A Gerda Henkel Foundation project hosted by My-Parish at Warwick History

 
For many centuries right up to the present, communities in and around Austria, Germany and Switzerland have placed documents, images and objects intended for posterity into spheres located at the top of prominent buildings. Where and why was this peculiar form of trans-generational communication practiced, how did descendants respond to recovered deposits, what 'stories' of the past are to be recovered and which insights can historians gain from it all? These 'work in progress' pages provide information on sites, research activities and materials gathered during field work and archive / library visits in 2023-24. A parallel website for a German audience will be available soon.

Preliminary findings are available open access in an overview article (for the Historische Zeitschrift, in German), an essay adopting a spatial perspective (in English) and features in several media (see 'Press Coverage' / 'Audio & Videos' boxes below).

Data gathering is ongoing and the project welcomes pointers to further sites and deposits.
To obtain / supply information please contact the PI: Beat Kümin ( )
Advisory Board: Margareth Lanzinger (Vienna), Arnd Reitemeier (Göttingen), Heinrich R. Schmidt (Bern)

Sites & Sources

 
Discover locations / maps & source samples for Germany, Austria & Switzerland, in particular the regional case studies of:

• MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN
• VORARLBERG
• CANTON OF ZURICH

Activities & Events

 
Access updates on research progress & related events through the PROJECT BLOG - latest post:

• 16. Mysteries & Surprises
• Revisit the 'Parish Memory' Symposium (programme, abstracts, images)

Documents & Scholarship

 
Browse a select bibliography of:

• archival resources
• printed primary texts
• secondary materials
• project outputs

Press coverage

• H. Arnet, 'Was in Zürcher Kirchturm-spitzen steckt', Tages Anzeiger (25/1/24)
• R. Brockschmidt, 'Zeitkapseln im Himmel', Tagesspiegel (6/5/2024)
• R. Claaßen, 'Zeitkapsel geht wieder auf die Reise', Rhein-Zeitung (3/2/24)
• U. Heini, 'Das steckte in der Kirchturm-kugel', Bote der Urschweiz (2/11/23)
• G.Kleinhubbert, 'Das Geheimnis der Kirchturmkugeln', Der Spiegel 5 (27/1/24)
• H. Kohlmaier, 'Münzen, Gold, brisante Briefe', Bild.de (19/4/24)
• P. Wehner, 'Der Schatz der Kirchturm-kugeln', Süddeutsche Zeitung (21/3/24)
• 'Zeitkapseln auf Kirchtürmen', reformiert-zuerich (14/5/24)

Audio & Videos
 

• Talking to German radio SWR2's Matinee programme on 'Spitzen' (10/12/2023)
• Tower capsule sites & deposits in Bregenz, Austria (ORF TV clip for 'Vorarlberg Heute', 3/4/24: website article)
• Chatting with presenter Izzy and students Angel & Ben on the Warwick History Hour (21/5/24)
• Interview and online article on tower capsule secrets for Swiss national radio SRF 2 Kultur (4/7/24)

• Forthcoming in autumn 2024: Gerda Henkel Stiftung series of six episodes documenting field work in Switzerland.

  
   

Researcher
 

Beat Kümin is Professor of Early Modern European History at the University of Warwick (U.K.) and has previously worked on imperial villages and public houses in the German lands. He co-ordinates the My-Parish network and platform. For further information please visit the academic homepage or mail b.kumin@warwick.ac.uk. Pic: ORF.