Research Program History of the Max Planck Society Report 2014 – 2017 Research Program History of the Max Planck Society Report 2014 – 2017 Research Program History of the Max Planck Society (GMPG)1 executive committee Jürgen Renn, MPI for the History of Science, Berlin Carsten Reinhardt, Bielefeld University Jürgen Kocka, Berlin Social Science Center research director Florian Schmaltz research scholars Jaromír Balcar Birgit Kolboske Alexander v. Schwerin Thomas Steinhauser Ulrike Thoms Sascha Topp visiting scholars Mitchell Ash, University of Vienna Luisa Bonolis Hanoch Gutfreund, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jasper Kunstreich, MPI for European Legal History, Frankfurt am Main Roberto Lalli, MPI for the History of Science, Berlin Ariane Leendertz, MPI for the Studies of Societies, Cologne Juan-Andres Leon Carola Sachse, University of Vienna Peter Schöttler, Freie Universität Berlin Frank Stahnisch, University of Calgary, Canada project assistance Kristina Schönfeldt it & digital humanities Felix Lange Anne Overbeck Dirk Wintergrün, MPI for the History of Science, Berlin 1 Persons without affiliation are staff members of the Research Program GMPG. cooperation partners Alexander Blum, MPI for the History of Science, Berlin Thomas Duve, MPI for European Legal History, Frankfurt am Main Beatrice Fromm, Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, retired Manfred Laubichler, Arizona State University, Tempe Urs Schoepflin, Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung mbH, Göttingen Kristina Starkloff, Archiv der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin Stefan Vogenauer, MPI for European Legal History, Frankfurt am Main international advisory board Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schön, MPI for Tax Law and Public Finances, Munich Head of Advisory Board Prof. Dr. Mitchell Ash, University of Vienna, Austria Prof. Dr. Angela Creager, Princeton University, USA Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Eckart, Director, Institute of Medical History and Ethics, University of Heidelberg PD Dr. Susanne Heim, Institute for Contemporary History, Berlin Prof. Dr. Doris Kaufmann, Institute of History, University of Bremen Prof. Dr. Gabriel Motzkin, Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, Israel Prof. Dr. Helga Nowotny, European Research Council, University of Vienna, Austria Prof. Dr. Jakob Tanner, ETH Zurich, Switzerland Prof. Dr. Peter Weingart, Bielefeld University Biology and Medicine Section (BMS) Prof. Dr. Angela D. Friederici, Vice-President of the MPG, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig Prof. Dr. Lothar Willmitzer, MPI for Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm Chemistry, Physics and Technology Section (CPTS) Prof. Dr. Reinhard Genzel, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching Prof. Dr. Werner Hofmann, MPI for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg Prof. Dr. Ulrich Pöschl, MPI for Chemistry, Mainz Prof. Dr. Robert Schlögl, Fritz-Haber-Institute of the MPG, Berlin Human Sciences Section (HSS) Prof. Dr. Lorraine Daston, MPI for the History of Science, Berlin Prof. Dr. Thomas Duve, MPI for European Legal History, Frankfurt am Main Prof. Dr. Ute Frevert, Chairperson of the Scientific Council of the MPG, MPI for Human Development, Berlin Prof. Dr. Hans-Jörg Rheinberger, MPI for the History of Science, Berlin Prof. Dr. Michael Stolleis, MPI for European Legal History, Frankfurt am Main Research Program History of the Max Planck Society Boltzmannstr. 22, 14195 Berlin Research Report 2014–2017 Edited by Florian Schmaltz, Jürgen Renn, Carsten Reinhardt, and Jürgen Kocka Berlin, April 2017 Editorial support was provided by Julia Bost, Lindy Divarci, Lea Marquart, and Kristina Schönfeldt. Research Program History of the Max Planck Society Introduction 9 1. Scope, Working Methods, Aims, and First Results 10 1.1 Publications and Digital Resources 10 1.2 Scope and Working Methods 12 1.3 Aims and First Results 14 1.4 Digital Infrastructure and Personnel 19 2. Focus Areas 21 2.1 Governance and Finance of the MPG 21 2.2 Social History 26 2.3 Outside the Gender Mainstream? 34 2.4 Coping with the Past: Vergangenheitspolitik from 1945 to the Present 39 3. Research Clusters & Selected Topics 46 3.1 Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Space Science 46 3.2 Materials and Solid State Science 51 3.3 Life Sciences 56 3.4 Jurisprudence 62 3.5 Humanities: The Case of the Max Planck Institute for History 64 4. Research Infrastructure 69 4.1 Introduction 69 4.2 Availability of Archival Materials: Digitization Strategies 70 4.3 Secure Research Infrastructure: Databases, Servers, and Long-Term Access 71 4.4 Software Tools and Analyses on a Big Data Scale: Digital Humanities 74 4.5 Outlook 78 5. Campus 79 6. Appendix 85 6.1 Workshops 85 6.2 Lectures 112 6.3 Interviews 127 6.4 Preprints 129 6.5 Publications 132 6.6 List of Abbreviations 144 Introduction This report presents the activities of the Research Program “History of the Max Planck Society” (“Geschichte der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft,” GMPG) for the years 2014–2017. This period is marked by the considerable groundwork that had to be undertaken in the construction of the research infrastructure, and by the gradual build-up of its staff. In early 2017, the Research Pro - gram reached the projected size of the research group, and, together with the General Admin- istration and the Archives of the Max Planck Society (AMPG), in 2016 laid the necessary foun- dation to access, administer, and use the digital sources. As can be seen in the following pages, the Research Program is engaged in and enriched by a number of interconnected research ac- tivities with regards to content, concepts, and methods. At the same time, we have accepted the challenge to produce a readable and comprehensive history of the MPG. This is therefore an op- portune time to consider what has been already achieved, and to ponder the next steps that will lead the program to its conclusion. Of course, this report represents work in progress, and is de- liberately selective. However, we have written it with an eye toward the course and projected outcome of the whole program. The research report presents in its first chapter the scope, working methods, and aims of the re- search program, followed by an outline of first research findings and results. It then introduc- es the focus areas that we have selected to analyze and portray the history of the MPG. These are, in order of their presentation, governance and finance, social history, gender, and the poli- tics of the past (Vergangenheitspolitik), in both national and international perspectives. Next, in the third chapter, the research clusters are described. The fields chosen and worked on exten- sively so far are astrophysics, materials research, green biology, law, and history. The focus of the fourth chapter is on the research infrastructure, that is, the digitization project and the da- tabases involved. In chapter five the building arrangements for the project are illustrated. The research report concludes with a number of appendices with additional materials, for example, on the workshops held. At this point, the Research Program would like to thank the President of the MPG, Prof. Dr. Martin Stratmann, the members of our Council, Prof. Dr. Angela Friederici, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schön, and Maximilian Prugger, for their foresight and support. We are grateful for the coun- sel of our advisory board members. Additional thanks go to the MPG’s General Administration, the Archives, and the staff of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG). Many members of the MPG have generously given their advice and time, and though it is not possible to name everyone here, we wish to thank all of them as well. The contributions of our indefatigable staff members and student assistants are visible throughout the pages to follow. Without them, this program, and this report, would not exist. 9 1. Scope, Working Methods, Aims, and First Results The goal of the research program is a history of the Max Planck Society (MPG) from its founda- tion in 1948 to the end of the presidency of Hubert Markl in 2002 and the establishment of new institutes in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) up until 2005. We are aiming for a comprehensive history of the MPG as a research organization in multiple contexts. We ana- lyze this history on the background of the relevant scientific fields and in the context of the MPG’s relationships with economy, politics, society, and culture. In this way, the research pro- gram will contribute to a better understanding of the crucial role of the sciences for the devel - opment of modern societies and tread new paths in bringing together the history of science with contemporary history. 1.1 Publications and Digital Resources The most important outcome of the research program will be a comprehensive volume in three parts (approximately 1,000 pages including appendices), which will appear in both English and German. Its intended audience is a broader, interested public both within and outside of the MPG. In the first part of this comprehensive work, the structural history of the MPG is studied in its social, economic, and political contexts and in chronological order. Often, close interde - pendences are shown between science and politics. For example, the beginnings of Big Science in its characteristic interplay of both political and economic goals impacted the MPG and its or- ganizational structure with the foundation of the Institute of Plasma Physics (IPP) in 1960. Oth- er examples, albeit of a different kind, are the start of diplomatic relations of the Federal Repub - lic of Germany (FRG) with Israel,