Church supplied ving the management of the university Klaus Dicke so preoccupied with the a framework for the course of the who- in 2014, he has given many presentati- events surrounding the schism within le year.« He left his familiar faith envi- ons, attended conferences, written ar- the Church 500 years ago? The answer ronment when he went to university. SCHWERPUNKTFEATURE 31
Photo left: Installation on the market square of Wittenberg. Martin Luther (1483–1546) set the Reformation in motion from here. The monument to the reformer in front of the town hall can be seen in the background.
Neither Marburg nor Tübingen were ronment and working conditions are of considered bastions of Catholicism. He much greater importance to the political saw the subject of Catholic Theology scientist than the homeland of his faith. which he read besides Political Science »I have never chosen where to work or and History, more as a good option for live on the basis of my faith,« he says. becoming a teacher than as a path to Conversely, however, faith did once self-discovery. Nevertheless, he expan- have its say. »I was in fi rst place among ded his view of his own faith here. The the list of applicants for a Catholic uni- Catholic theological seminary in Mar- versity in south Germany, but I was not burg only boasted two professors, and appointed because my fi rst marriage for that reason the course was domina- had ended in divorce,« Dicke recounts. ted by Protestants. His time in Tübingen was primarily shaped by the dispute with Hans Küng who as a professor was The Reformation offered a »rich ta- levelling explicit criticism at the Ca- pestry of opportunities« tholic Church and thereby encouraging a process of self-refl ection. But does In any case, with Jena he has arrived in a degree in Theology do anything for the heartland of the Reformation. Time one’s own faith? »Sometimes it’s a ge- and again, his research priorities touch nuine help and sometimes a hindrance,« on the Early Modern – »and if you study Dicke says today. »Sometimes you can this epoch, you won’t be able to avoid derive greater benefi t from doubting, the movements of reform.« And alto- searching thinkers in this fi eld such as gether, Dicke is at pains to stress that Prof. Dr Klaus Dicke. The political scientist was Rector Imre Kertész than from many theolo- the events were not restricted to 1517. of Friedrich Schiller University from 2004 to 2014. gical tracts, but on the other hand, it is »If you look at the theological land scape The 63-year-old has been interested in Luther and the also very enriching to be able to follow around 1500, you will fi nd a plethora Reformation for longer than the last ten years of the the practices of faith over many centu- of options; there was a rich tapestry of Luther decade. ries. Theology is a highly interesting opportunities and Luther seized one of science.« them.« Reading Martin Luther’s wri- tings constitutes for Dicke the starting One of the fi rst priorities for the stu- point for an intensive analysis of the Re- dent Klaus Dicke in any new town was formation. The political dimension fas- to contact the student congregation. In cinates him above all else. »If you read Marburg and Tübingen, these are orga- Luther’s work on authority, you can nized along ecumenical lines – a subject see the great extent to which the events that has stayed with him to this day. around 1517 also emanated from ro- Not least because he becomes further bust political pragmatism,« the political and further removed from his Catholic scientist explains. »Generally speaking, heartland in the course of his university the divisions that we have created to- career. First it takes him as a junior lec- day between politics and religion did turer to the Protestant north, to the Uni- not exist in those days. Everything was versity of Kiel. »That was diaspora in much more closely interwoven – and itself. The Catholic community there is that is precisely what makes the constel- very modest. You know each other from lation of forces so exciting.« Sundays. That naturally leaves its mark And one political consequence of the and creates bonds,« the man from the Reformation is also the University of Rhineland recalls. Finally, he has a si- Jena which was initiated by a Protestant milar experience when he moves to the prince imprisoned by Catholics (p. 12 FSU in Jena in 1995. The almost secula- f.). rized east seems to present another new Dicke was determined, therefore, that challenge. However, the research envi- his university had to be part of any
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Luther as a toy fi gure in front of the door of Witten- berg’s Schlosskirche. Klaus Dicke sees the event character of the anniversary of the Reformation with scepticism.
Luther decade when it became evident affected half of Europe. He also views the former Rector is concerned: ecume- during his time as Rector that the an- the event character of the anniversary, nism. Of all days, the day commemo- niversary of the Reformation was to be which has now gained the upper hand, rating the anniversary of the »schism« very elaborately celebrated. »I saw in with great scepticism. has contributed to create closer ties this an opportunity to link theological between the two confessions, he says. research at the Friedrich Schiller Uni- Nevertheless, Dicke is delighted by »The way in which we have all accepted versity more closely to the State. The much of what has been set in mo- an understanding of the Reformation objective, after all, was to exploit the vement. »Many construction projects and tried in the process to see things potential of the anniversary – and with have been realized as part of the de- from each other’s perspective, gives me it the decade – not only for celebration cade, and a wide variety of subjects confi dence for the future,« reasons the but also for science.« He therefore set surrounding the Reformation have Catholic. »There were and are a whole up the initiative »Science and Church« attracted a much larger audience than series of joint events and church ser- and helped to found the »Reformation would otherwise have been the case – vices which focus on what we have in Research Network«. He explains that for example, a fi lm about Luther’s wife common.« In spite of all thoughts of they are both working very well to this Katharina von Bora, which also discus- reconciliation, »as a Catholic you can- day and have established themselves ses the role of women in those times.« not help but view an anniversary of as an information forum and com- In general, the Church had generated this nature with a tinge of sadness,« munication platform between nume- greater attention, he says, especially in Dicke admits. »The Reformation was rous institutions in Thuringia. states such as Thuringia and Saxony- without doubt absolutely necessary in Anhalt. This is due in no small measu- the circumstances of those times, but I re to his own efforts. Since he left the am not so sure that the Church had to Too much Luther — too much offi ce of rector, especially, he regular- split over it.« »hero worship« ly receives requests for presentations thanks to which he has to immerse Klaus Dicke himself still has a lot of »The anniversary has led to an increase himself time and again in all the rami- miles to cover this year. The next pre- in knowledge in many areas. Whether fi cations of the entire subject. »When sentations have already been written. the same applies to insight remains to I was completing my Abitur, I would The anniversary Church Conventi- be seen,« Klaus Dicke says. For him the- never have expected that one day I on in Jena and Weimar was held in re is slightly too much Luther, slightly would concern myself so intensively May. He hasn’t decided yet, he says, too much hero worship in the current with Protestant theology – and in the how he is going to spend 31 October celebrations. »Luther is only one of process become more curious every – the anniversary of Reformation Day. a whole series of reformers,« he says. time,« says Klaus Dicke by way of an Probably with friends in the town of »Of course, his translation of the New interim conclusion. »The questions in Oettern where he lives. There he is the Testament was a huge achievement, my head have certainly not grown fe- only Catholic and an accepted member but translating the Old Testament con- wer.« He sees the fact of embarking on of the community. However, the way in stituted admirable teamwork with a a search for the answers as a major per- which he came to be accepted was un- result that was no less valuable.« This sonal enrichment. After all, he states, usual, as he recounts. »Shortly after we entire focus on one strong man and the for all the differences, the important moved there, my wife – who is Protes- cultivation of the myth of the nailing of thing every time is to discover what tant – asked me to take a role in an Eas- the Theses to the church door, someti- the two confessions have in common. ter play as they were short of an actor. mes encourage overly nationalistic It was the role of D. Martin Luther, of traits, he states, which are inappropria- One winner to emerge from the deca- all people – and I seem to have played te when commemorating an event that de has already been decided as far as him very convincingly.« SCHWERPUNKTFEATURE 33
Calendar: 200 years of the Wartburg Festival
The Wartburg Festival as a signal of political awakening is one of the most multifacetted events in German history. But without Jena students, the event at the castle which once offered Martin Luther a refuge, would never have taken place in this fashion 200 years ago.
BY JULIANE DÖLITZSCH
Procession of the students to Wartburg Castle on 18.10.1817, Heinrich Hose, copper engraving, not dated.
fraternities during the two days. It was principally the – defi nitely politically in- tended – burning of aristocratic symbols and book dummies on the periphery of the event that in the end triggered the ensuing denigration and persecution of the members of the fraternity,« explains Dr Stefan Gerber from the research of- fi ce for the Recent Regional History of Thuringia. It is undisputed today that the Wartburg Festival represented a minor milestone on the path to the formation of the Ger- man nation. The ban on fraternities after 1819, in particular, reinforced them in their collective identity and advanced the struggle for a nation state until the It goes without saying that the Wartburg hand, there were speeches at the event German Reich was founded in 1871. One Festival in 1817 is inseparably associa- against parochialism and in favour of a of the political symbols of democracy ted with Thuringia due to Wartburg’s national state, and from 1814 it became was also born 200 years ago: »The fl ag location in Eisenach. Less well known a ritualized celebration in the sense of a of the Jena students made in 1816 by is the fact that the original student fra- peace festival in which along with 500 Jena’s ’women and maidens’, consisted ternity from Jena issued invitations, students from 13 universities, the resi- of the colours black, red and gold. And thereby starting the ball rolling for the dents of Eisenach also took part. Even as the students from Jena had issued joint festival. After receiving an applica- professors from the alma mater Jenensis the invitations to Wartburg, their fl ag tion from the students, the Weimar go- and government offi cials were present. led the procession. Since the Hambach vernment of Grand Duke Karl August Festival of 1832 and above all during the determined the site of the meeting. The revolution in 1848, black, red and gold students were eyeing three occasions for Students as a compensating element now prevailed on a national level as a the festival: the 300th anniversary of the political symbol,« Bauer recounts. Reformation, a memorial to the Battle On the other hand, central, internal stu- The reasons for the Wartburg Festival of the Nations near Leipzig in 1813 and dent concerns such as the foundation were as complex as its subsequent inter- the staging of a national meeting of stu- of a binding »fraternity« at all German pretation. The three-day conference in dents. universities, were discussed. This is also Wartburg Castle from 11 to 13 October »Loosely formulated, you could also refl ected in the course of the festival: of this year is evidence that the interpre- call the celebrations a ’students party’. October 18 was primarily dedicated to tation of the Wartburg Festival has still The whole event only became highly the memory of Martin Luther and the not been completed after 200 years. His- politically charged as a result of the sub- Battle of the Nations near Leipzig in torians from all over Germany will pon- sequent public debate and the quickly 1813, while exclusively student themes der »The Wartburg Festival in 1817 as ensuing slanders,« states adjunct Prof. were addressed on 19 October. »The a European Event« – and perhaps once Dr Joachim Bauer from the University Jena students often acted as a compen- again hit on completely new patterns of Archives with conviction. On the one sating element between more radical meaning.
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BIOINFORMATICS
Mathematics in vegetable oil
Bioinformatics specialists and botanists have made an interesting discovery. The number of theoretically pos- sible fatty acids with the same chain length but of different structure can be determined by means of the famous Fibonacci sequence, and therefore follows the »Golden Section«. This fi nding can be used in the che- mical analysis of fatty acids – so-called lipidomics – to name but one example.
BY UTE SCHÖNFELDER
Mild in taste and of great nutritio- And in the process, the Jena-based nal value, the bright yellow vegetable researchers have recently made an in- oil pressed from sunfl ower seeds has teresting discovery. Not only have they many different uses and is extremely been able to prove that the number of healthy as it contains a large proportion fatty acids occurring in nature with of unsaturated fatty acids. This is the rising chain lengths can be elegantly term for fatty acids whose hydrocar- forecast. They also show in an article bon chains contain one or more double in »Scientifi c Reports« that this num- bonds. »As the double bonds can occur ber obeys the famous Fibonacci se- in different places in the molecule, fat- quence. With this sequence, named af- ty acids can occur with the same chain ter the Italian mathematician Fibonacci length but different structures,« Prof. (around 1170 to 1240), every number is Dr Stefan Schuster explains. The Pro- the sum of the two preceding numbers: fessor of Bioinformatics and his team 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 etc. »In the case of are driven by the question of whether fatty acids, this means that the number Prof. Dr Stefan Schuster is on the trail of the Fibo- and how the number of all structural nacci sequence in nature and has now struck lucky of possible fatty acid structures increa- formulas of fatty acids can be calcula- with natural fatty acids. ses with every carbon atom by a factor ted for a given chain length so as to be of roughly 1.618...,« Schuster explains. able to use this variable for analytical The longer the chain, the closer the se- procedures. quence approaches this factor. While Editorial 35
only one structure is possible in each case for chain lengths of one or two carbon atoms, the number grows to two, three, fi ve, etc. for three and more carbon atoms. »With six carbon atoms, we already have eight possible struc- tures, with seven, thirteen and so on.«
The Golden Section in nature
The factor 1.618... describes a ratio known in nature but also in art as the »Golden Section«. It is to be found in architectural masterpieces such as the old town hall in Leipzig but also in fl owers, snail shells and even in the human body. If the ratio of parts of a building or the proportions of plants or bodies correspond to a fi gure of roughly 1.618, the human eye perceives them as being especially well-balanced and »harmonious«. »Even the leaves of many plants or the seeds of the sunfl ower are arranged in accordance with this rule,« Prof. Dr Severin Sasso from the Institute of General Botany and Plant Physiolo- gy explains. The Junior Professor for Molecular Botany is one of the authors of the publication along with doctoral student Maximilian Fichtner. »It is in- teresting that even certain constituent parts of the sunfl ower – the fatty acids – follow this principle,« Dr Sasso says. The results relating to the Fibonacci The arrangement of the seeds of marguerites, daisies However, not all possible fatty acids sequence in fatty acids can be applied or sunfl owers, but also the structure of romanesco broccoli (photo left), follows the Fibonacci sequence: occur in sunfl ower oil by a long way. primarily in the area of lipidomics – the the ratio of two successive numbers approaches It consists largely of fatty acids with a comprehensive analysis of all fats in a ever closer to the ratio of the »Golden Section«. The chain length of 16 or 18 carbon atoms. cell or organism. »An exact knowledge resulting »golden angle« of 137.5 degrees forms the According to the calculations made by of what substances can theoretically optimum angle between successive leaves or fl orets. the Jena bioinformatics researchers, occur is essential for this work,« Prof. there could be almost 1,000 and over Schuster emphasizes. The metabolic 2,500 different versions of them re- processes and interactions with other spectively. »Similar correlations apply cellular substances involving fats and to certain classes of amino acids,« Ma- their constituent parts are examined ximilian Fichtner adds. with the aid of lipidomics.
Original Publication Schuster S et al. Use of Fibonacci numbers Contact in lipidomics – enumerating various Prof. Dr Stefan Schuster Phone: ++ 49 3641 949580 classes of fatty acids. Scientifi c Reports 7 Chair of Bioinformatics Email: [email protected] (2017) 39821, DOI: 10.1038/srep39821 Ernst-Abbe-Platz 2, D-07743 Jena, Germany pinguin.biologie.uni-jena.de/bioinformatik
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 36 Editorial
NUTRITION From the pond to the pot
The little fl oating plants are popularly known as »duckweed«. But con- trary to what this term implies, water lenses are not just a delicacy for fi sh or waterfowl. The green protein bombs are also ideal for human diets, whether as a smoothie or in an omelette.
BY STEPHAN LAUDIEN AND UTE SCHÖNFELDER Editorial 37
Wolffi a globosa, a small rootless water ning space for cultivation. Water lenses lens, clearly has the potential to make had been on the menu for millennia it big. Working with professional col- in Asian countries such as Thailand, leagues in Kerala (India) and Germany, Cambodia and Laos, he continued. In scientists from Jena have examined the particular, he points to the species Wolf- potential of various water lenses for fi a globosa which in Asia is served as a human nutrition. The results are promi- soup, vegetable side-dish or omelette. sing. They have been published in the specialist journal »Food Chemistry«. In the current tests conducted by the research group, Wolffi a microscopica pro- »Water lenses could certainly serve as ved the most promising. For the present a source of protein for human diets,« study, the researchers examined six says Prof. Dr Gerhard Jahreis. It is no different species of water lenses: Spi- coincidence that water lenses are called rodela polyrhiza from the USA, Landoltia »green machines«, the nutritionist punctata, Wolffi ella hyalina and Wolffi a adds. Jahreis says the water lenses are microscopica from India, Lemna minor comparable in their protein content to from Germany and Lemna gibba from lupins, rapeseed or peas. The protein Italy. yield is around 30 percent of its dry First, the plants are cultivated for 14 Klaus Appenroth (r.) and Gerhard Jahreis inspect weight, he says. He explains that the days in an Erlenmeyer fl ask in a culture the extensive collection of water lens plants in their little water plants are defi nitely to be ra- medium, as can be seen in the photo (p. laboratory. Water lenses are already consumed today, ted as valuable from the perspective of 36). During this period, a thick, fl oating primarily in Asia, and that is where the requirement is nutrition physiology, particularly with lawn sprouts from a few plants sown. greatest, they say. The diet in India, in particular, with its high population, is heavily biased towards starch respect to the composition of the ami- Subsequently, the green biomass can be due to their consumption of rice, while proteins and no acids – the components from which harvested and freeze dried for chemical trace elements are often missing in the food. The proteins are built. »All amino acids are analysis. addition of water lenses rich in valuable protein and present at the levels recommended by trace elements, could provide a remedy, according the World Health Organization,« Jah- to the conviction of the researchers from Jena. The climatic conditions in the Indian subcontinent are also reis emphasizes. The tiny plants also First pilot plants for producing duck- ideal for cultivating water lenses. The »snack from the contained valuable omega-3 fatty acids, weed on a grand scale pond« still has to establish itself in European cuisine. he continued, such as stearic acid and Water lens smoothies are conceivable or biscuits alpha linolenic acid. »So far, the duckweed has not been produced free of gluten. cultivated for larger applications but The proportion of starch is comparati- simply ’harvested’ from bodies of wa- vely low in water plants. Only four to ter,« says Klaus Appenroth. The plant ten percent of their dry weight consists physiologist has devoted almost his en- of starch although the proportion de- tire career as a researcher to these tiny pends largely on their conditions for plants and among other things, built growth, he states. That also makes the an extensive collection of Lemnaceae green water vegetable interesting as a (English: duckweed). Nevertheless, he food that is particularly low in calories, says, the fi rst pilot plants have been according to Jahreis. set up in Israel and the Netherlands in which water lenses are produced on an industrial scale – primarily for biomass Fast reproduction with no additional production. fi elds Another factor in favour of using the plants for human consumption in the »The water lenses reproduce very quick- future is that, according to the authors ly but do not need any additional cul- of the study presented, water lenses can tivation space,« says PD Dr Klaus Ap- easily absorb trace elements dissolved penroth. He adds that this represents in the water. In this way, diet-related an enormous advantage compared with defi ciencies could be compensated with soya, for example, in view of the decli- little effort.
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 38 Editorial
BACKGROUND
The smallest fl owering plants in the world
The family of water lens plants (Lemnaceae) has fi ve genera with 37 species have been eaten for many generations in East Asia (Thailand, Myanmar, worldwide. In Central Europe, for example, the lesser duckweed (Lemna min- Laos), and are standard products in the form of »water eggs« (khai-nam). or), the gibbous duckweed (Lemna gibba) as well as the star duckweed (Lemna Water lenses were also a traditional item on the menu of the Mayans in Gua- triscula) are all native species. The greater duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza) is temala where they were known as »water corn« (Xim Ha). Due to their high also frequently found in these parts on stagnant or slowly fl owing waters. protein content, ideal amino acid composition and low fat content, water There is also the so-called rootless spotless watermeal (Wolffi a) which is pri- lenses are particularly valuable from the perspective of nutrition physiology. marily indigenous to warm and tropical latitudes and therefore relatively rare in Germany. They are considered to be the smallest fl owering plants in the world. To be consumed, water lenses must grow in clean water as they quickly ab- Members of the Asian watermeal species Wolffi a globosa are only 0.7 to 1.5 sorb substances in the water – pollutants, for example – in large quantities millimetres in size, spherical in shape and they grow without roots fl oating on and store them. On the other hand, this circumstance is also exploited, and the water. They reproduce vegetatively – by means of asexual cell division – water lenses are used specifi cally in order to biologically cleanse polluted and they do so at such a rate that they are able to cover entire water surfaces waters and waste water. In water treatment plants, water lenses can reli- within the shortest space of time. Water lenses are the fastest growing fl owe- ably remove nitrogen and phosphorous compounds from the water as well ring plants that exist: Up to six tons of biomass grow from one gram within three as heavy metals, pesticides or dioxins. weeks under ideal conditions. The tiny plants also offer further interesting deployment options thanks However: For such turbo growth, the tiny green plants need consistently warm to their huge propensity to reproduce, for example as raw material for the temperatures. For any production of water lenses on a major scale, subtropical biofuel ethanol. This is because water lenses produce on average around or tropical areas are much better suited than Germany or Europe. fi ve times more biomass than maize per hectare per year. And they require no land for cultivating food or fodder and can be more easily harvested than In nature, water lenses are an important staple for many fi sh and waterfowl. But algae, for example, which are already being used today in the production they are also already playing a role in human nutrition. For example, water lenses of biofuel. Editorial 39
THREE QUESTIONS TO
PD Dr Klaus Appenroth Plant physiologist and specialist for water lenses
What hurdles must water lenses over- come to establish themselves as food in Europe? As no members of the water lens fa- mily have been used for generations as food in any country in the European Union, they were classifi ed as a »novel food«. That means they would have to be tested in accordance with the »No- vel Food Directive« before being of- fi cially sold and used as food. The fact that these plants have been eaten in Asian countries since time immemori- al, plays no part. Through our analyses, we are making an important contribution towards creating the necessary preconditions and we are continuing our work. Col- leagues in the Netherlands and Israel are also striving to clarify the legal side of the procedures required. There is of course also a need for a compa- ny that produces the plants in suitable volumes. This cannot be the task of a university.
The areas where water lenses can be PD Dr Klaus Appenroth has devoted almost his entire career as a researcher to water lenses. He manages the deployed are already varied (see box international committee on water lens research which is lobbying worldwide for more intensive use and applica- on p. 38). Where do you see their grea- tion of duckweed. test potential – as well as their use as food? Firstly, in the cleansing of waste water are working in this direction. It is na- covered by the product. as water lenses absorb all possible sub- turally a good idea to combine these stances from the water. Of course, that two applications. When waters rich in Can you reveal your »ultimate« water only works all year round in warmer nutrients are used, the plants absorb lens recipe? countries, e.g. in India. and store these nutrients, and so the I like water lens curry best: For this, Secondly, in the use of biomass to ex- biomass can also be used as green ma- you fry some onions and black mustard tract starch. Sugar can be easily de- nure, e.g. to recycle phosphates. seeds. Add cumin, chili peppers and rived from starch and can be fermen- And thirdly and fi nally, water len- ground ginger. Then add the water ted to form bioalcohols (ethanol or ses are of course also suitable as ani- lenses – preferably Wolffi a – fry briefl y butanol) and used to generate energy. mal feed. A calculation is required as and add salt and lemon to taste. Done. Colleagues from China, in particular, to whether cultivation is fi nancially It goes well with rice.
Contact Original Publication PD Dr Klaus Appenroth, Prof. Dr Gerhard Jahreis Phone: ++ 49 3641 949233, Appenroth KJ et al. Nutritional value of Institute of General Botany and Plant Physiology, ++ 49 3641 949610 duckweeds (Lemnaceae) as human food. Institute of Nutrition Email: [email protected] Food Chemistry, Dornburger Straße 159 and 24 [email protected] DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.08.116 D-07743 Jena, Germany www.botanik.uni-jena.de, www.iew.uni-jena.de
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 40
Seeing through fi sh
The ded licate strucructurtu es off twotwo InI do-d Pacifi c fl oundunu erss ara e showho n in tranr spap renr t formr inn a new speciai l exhixh bitb ion inn thhe »PhyPh lettisches Museum«.« ThTheh suubjectc off theh INI SIGSI HTFISHH exhx ibition which runsun unntilt 8 Octtobeobb r 2017, is »ses eing throughugg fi sh«h«h mam de pospossibi le by modm ern teechniques.ese FaF scinatn inging speciimens andnd lal rge-sc- ale phhotoottossw witht transan mitm tedd light givi e visitors a unu iqueei insin ghtg into theh beauty and structureeo offfi fishh. Science Photo 41
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 42 Editorial
Photo left: Section of the cover of the publication »The Waffen-SS. A European History«.
only way of surviving the war,« says Jo- chen Böhler. For example, recruitment focused on so-called Trawniki men, lar- gely in prisoner-of-war camps in which there was an extremely high death rate. Refusing to serve under German com- mand would therefore have meant al- most certain death. Added to these were volunteers, for example in the Ukraine, whose countries no longer existed and HISTORY who believed they could get along in a greater German empire after the war. In countries such as Norway, Holland or France, the idea of fi ghting with the Not just men of conviction Germans against Bolshevism was one of the main reasons for joining the Waf- fen-SS. It was usually these staunch an- During the Second World War, around half a million men from countries ti-communists who clung to their con- occupied by Germany served in the Waffen-SS. Historians have analy- victions to the end. Nevertheless – and sed and published a book on what moved them to join this feared force. this is also one of the conclusions of the research project, »Non-Germans in the Waffen-SS: A Cultural History« – it was
BY STEPHAN LAUDIEN by no means the case that all members of the Waffen-SS of non-German origin were criminals, according to Böhler. »There were rebellions, desertion and resistance in the ranks of the auxiliary troops,« he says. During the Second World War, the the concentration and extermination Waffen-SS left a trail of death and des- camps. The research group has now Over 25 scientists in nearly every truction across Europe. The units in published its fi rst results. country from which the SS men came, this elite force were feared and hated. are involved in the project. Together Nevertheless, many people in countries they have written the English book, occupied by Germany volunteered to Financial emergency or anti- »The Waffen-SS. A European History«, fi ght in the ranks of the Waffen-SS. A communism published by Prof. Gerwarth with Dr further substantial number of foreign Böhler. In the process, geographical recruits were conscripted. An inter- »There were many different reasons for regions such as Northern Europe or national team of researchers with Dr joining the Waffen-SS, and at the same South-East Europe were viewed as be- Jochen Böhler from the Imre Kertész time those that did so had much in com- longing together. Kolleg and Prof. Dr Robert Gerwarth mon,« says Dr Jochen Böhler. The main from the School of History at Univer- motives included providing fi nancial- »It is striking that the racially motiva- sity College Dublin have spent four ly for themselves and their families as ted classifi cation of people of different years investigating the background to well as agreement with the German war origins is seamlessly maintained un- the deployment of foreign SS soldiers aims. »For many men in the occupied der arms,« says Jochen Böhler. In speci- in fi ghting units and as guards in territories, the Waffen-SS offered the fi c terms, this meant that anyone who Editorial 43
BACKGROUND
The Imre Kertész Kolleg at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena is a place of interdisciplinary, trans- national historical research on historical events of the 20th century in East-Central and South-East Europe. The project, »Non-Germans in the Waffen-SS: A Cultural History« has been running since 2013 and will be continued until 2018, and further publications are planned. The research is supported by the Gerda Henkel Foundation in Düsseldorf which has contributed almost €240,000.
was far down the ladder in the Nazis’ racial classifi cation, such as Russians or Ukrainians, had far less chance of promotion than the French or Norwe- gians, for example.
Altogether, there were around half a million non-Germans who wore the uniform with the skull and crossbones and SS runes. Whatever their motiva- tion was in joining the Waffen-SS, they mostly shared the same fate after the war. »Collaborating with the enemy was taboo in most countries,« says Jo- chen Böhler. In France, for example, the fact that Alsations – i.e. French people of German origin – were involved in the massacre of Oradour in 1944, was seen as traumatic. They were termed »malgré-nous« (against our will) and they became tragic fi gures. In the Bal- tic countries, on the other hand, former members of the SS were widely vene- rated as heroes after the end of the Cold War and as pioneers in the fi ght against Bolshevism. It is to the credit of Dr Jochen Böhler on the steps of Prinzessinnenschlösschen in Griesbachgarten in which the Imre Kertész Kolleg the new book that it offers a nuanced, is based. The Jena historian and his professional colleague, Prof. Dr Robert Gerwarth from the School of History scientifi cally justifi ed picture to offset of University College Dublin, have spent four years investigating the background to the deployment of foreign SS the well-known stereotypes. soldiers in fi ghting units and as guards in the concentration and extermination camps.
Bibliography Jochen Böhler, Robert Gerwarth (Eds.): »The Contact Waffen-SS. A European History«, Oxford Dr Jochen Böhler Phone: ++ 49 3641 944075 University Press, Oxford 2017, ISBN 978-0- Imre Kertész Kolleg Email: [email protected] 19-879055-6 Leutragraben 1, D-07743 Jena, Germany www.imre-kertesz-kolleg.uni-jena.de
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 44 Editorial Prof. Dr Adrian Pfeiffer in his element: In the laboratory of the Institute of Optics and Quantum Electronics, he devotes himself to laser experiments with an uncertain outcome.
PORTRAIT
Science roller-coaster
Prof. Dr Adrian Pfeiffer researches physical processes down to attosecond precisi- on. In the process, experimental physics sometimes requires bold research ideas, radical rethinking – and no fear of failure.
BY JULIANE DÖLITZSCH Editorial 4545
THE BOLD EXPERIMENT
Pfeiffer’s latest project that the funding initiative »Experiment!« As at the speed of light, this shifts the time of the pulse by several hundred by the Volkswagen Foundation is supporting with €100,000, focu- attoseconds, it is impossible to fi nd out anything about the dynamics in the ses on »subcycle precision non-linear spectroscopy« and, as he ex- sample with attosecond precision,« the young physicist explains. Neverthe- plains, it requires a radical change in thinking. Specifi cally, he is in- less, he shows his ingenuity and still makes an attempt — by motorizing all vestigating how long a group of light pulses requires to travel from the optics between the sample and the detector. By repeating the experiment their point of origin, a material sample, until they strike a detector. multiple times, Pfeiffer assumes that the average determined in the time taken The problem with the experiment lies in the inaccuracy of the measure- for the light pulses to strike refl ects actual timing differences in different ma- ment, as all the optics involved which the light pulses pass on their way terial samples. For example, he would like to fi nd out how quickly electrons to their target, bring with them certain surface characteristics. »Even with react to intense light in different materials such as thin glass or crystals. precision optics, you have to expect variances of around 60 nanometres.
»The ratio of two attoseconds to one modifying of an experiment as failure, job. What keeps him going? Coffee in second corresponds to that of one sec- he explains: »That is simply the process the morning. And the excitement and ond to the age of the universe.« What of research. It’s much more usual for it the striving to fi nd something new. That Prof. Dr Adrian Pfeiffer describes with not to work than for it to work.« could be compared to someone who this image is a time span so short as to has a model railway, he says: »It’s not be scarcely imaginable: one attosecond There can be three reasons for this in always much fun setting everything up is the billionth part of a billionth of a the natural sciences according to Pfeif- but you do it anyway because you want second. It almost goes without saying fer. Faulty materials or technology, hu- to see it running one of these days.« that experiments conducted in such a man error on all levels, from setting up Pfeiffer, who comes from Baden-Würt- short timeframe are not always predic- to evaluating the experiment or sim- temberg, also likes to be adventurous table. Nevertheless – or perhaps becau- ply a research idea that doesn’t work. in his free time. He enjoys skiing, clim- se of this very fact – the 37-year-old is »Unfortunately, you never know the bing and sailing, but often he can’t fi nd expanding his research on attoseconds. real reason. It’s easy to start doubting time for them. After his lab work and He has recently received two presti- yourself.« Water off a duck’s back, that’s teaching assignments, he is more likely gious scholarships for his work: €40,000 not his style: »In that regard, I’m no wi- to be found in the bouldering centre in from the Daimler and Benz Foundati- ser now, and I’m still an optimist. And Jena or on his mountain-bike. on and €100,000 from the Volkswagen I can still get very angry when things Foundation. The latter supports dar- don’t work.« From such phases, he can ing research ideas with an uncertain also clearly deduce where the term »ab- Constant progress required outcome through its funding initiative sent-minded professor« comes from. »Experiment!« – failure is an accepted He is then so immersed in his own His research into attoseconds to which result, he states, when explaining the thoughts and preoccupied with the the native of Tübingen has dedicated reasons for obstacles. problem because he would like to fi nd himself since starting his dissertation, out where the sticking point lies in the took him initially to Zurich in 2007 Modifi cations are part of the research experiment, he continues. and to the Lawrence Berkeley Natio- process Once he had a crazy idea, he says. It nal Laboratory in California for three could have very quickly brought pow- years. He has been a Junior Professor in But who wants to contemplate failu- erful new insights to the fi eld of spec- Jena since 2013. A normal career path re when they have a new idea for re- troscopy. But the experiment simply in science, says Adrian Pfeiffer. Con- search? »Every scientist in physics to- refused to work, and sooner or later he stant progress and mobility are a must. day is exploring frontiers whether in gave up. The sketch of the idea is still That fi ts well with what the passionate optics or solid-state physics. It’s always in his desk, but it probably won’t ever scientist has to say about experimental a matter of extremes: ever smaller, fas- leave his drawer again. »I still don’t physics whenever somebody asks him ter, bigger. As long as it’s terra incog- know what the problem was. And that a critical question about the deeper me- nita. That’s what makes experimental still peeves me.« The physicist likes to aning and benefi t: »It’s the engine for physics so exciting,« Pfeiffer explains. quote the A-Team TV series: »I love it development in general. Just take lasers And that also implies the possibility of when a plan comes together.« But in the in medicine or computer technology – failure, it’s important not to fear failu- end, the constant ups and downs cons- if you’re in favour of progress, you can’t re, he states. No experiment works the titute for him everyday working life in be against experimental physics.« And very fi rst time, says the Junior Profes- science. »Research is like a roller-coas- as far as the big picture is concerned, he sor for Attosecond Laser Physics from ter ride,« the attosecond expert opines. naturally likes to stick with his daring experience. But nobody interprets the Adrian Pfeiffer has made his hobby his research ideas.
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 46 Editorial
Dr Norman Henniges views the map collection in the German National Library in Leipzig.
around 1850, there was a genuine hype surrounding school wall maps,« Dr Andreas Christoph explains. »They were not just used from a geographi- cal standpoint but also to illustrate economic or social relationships. They expressed the prevailing world view of their time and helped to shape it,« the science historian from Ernst-Haeckel- Haus continues. As this resource offers an incredible well of insights currently rolled up in the archives collecting dust, Dr An- dreas Christoph and the science his- torian Dr Norman Henniges in colla- boration with the German Museum of Books and Writings of the German Na- tional Library (DNB), have conceived the CANVAS project to free the school wall map from its life in the shadows. The German Federal Ministry of Edu- cation and Research is putting €80,000 into the project.
Creating standards for digitization
The scientists are focusing fi rst on di- gitizing all the copies and drawing up a concept. »What we need to do fi rst is The whole world at a glance defi ne standards for our further work,« Henniges reports. From a technical point of view, for example, he says it is Still relevant even in the age of Google Maps: science historians plan to not possible to scan the maps some of digitize around 4,000 school wall maps. which are up to three by three metres in size. »That is why they are photogra-
BY JULIANE DÖLITZSCH phed – with a resolution of 100 megapi- xels. This ensures that even the minu- test details are not lost.« The coming months will concentrate Anyone recalling their geography les- alone, national borders shifted drasti- predominantly on school wall maps sons can see large maps in their mind’s cally in the 20th century as a result of from the period between 1913 and 1950. eye. Germany, Europe, the whole wor- two World Wars and the division of In future, they will be made available ld: they all graced the classrooms and Germany – not to mention the rest of on the DNB’s own portal. »The aim, their job was to contribute to the exten- the world. of course, is to enable all scientists to sion of topographic knowledge. Not in- This inevitably leads to an enormous use them, and in the long term to open frequently, the information displayed number of school wall maps which are them up via Open Access to anyone in- on them became obsolete before school long since out of date but of great value terested,« Project Manager Christoph days were over, as in Central Europe from a historical perspective. »After explains. ProjectsEditorial 47
Bacteria as they occur on the surfaces of materials in hospitals — e.g. on door handles — but also in other public buildings. Germs on the wing
FSU is coordinating a major project for collaborative research and develop- ment on the way in which we deal with pathogens in aviation.
BY AXEL BURCHARDT
A cough here, a sniff there: Waiting In airports and airplanes, not only do planning perspective. There will also rooms in medical practices are among healthy people encounter sick indivi- be model solutions for new materi- the places with a high density of duals, but pathogens from all parts of als, e.g. with signifi cantly lower germ germs. Wherever people congregate the globe are also to be found there adhesion, and these are later to be and spend time together, there is a risk and are carried to other locations by launched on the market.« of infection from pathogens. Railway the passengers. Materials scientist Jandt and his team stations and airports are also places will investigate the role played by ma- where the risk of infection lurks. terials and their surfaces in the spread A current research and development Interrupting infection chains of infections in air travel. One par- project coordinated by the FSU as part ticular challenge lies in the fact that of the InfectControl 2020 consortium is HyFly now aims to provide active such surfaces are subject to frequent looking at the risk potential of airports prevention and help to interrupt the and intensive cleaning and disinfec- and air travel. The partners from the infection chains on fl ights. »Preventi- tion. Over the course of time, this worlds of science and business want on is the aim,« Prof. Dr Klaus D. Jandt changes the properties of the materials to develop effective strategies within explains. The materials scientist is the surface. The project is to examine the three years for controlling the ways for coordinator of the alliance and he adds: effect of such changes on the tendency pathogens to spread on fl ights. Within »Thanks to our partners from various for microbial contamination. As an al- the InfectControl 2020 consortium, sectors of industry, there won’t just be ternative to chemical disinfection me- which is funded by the Federal Mi- a White Paper at the end of the process thods, the researchers want to examine nistry of Education and Research, the to neutralize the impact of aspects rel- treating surfaces with light such as UV project known as HyFly receives €2.6 evant to the spread of infections at air- radiation, especially the effi cacy of UV million of funds. ports from a construction and process LEDs.
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 48 Editorial
This is precisely what is now being Electromobility where you live tested – and by no means just theore- tically. An apartment block is currently un- dergoing a total refurbishment in Computer scientists are developing a comprehensive concept for using Chemnitz in Saxony, and in future it regenerative energy for residences. The fi rst apartment block is currently is to serve as a »demonstrator« for the WINNER model. »A photovoltaic sys- being refurbished and fi tted out in Chemnitz in Saxony. tem is being installed on the roof, and
BY JULIANE DÖLITZSCH four charging stations for electric vehi- cles are being set up in the car parks,« Späthe states. Added to this are two electric cars which the residents will More and more people in the 21st cen- be able to share – environmentally-con- tury are giving thought to how they can scious carsharing with neighbours. The take the burden off our planet. Besides electricity generated via the roof can the use of public transport, electric cars also power heating pumps, illuminate today offer an opportunity to avoid staircases or outdoor systems or else be excessive pollution of the environment used to supply power for the tenants. caused by the emission of harmful sub- stances. Relying on renewable energy to generate electricity has long become Identifying potential for saving energy the hallmark of a sustainable way of life that looks after our natural resources. Above all, it is fascinating for the team The research project WINNER (»Woh- to draw up an energy balance sheet nungswirtschaftlich integrierte netz- and identify the potential for savings neutrale Elektromobilität in Quartier in the use of energy. »Measuring the und Region«), which is being funded energy consumption of a building with by the German Federal Ministry for 32 tenants over a longer period of time Economic Affairs and Energy to the offers promising insights for us as the tune of €2.5 million over three years, central data unit in the project. This combines both approaches. The FSU is helps us to understand the times when Computer scientist Steffen Späthe is managing a sub- project in the »WINNER« consortium. realizing the project together with six consumption is particularly high or partners from Central Germany. »We low, and control when power is taken Illustration above: Solar modules on the roof, electric want to bring electromobility directly from the grid and when from the roof,« car outside the door – this is the objective of the to residential quarters by providing Späthe explains. The electricity from project which intends to bring electromobility directly tenants with charging stations for elec- the external energy supplier is less ex- to residential quarters. tric cars,« reports Steffen Späthe, Mana- pensive at night, but on the other hand, ger of the sub-project »WINNER Poten- the local, solar-generated power could tial«, which is established at the Chair be fed in during more expensive pe- of Software and Systems Engineering. riods, he comments. ProjectsEditorial 4949
Video recordings of their own lessons are to give student teachers feedback on their teaching during their school internship. Taking a camera into class
The government is funding two digitization projects in university education with around €840,000. The objectives are to achieve a higher quality of examinations and video feedback for beginning teacher candidates.
BY JULIANE DÖLITZSCH
Digital media are conquering the The purpose of the KAT-HS project, cher candidates it usually means actu- world – and they do not stop short of which is enjoying funding of almost ally standing in front of a class for the German universities. As part of the €450,000, is to redress this discrepancy. fi rst time. Gröschner and his team want funding programme »Research into di- »The aim of our project is to develop to fi nd out whether feedback on video gital university education«, the Federal and test a concept for precise, crite- recordings of the lesson generates grea- Ministry of Education and Research rion-referenced, computer-based exams ter added value for the student teachers. (BMBF) will fund two FSU projects in that can be used across universities and Hitherto it has frequently been the case, the coming three years, both of which faculties,« Frey explains. The exams he explains, that they describe their ex- are established at the Institute of Educa- of the future are also to adapt to each perience of taking lessons in fi nal pro- tional Science. individual examinee: »In the case of ject reports. adaptive tests, the follow-up questions There are hardly any video-based re- are based on the answers given before. fl ections or feedback from peers or lec- Refl ection instead of cramming facts Anyone, for example, who answers a turers. As well as the video group, there lot of questions correctly, will be given will also be a text-based group for com- With KAT-HS (»Kriteriumsorientiertes more diffi cult ones,« Frey reports. parison in the OVID-PRAX project and adaptives Testen in der Hochschule«), one containing no refl ection on their ex- Prof. Dr Andreas Frey and Dr Chris- perience, either by video or in writing. tian Spoden are aiming to make writ- Video documents teaching experience A test both before and after their prac- ten University exams more meaning- ticum deployment is intended to show ful. »Exams are incredibly relevant for Prof. Dr Alexander Gröschner is also who has achieved the greatest gain in students and the marks often count bringing new media into play. His re- knowledge and feedback competence. towards their degree, but the psycho- search project OVID-PRAX (»Online- The BMBF’s funding programme »Re- metric quality of the exams often fails based Video Feedback in practicum«) search on digital University Educati- to do justice to their importance,« Frey enjoys funding of around €390,000 from on« focuses on the universities’ cur- explains. For example, lecturers would the BMBF, and takes as its starting point rent e-learning practice and looks into like to encourage students to think for the support given to student teachers in opportunities to apply new technical themselves but instead they only test their school internship. This is taken in developments from other spheres of so- their knowledge of facts – or vice versa. the third year of study and for the tea- ciety.
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 50
The hunt for the fi reball
Researchers obtain their objects of scientifi c study in many different ways: some cultivate bacteria or plants, others survey test subjects and others still operate measuring equipment or collect water and soil samples. And some researchers are helped by pure chance.
BY UTE SCHÖNFELDER
Dr Dennis Harries from the Institute of Geosciences had one of his research ob- jects literally fall at his feet. Admittedly, there was a fair hike involved as well. Even a pretty long hike, totalling more than 150 kilometres. But one thing at a time.
It is 6 March 2016, a late Sunday eve- ning when a glowing fi reball enters the earth’s atmosphere between Salzburg and Passau and traces a bright trail across the sky. The police receive nume- rous emergency calls from anxious resi- dents. At 22.37hrs, the light apparition is also captured by several automatic cameras belonging to the »European Fireball Network« before it fades away not far from the borough of Stubenberg in Lower Bavaria. »That was the typical signature of a meteorite fall,« says Den- Behind theEditorial Scenes 51
Photos left: The Jena piece of the Stubenberg mete- orite (»Stubenberg M6«). The stone made of common chondrite weighed around 35 grams from which one piece was sawn off and provided for analysis. The light grey, slightly gleaming rock is surrounded by a deep black fusion crust – traces of its scorchingly hot passage through the earth’s atmosphere. Originally, it comes from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Top left: Location of the fi nd in a piece of woodland; Bottom left: The remaining piece of the meteorite with cut surface.
Photo right: Dr Agnese Fazio and Dr Dennis Harries. When they’re not off hunting meteorites, the minera- logists analyse rock samples as here with a Raman microscope.
nis Harries who works at the Chair of in weight with a diameter of 70 cm be- unusual,« Harries recalls. As a precau- Analytical Mineralogy of Micro- and fore entering the earth’s atmosphere,« tionary measure, he photographs the Nanostructures, and among activities, Agnese Fazio recounts. »Much larger site of the fi nd before carefully lifting conducts research on meteorites. Ba- pieces must have hit the ground than the stone out of the soft soil lined with sed on the photographs and data on the what had been found so far,« says the pine needles and small twigs. When he weather situation that evening, it was 29-year-old junior scientist with expe- has the stone in his hand, he knows that possible to narrow the area in which rience of hunting meteorites. In 2012, he has found a piece of the Stubenberg the cosmic rock must have struck the she was with a team from Pisa Univer- meteorite. ground very precisely. When the fi rst sity on an expedition to the Antarctic. pieces of the Stubenberg meteorite were The researchers there had discovered What followed after the happy end, is found a few days later, Harries could more than 100 meteorites in the space part of everyday scientifi c life: the mete- not wait any longer in Jena. Together of two months. orite was measured, sectioned and sub- with his Italian colleague, Dr Agnese jected to mineralogical analysis. »The Fazio, he sets out for Bavaria. stone is a common chondrite,« says Dr »The calculated scatter fi eld comprised Meteorite hunt with a happy end Harries. As a meteorite, the »Stuben- several square kilometres of farmland berg« is pretty unspectacular, he goes and woods,« Harries recalls. On the After three days, Fazio returns to Jena. on. »Over 80 percent of all meteorites very day of their arrival, the 35-year-old Harries continues to search. His frust- found on earth are made of this mate- discovers a tiny fragment of the mete- ration mounts, and his feet are hurting. rial.« Nevertheless, these stones, that orite. »It was then that the thrill of the He has now left the farmers’ fi elds whe- are not found on earth (except as me- chase gripped me.« There followed a re searchers had a clear view, and was teorites), afford a glimpse into the deep day-long hike. Metre for metre, Den- now combing through brambles in the past of our solar system. The meteorites nis Harries and Agnese Fazio combed dense wood. Still he fi nds nothing. But come from the asteroid belt between the area along with dozens of other re- this would not be a good story if it did Mars and Jupiter and they were created searchers and amateur meteorite hun- not have a happy ending: On 3 April, from the cloud of gas surrounding the ters – often watched sceptically by the ten days after starting his search, Den- sun in the early ages of the solar system, farmers who were waiting to be able to nis Harries notices an unusual-looking more than 4.5 billion years ago. They plough their fi elds at long last. black rock on the side of a path, about therefore consist largely of unchanged »According to calculations, the rock the size of a ping-pong ball. »I knew original matter from our solar system. must have been around 600 kilograms immediately it was at least something
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 52 Editorial
PSYCHOLOGY
Troublemakers stick in the memory
»I’ll make a note of that face!« That’s what often goes through our minds when a colleague at work jumps the queue in the canteen, a football player repeatedly fouls his opponent or even when a neighbour you don’t know pinches your parking space. Psychologists have found out that this is no empty threat and that our memory is indeed very good at storing such people — at least if they belong to our own group.
BY SEBASTIAN HOLLSTEIN AND UTE SCHÖNFELDER
Photo above: Small car – big space. Anyone Building the pyramids in Ancient zing and remembering unfair beha- parking like that in the company car park is likely Egypt, landing space probes on Mars viour or deceit in order to penalize it or to be remembered by their colleagues. or mastering the current global crises avoid it in the future, the psychologist in politics and business – if people explains. want to achieve a goal together, a high degree of cooperation is required. And Together with her colleagues, Prof. Dr that applies not just to mammoth un- Thomas Kessler and Prof. Dr Franz dertakings such as the ones mentioned Neyer, Stefanie Hechler is investiga- above. Different people also cooperate ting these recognition and memory in a small personal setting, their fa- mechanisms. »If we observe people mily, circle of friends or at work, pool who misbehave beyond the norm – their resources and skills, and by do- show deceit, for example – we remem- ing so, they are able to benefi t from ber them particularly well as they ac- each other – as a social group. ted differently to what we expected,« But it only works if things are done Hechler explains. fairly. »A shared group membership in- The person memory investigated ad- creases people’s willingness to coope- dressed two kinds of information: rate. If individual group members »That means we not only remember take advantage of these high levels of their faces, but also behaviour that cooperation, by not contributing, they was previously associated with them,« put the group functioning at risk,« says Hechler continues. After all, she ex- Dr Stefanie Hechler. plains, when you next meet them, it is better not only to remember that you To maintain their ingroup cooperation, have already seen them but also that group members benefi t from recogni- they acted uncooperatively. As the Editorial 53
Fair play or foul? Whether in a team sport or another walk of life: anyone behaving unfairly does rather more than simply create a negative impression. For members of their own social group, the troublemaker becomes a potential danger and is remembered as such.
team of psychologists from Jena has »In our culture we most often perceive own group most often. However, the- now been able to demonstrate for the an equal share as fair,« Dr Hechler ex- re was no difference in the recognition fi rst time by means of two independent plains. »Especially as the test subjects of faces. The explanation given by the studies, we remember such troublema- were able to observe the decisions of psychologists is that the participants kers particularly well if they belong to other participants.« in the study perceived themselves as our own social group. In the next phase of the experiment, the part of the group (self-categorization). test subjects were asked if they could At the same time, participants evalua- remember other participants, and if ted their own group better than the Acting fairly or selfi shly so, if they also remembered how they outgroup. »If I share a group member- had behaved. What the participants ship with a person, I suppose that they For their study, the psychologists re- did not suspect, however, was that the have certain characteristics and that cruited a total of 130 participants and other persons were not participating in they behave in a certain way that is split them into two groups. Although the study but merely acting out certain conform with my image of the group,« each participant acted on their own be- kinds of behaviour. They either shared says Hechler. We usually have a more half, it was clear to all those involved to their money fairly or only gave a small positive image of ourselves and mem- which group they belonged. They were part of it – in other words, they clearly bers of our own group than of mem- also able to clearly identify whether behaved unfairly. bers of similar groups which we are the other participants belonged to their not a member of. The impact is all the own group or the other one as they The result was clear. Players in the greater if a member of our own group wore either a blue or yellow T-shirt. blue group mainly remembered tho- turns out to be a cheat. Because in soci- se in the blue group who only gave a al groups, people perceive themselves In the fi rst part of the experiment, small amount of money – and in the as a community pursuing a common participants shared 100 imagined yellow group, it was the other way goal or at least the same situation. »We monetary units with alledged group round. The test subjects remembered believe that the other members of the members. unfair behaviour by members of their group are similar to ourselves. Because
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 54 Editorial
we would cooperate within our group, »Although uncooperative behaviour we expect them to do the same,« says in our own group is remembered more Dr Hechler. If group members violate often, participants’ guessing behaviour norm, they are perceived as a danger indicated that they expect such beha- to the group and our alarm bells ring, viour rather from outgroup members,« she explains. Hechler states. »This implicates, that we heuristically think that our group members behave more cooperatively Non-conformists may be a danger to than outgroup members.« the whole group The present results also raise new re- »Our results show that even such basic search questions for the psychologists psychological processes as person me- which they want to pursue in their mory, which we most often do not con- further research work, for example on trol consciously, are affected by self- how stable the positive image of one’s categorization,« says Stefanie Hechler. own group is. How long and to what ex- »A norm violation, such as non-coope- tent is uncooperative behaviour tolera- ration within the group, is perceived ted within one’s own group until group as a threat to the group and thus, we members distance themselves from it? remember the person responsible and And what role do processes of percep- their behaviour especially well.« tion and memory play? »We are won- dering whether this memory bias for The psychologist Dr Stefanie Hechler has discovered The psychologists were able to con- together with colleagues that we have particularly uncooperative group members can be fi rm these results in a second study. It good recall of persons who show misbehaviour remo- extended to any norm-violation, even if was designed in a similar way to the ved from the norm. it does not have actual negative conse- fi rst one. However, this time the other quences,« Dr Hechler says. The resear- people taking part in the experiment chers also want to look more closely at did not just behave either fairly or the psychological basis for the different unfairly but in some cases also incon- powers of recollection. Is it the unfair spicuously or neutrally. action itself that strengthens the me- Once again, the participants main- mory or is it the associated exploitation ly remembered the uncooperative of the other members of the group who members of their own group – iden- themselves are behaving fairly? tifi ed this time by a scarf of a certain colour. They were noticed, especially The research results presented have by comparison with those whose be- come about as part of the project haviour was neutral. And they were »Cooperation in social groups: cheater recognized as troublemakers signifi - perception and memory in intergroup cantly more frequently than members contexts«, which forms part of the of the other group whose behaviour FSU’s Research Group »Person Percep- was equally uncooperative. A further tion« funded by the German Research interesting result of the Jena study: Foundation.
Original Publication Hechler S et al. The infamous among us: Contact Enhanced reputational memory for uncoope- Dr Stefanie Hechler Phone: ++49 3641 945256 rative ingroup members. Cognition (2016), Institute of Psychology Email: [email protected] DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2016.08.001 Humboldtstraße 26, D-07743 Jena, Germany www.psychologie.uni-jena.de EditorialTicker 55
Enrichment or threat
Students investigate the climate of opinion about re- fugees
Masters students on a course of »Public Communication« start researching during their studies: On the course entitled »Analysis from the perspective of Communication Psycholo- gy«, for example, they are required to independently design, carry out and evaluate a research project of their own.
»I’m not right-wing but...«
Stephanie Wohlt, Tarek Barkouni, Anika Czichy, Kirsten How do German citizens perceive refugees who seek shelter here? One result of Richter, Kristin Silge and Anna Welzel examined attitudes this research project conducted by students is that anyone who sees themselves towards refugees in their project »I’m not right-wing but primarily as German or as part of Germany, tends to experience strangers as a ...«. »This statement implies that – contrary to the image that threat – and their view of them is one of rejection. people have of themselves and that others are supposed to have of them – they do indeed sympathize with one or two surveyed, actually turned out to be more negative than the views. We wanted to take a closer look at this,« says Kirsten explicit test for which there were specifi c questions,« Stepha- Richter. »Our aim on the one hand was to record the cur- nie Wohlt reports. »From this it could be concluded that the rent climate of opinion on refugees. In addition, we wanted answers given in the explicit section were more positive be- to fi nd out whether there was a difference between implicit cause the respondents wanted to portray themselves as more and explicit attitudes,« Richter explains. Implicit attitudes are open or in order to obtain greater social approval. However, deeply embedded in the personality, often sub-consciously. it is not possible to say whether this occurred consciously or Conscious, expressed attitudes are often described as explicit. subconsciously,« says Richter in explaining one possibility for »With regard to the 144 participants of whom most were the discrepancy. The non-representative study of the group students and between the age of 20 and 35, we are able to also shows that feelings of threat triggered by refugees are confi rm a climate of opinion towards refugees that is more connected to negative attitudes towards them. Anyone who positive than negative. Nevertheless, it is revealing that the regards refugees as a risk, has a more critical attitude towards implicit test in which positive and negative associations in them; anyone who tends to see them more as a source of en- the test subjects both with refugees and with Germans were richment, has a more positive stance towards them. jd
A problem shared is a problem doubled
How consumers perceive mistakes in service
The train is late, the food is cold or the breakfast buffet in the hotel has already been cleared away when you enter the breakfast room – mistakes can frequently occur in the ser- vice sector. A team working for marketing expert Prof. Dr Gianfranco Walsh has succeeded in showing that one and the same service problem is perceived very differently, de- pending on whether customers are affected on their own or as a group. According to this study, service mistakes affec- ting a group lead to far greater annoyance with the supplier than mistakes affecting individuals, as researchers report in the »Journal of Service Research«. The reason they give for Poor service? There is a big difference for disappointed customers whether they alone this is the consensus effect which states that people tend to are affected by poor service or as a group, according to the results of the study. After suspect the cause of an event to be beyond their own sphere a service mistake is made which affects a group, customers are more inclined to talk of infl uence if other people are also affected. US negatively about the provider in front of acquaintances and to register a complaint.
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 56 Editorial
Hard shell — healthy kernel
Nutritionists have good news for anyone who enjoys eating nuts. Nuts, as the results of current studies show, can reduce the growth of cancer cells in the gut
Roasted and salted, ground into biscuits According to this study, the health- or freshly cracked from the shell – nuts promoting effect of nuts is based among are healthy. »We have known for a long other things on the fact that the body’s time that nuts are full of substances that own defence for detoxifying reactive are good for the cardiovascular system oxygen species is activated. Such sub- and that protect against obesity or dia- stances which are created, for example, betes,« says Dr Wiebke Schlörmann. by ultraviolet radiation or various che- The effect they have in pro tecting micals, can cause damage to cells that against bowel cancer has also already can trigger cancer. »But the body pos- been indicated in numerous studies, sesses a whole series of protective me- the nutritionists continue. »What we chanisms which render reactive oxygen did not yet know in detail, was the ba- species harmless,« explains Dr Schlör- sis for the protective effect of nuts.« Dr mann. These mechanisms are mobi- Schlörmann and her colleagues from lized by nuts and their ingredients. the Department of Nutritional Toxicolo- The researchers examined the effect of gy are now able to give concrete ans- macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts wers to this question. In the magazi- as well as almonds and pistachios. To ne »Molecular Carcinogenesis«, they do so, the nuts were artifi cially dige- presented results which illuminate the sted, and the products of the digestive molecular mechanisms of this protec- process were subsequently examined tive effect (DOI: 10.1002/mc.22606). for their effect on cell lines. US
Above: Walnuts and other nuts offer protection from cancer. Below: Part of a facsimile of the »Human Family Tree« by Ernst Haeckel.
Trees of life rooted in Jena
Science historians and biology didacticians Prof. Dr Uwe Hoßfeld and Dr Georgy S. Levit recall the birth of phylogenetic trees 150 years ago in the renowned special interest magazine »Nature«
How do you visualize diversity? Biolo- didacticians Prof. Dr Uwe Hoßfeld and gists in the 19th century found themsel- Dr Georgy S. Levit recalled the birth of ves facing this question when they be- the »Tree of Life« as it is usually referred came aware not only of the diversity of to (DOI: 10.1038/540038a). Haeckel was plant and animal species but also that infl uenced not only by Darwin when they are interconnected. The answer inventing trees of life. A colleague and was supplied by Ernst Haeckel: Starting friend in Jena from the fi eld of linguis- from Darwin’s theory of evolution 150 tics also inspired him. »The linguist years ago, the famous scholar created August Schleicher had already created the fi rst Darwinian phylogenetic tree of the fi rst tree of life in 1863 in order to organisms and published it in his paper illustrate the development of Indo-Ger- »General Morphology of Organisms«. manic languages,« says Hoßfeld. »Ernst In the special interest magazine »Natu- Haeckel then took up this method of vi- re«, the science historians and biology sualization.« sh EditorialTicker 57
Under the microscope
Psychologists question young people on their relationship with Europe and the EU
Long before the British took their Brexit decision, it was already clear that Eu- rope is facing a crisis. The fi nancial crisis, rising numbers of refugees and growing right-wing populism are pre- senting the European Union with ma- jor challenges. »And the thing is that the EU itself currently has a poor stan- ding with many Europeans,« says Prof. Dr Peter Noack. However, according to the holder of the Chair of Educational Damaged fl ag as a symbol for the future of the EU? It is obvious that the community is mired in crisis. But the Psychology, it is striking that attitudes majority of young people in Europe identify with it, as psychologists have found out in a study. to Europe and the EU also appear to be a question of age. While it was pri- mary the older generation in Great Bri- tain that voted for Brexit, young people tended to see their future in the EU, he Optimal solutions reported.
Computer scientists develop an algorithm that solves abstract pro- Youth identifi es with Europe blems effi ciently and precisely and present it at one of the most presti- gious international conferences on the subject of Artifi cial Intelligence Against this background, a team in in the USA Jena with Prof. Noack is working in collaboration with researchers from Whether for automatic picture re- individual nodes. Katzmann gives Sweden, Great Britain, Estonia, Czech cognition or self-driving cars: algo- an example of a complex problem: »I Republic, Portugal, Italy and Greece to rithms can solve abstract problems. would like to fi t in as many meetings study the attitudes of adolescents and But many of these problems are so as possible one after the other within young adults towards Europe. A pre- complex that optimal solutions can a given amount of time, with each liminary study in which 1,300 young never be calculated or only with meeting having a certain, specifi ed people from eight different countries an enormous commitment of time. timeframe.« Every node then stands took part, has provided the fi rst interes- That is why heuristics play a ma- for a meeting; a connection between ting results. Adolescents and young jor role here – techniques by which the nodes stands for overlapping mee- adults from all eight countries mainly you can fi nd a solution to a problem tings. The aim, therefore, is to obtain identifi ed with Europe. This applies, with a limited investment of time as many separate nodes as possible. for example, to around three quarters and without complete knowledge. Hitherto, »local search heuristics« of the persons surveyed in Germany. The disadvantage is that heuristics have been used to fi nd a good soluti- »However, the fact that the majority of only ever supply an approxima- on to such problems. Here the algo- young Greeks also professed a Europe- tion of the best possible solution. rithm fi rst calculates a simple solution. an identity, surprised us in view of the Dr Christian Komusiewicz, resear- Then it gradually swaps up to three current situation,« says Noack, Head of cher at the Chair of Theoretical nodes in the network between the the Jena working group. He adds: »It Computer Science, and Masters solution and the remaining nodes pro- does, however, apply to them least of student Maximilian Katzmann vided this leads to a better solution. all by comparison with other countries, are now able to announce a suc- The new algorithm developed by the and equally to young Italians – which cessful development in this fi eld: computer scientists in Jena represents was unexpected.« Young people in Together, they have developed an a refi nement of these »local search heu- Greece reveal themselves to be the algorithm that solves abstract pro- ristics« in networks. »Our program not most anxious in their attitudes to Eu- blems effi ciently and precisely. only calculates an approximation, but rope. This is least true of 16- to 30-year- This is done, as in the past too, with frequently the optimal solution to a pro- olds in Germany and Great Britain. US the aid of a network consisting of blem,« Komusiewicz says. AB
02 | LICHTGEDANKEN 58 EditorialTicker
What is growing in the savanna?
Satellite and terrestrial data reveal information on the biomass in the Kruger National Park in South Africa
Savannas form one of the largest habitats on earth. »In ad- dition, they play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle,« says Victor Odipo (photo below). According to the doctoral student from the Chair of Earth Observation, the volume of plant biomass above ground is decisive in determining the
savannas’ ability to store CO2. Odipo and colleagues from Dry rot as chemist the universities in Jena and Oxford as well as the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources have esta- blished a method by which the biomass of the savannas can How bacteria switch on the synthesis of certain natural be very precisely measured. To do so, researchers use both substances in pillar-fungi radar data recorded by satellites and laser scanning data surveyed from the ground. They have published their re- sults in the specialist magazine »Forests«. US Old buildings often suffer from dry rot. This fungus (pho- to above) attacks wood, thereby endangering the stabili- ty of construction materials containing wood. The dry rot fungus Serpula lacrymans is also a good »chemist«, how- ever: various types of bacteria are able to trigger the for- mation of dyes in it. New results from Prof. Dr Dirk Hoff- meister and his team are now casting light on the complex molecular interrelations between fungus and bacteria. As the researchers together with their colleagues working with Prof. Dr Axel Brakhage from the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology write in the magazine »Environmental Microbiology«, they have been able to prove that the bacteria switch on certain fungus genes responsible for colour in the fungus. This »communication« between fungi and bacteria can even be seen with the naked eye: Fungal mycelium and substrate turn bright yellow. MR
Insights into the atom magazine »Physical Review Letters«, they present a me- thod by which they are able to lift the veil provided by the cloud of electrons and directly excite the atomic nuclei. Physicists present new mechanism for examining ato- The examination method is based on so-called two-photon emission spectroscopy. The method consists in directing mic nuclei an electromagnetic beam into a sample of the element to be examined. The electrons in the atomic shell are excited and It is not easy to view the smallest components of matter. Whi- move into a higher energy state from where they fall back le the outlines of atoms can be revealed with scanning tun- again into their original state. In the process, every atom neling microscopes, direct close-ups of atomic nuclei have so excited in this way gives off its energy in the form of two far been totally impossible to achieve: just as distant planets light particles (photons). »However, one of these photons are often shrouded in a thick atmosphere, a cloud of electrons is absorbed by the atomic nucleus which is then itself exci- circling the atomic nucleus obscure the view into the inside ted,« says lead author PD Dr Andrey Volotka. This exci- of an atom. Researchers have to resort to ingenious methods tement of the atomic nucleus – like that of the remaining in order to gain direct access to atomic nuclei. And that is second photon – can be spectroscopically recorded. The precisely what Prof. Dr Stephan Fritzsche and his colleagues signals observable in the photon spectra give researchers from the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the university and insights into the structure of the atomic nucleus and the the Helmholtz Institute in Jena have done. In the specialist way in which it interacts with the electrons. US Become a Friend & Patron of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena
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Held by the Thuringian State and University Library (ThULB), the edition of the New Testament published in 1540 also contains a handwritten note by Luther’s con dant Georg Rörer (1492–1557) on the posting of the Theses in 1517: Anno domini 1517 in profesto omnium Sanctorum, pr<…> Wittemberge in valuis templorum propositæ sunt pro
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www.uni-jena.de/en/lichtgedanken FEATURE 500 YEARS OF REFORMATION
When Martin Luther protested against The Magazine of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena Schiller University The Magazine of the Friedrich the Church's sale of indulgences, he set a reform movement of epochal proportions in motion. The traces of it are visible to this day in Jena and Thuringia. GEDANKEN 02 02 GEDANKEN LICHT