Contact
Institute for Danube Swabian History and Regional Studies (IdGL)
Mohlstr. 18
72074 Tübingen
My research and teaching are shaped by my origins in a twofold sense: I studied and taught in Vienna. As a result, I maintain a strong academic and intellectual connection to Southeast Europe. This is further reinforced by the fact that my field—formerly known as Volkskunde, now Empirical Cultural Studies—has historically regarded Southeast Europe as a significant and enduring research region.
In 2002, I was appointed professor at the Ludwig Uhland Institute for Empirical Cultural Studies (EKW) at the University of Tübingen. This institute is recognized for its radical modernization of the discipline, which remains deeply influenced by the dynamics of a rapidly changing world. For me, Empirical Cultural Studies involves a commitment to examining and understanding this world, both in its broader global dimensions and within localized contexts. To this end, I adopt an ethnographic perspective, focusing on the recent past (such as the Habsburg legacy in Central and Southeast Europe) as well as on contemporary phenomena (e.g., the complex networks of cultural and social transfer in present-day Europe).
My primary research interests include diversity, migration and displacement, Europeanization and cultural heritage, peaceful coexistence and armed conflict, as well as transnational everyday experiences. I have long pursued interdisciplinary collaborations within larger research networks (especially in Collaborative Research Centers) and value the opportunity to disseminate research findings through formats such as exhibitions. In my view, scholars in Empirical Cultural Studies should possess a historical and contemporary orientation, engage with multilingualism, and conceptualize Europe (and increasingly beyond) as a primary field of inquiry.
This understanding of the discipline aligns closely with the multidisciplinary approach of the Institute of Danube Swabian History and Regional Studies, which has been closely associated with the University of Tübingen. Since 2008, I have served as the institute's part-time academic director. In this capacity, I have overseen numerous collaborative projects, academic courses, dissertations, and publications. The Institute for Danube Swabian History and Regional Studies not only addresses a thematic gap at the University of Tübingen but also serves as a vital link to Baden-Württemberg’s immediate European neighbors along the Danube. As I often emphasize: the more than 300-year history of the Danube Swabians exemplifies European history and its intricate contemporary dynamics. At the IdGL, we summarize this mission with the guiding principle: "Migrations – Minorities – Memories."
Research Focus
- Diversity – cultural differences – multiculturalism
- History of hybridity
- Europeanization in everyday life
- Migration and displacement
- Experiences of war and the history of science
- Historical and contemporary multiculturalism in Southeast Europe
- Region – cultural heritage – regional history
- Business and organizational research
- Franco-German cultures of remembrance in comparison
- Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Danube Swabian Central Museum in Ulm (Vorsitzender des Wissenschaftlichen Beirats des Donauschwäbischen Zentralmuseums in Ulm)
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Federal Institute for Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe in Oldenburg (BKGE) (Mitglied des Wissenschaftlichen Beirats des Bundesinstituts für Kultur und Geschichte des östlichen Europa in Oldenburg)
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Transylvanian Museum in Gundelsheim (Mitglied des Wissenschaftlichen Beirats des Siebenbürgischen Museums in Gundelsheim)
- Member of the Selection Committee for the Danube Swabian Cultural Award of the State of Baden-Württemberg (Mitglied der Auswahlkommission des Donauschwäbischen Kulturpreises des Landes Baden-Württemberg)
- Member of the Board of Trustees of the Danube Swabian Cultural Foundation of the State of Baden-Württemberg (Mitglied des Stiftungsrates der Donauschwäbischen Kulturstiftung des Landes Baden-Württemberg)
- Bianca Hepp: Das rumänische Feeling. Zugehörigkeitskonzepte bei Kindern von „(Spät-)Aussiedler:innen aus Hamroth“ (RO). Tübingen 2024.
- Mate Eichenseher: "Die elenden Tagelöhner der Unterwelt". Perspektiven der Lokalpresse der ungarischen Stadt Pécs auf Bergarbeiterstreiks von 1893. Die kulturelle Herstellung sozialer Ordnungen in historischen Presserzeugnissen. Berlin 2023.
- Anna Szepesi: Kindstücher im ungarischen Komitat Baranya: Ritualdynamik und kulturelle Kommunikation. Über das rituelle Kindertragen im Zeitalter des ritualisierten Babytragens. Tübingen 2002.
- Francesco Toncich: Istrien 1840–1914. Eine kulturelle Versuchsstation des Habsburgerreiches. Tübingen 2021.
- Lissi Bender: Deutsch in Santa Cruz. Studium und Analyse der gegenwärtigen Situation der Sprache. Tübingen 2016.
- Doris Orgonas: Alte Brücken, neue Wege. Baden-Württembergs Kultur-, Forschungs- und Bildungsaustausch mit Ungarn und dem mittleren Donauraum. Ulm 2015.
- Christian Marchetti: Balkanexpedition. Die Kriegserfahrung der österreichischen Volkskunde – eine historisch-ethnographische Erkundung. Tübingen 2010.
- The formation of a custom. The Funken- und Holepfannsonntag. Studies from Vorarlberg, Liechtenstein, Tyrol, South Tyrol and Trentino (= Publications of the Institute for European Ethnology at the University of Vienna 19). Vienna 2000.
- Mir parlen Italiano. La costruzione sociale del pregiudizio etnico: storia dei trentini nel Vorarlberg. Introduzione di Renato Monteleone (= Archivio della Scrittura Popolare; Studi e Documenti). Trento 1996.
- Mir parlen Italiano und spreggen Dütsch piano. Italian workers in Vorarlberg 1870 - 1914 (= Schriftenreihe der Rheticus-Gesellschaft 21). Feldkirch 1987 (2nd edition 1989).
- “The renaming issue is thus decided.” May 19, 1971. Ludwig Uhland Institute for Empirical Cultural Studies. Tübingen 2021 (ed. with Karin Bürkert).
- Hatzfeld. Orders in transition. Timişoara/Hermannstadt/Bonn 2020.
- Describing and measuring. Spatial knowledge in the Eastern Habsburg Monarchy in the 18th and 19th centuries. Ed. together with Josef Wolf. Berlin 2020.
- Conflict field of refugee migration. Historical and ethnographic perspectives. Ed. together with Jan Lange. Bielefeld 2019.
- Catastrophes/Culture. Contributions to an interdisciplinary conceptual workshop. Ed. together with Jan Hinrichsen and Sandro Ratt. Tübingen 2019.
- University. Diversity! We? 13 snapshots from everyday life at Tübingen University. Tübingen 2017.
- We are Diversity! An archive of the university at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. Ed. together with Juliana Bokelmann, Luise Fleisch. Tübingen 2017.
- Folkloristic-ethnological perspectives on Eastern Europe. Retrospectives - Programs - Foresights. Ed. together with Heinke Kalinke and Christian Marchetti. Munich-Oldenburg 2015.
- Danube Swabians and others. Research on Southeast Europe in Tübingen. Tübingen 2015.
- Wo ist Europa?/Where is Europe?/Où est l'Europe? Dimensions and experiences of the new Europe. Tübingen 2013.
- Heimatsachen. Danube Swabian greetings on the occasion of Baden-Württemberg's birthday. Ed. together with Josef Wolf and Christian Glass. Tübingen 2012.
- Mobilities. Europe on the move as a challenge for cultural-analytical research. 37th Congress of the German Folklore Society in Freiburg im Breisgau from September 27 to 30, 2009. ed. together with Max Matter and Sabine Zinn-Thoma. Münster et al. 2011.
- Departing, arriving, being a Boschler. Life stories from the world of work. Ed. together with Felicia Sparacio. Tübingen 2010.
- Migration, Integration, and Health. The Danube Region. Ed. together with Harald C. Traue and Jelena J. Gavrilovic-Lengerich 2010.
- Doing Anthropology in Wartime and War Zones. World War I and the Cultural Sciences in Europe. Ed. together with Monique Scheer and Christian Marchetti. Bielefeld 2010.
- Between War and Peace. The Construction of the Enemy. A German-French conference (= Studies & Materials). Ed. together with Freddy Raphaël, Claudia Schlager, Patrick Schmoll. Tübingen 2009. Edition: Polémologiques. La construction de l'ennemi. Strasbourg 2009).
- Ethnography in series. On the Production and Reception of the “Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in Word and Image”. Publications of the Institute for European Ethnology at the University of Vienna 28. ed. together with Jurij Fikfak. Vienna 2008.
- Empirical Cultural Studies. A Tübingen Encyclopedia. Studies of the Ludwig Uhland Institute of the University of Tübingen 100. ed. together with Bernhard Tschofen. Tübingen 2008.
- Everyday Culture in Europe. Approaches and Methodologies. Ed. together with Mairéad Nic Craith and Ullrich Kockel. Ashgate 2008.
- Americanization. Globalization. Transnational cultural processes in European everyday life. Mosaic - Studies and Texts on American Culture and History 32. ed. together with Ute Bechdolf and Horst Tonn. Trier 2007.
- Europe and its strangers. The challenge of shaping cultural diversity. Ed. together with Ansgar Thiel, Josef Schmid and Rainer Treptow. Bielefeld 2007.
- Die kulturelle Seite des Antisemitismus zwischen Aufklärung und Shoah. Studies & Materials 30. ed. together with Andrea Hoffmann, Utz Jeggle and Martin Ulmer. Tübingen 2006.
- MetzingenTM. The culture of an outlet town. Accompanying volume to the exhibition at the Volkshochschule Metzingen-Ermstal from July 12 to August 11, 2006. Tübingen 2006.
- Daheim in Europa. Forms of Europeanization in the region. Tübingen 2004.
- Historical Anthropology. Kultur Gesellschaft Alltag, 10th ed. together with Michael Mitterauer. 2002.
- Croatian Folklore/Ethnology in the Nineties. A reader. Publications of the Institute for European Ethnology at the University of Vienna 21. ed. together with Jasna Capo Zmegac, Sanja Kalapos and Herbert Nikitsch. Vienna 2001.
- European Ethnology at the Turning Point: Perspectives - Tasks - Cooperations. Bulgarian-Austrian Colloquium. Papers of the 1st Kittseer Herbstgespräche. Kittseer Schriften zur Volkskunde 12. ed. together with Klaus Beitl. Kittsee 2000.
- Post vom Schönen Österreich. An ethnographic research on the present. documenta ethnographica 1. ed. together with Herbert Nikitsch and Bernhard Tschofen. Vienna 1996.
- Schönes Österreich. Homeland protection between aesthetics and ideology. Special exhibition from 26.10.-22.2.1996. Catalogs of the Austrian Museum of Folklore 65. ed. together with Herbert Nikitsch and Bernhard Tschofen. Vienna 1995.
- Identità e culture regionale. Memoria e Ricerca. Rivista di storia contemporanea 3(1995), no. 6. ed. together with Stefano Cavazza. 1995.
- Südtirol. In the eye of the ethnographers. Ed. together with Ludwig Paulmichl and Barbara Plankensteiner. Vienna-Lana 1991.
- Hibridism & Hybridity. Istria and the genealogy of a post/Habsburg concept. In: Johannes Feichtinger, Heidemarie Uhl (eds.): Das integrative Empire. Knowledge production and cultural practices in Habsburg Central Europe. Bielefeld 2023, 117-140.
- Culture is hybrid. A Tübingen EKW look at Istria and the Habsburg Monarchy (and then back again). In: Ludwig Uhland Institute (ed.): Culture is. Contributions to Empirical Cultural Studies in Tübingen. Tübingen 2022, 171-194.
- Richard Wolfram and the “Ahnenerbe”: Institutionalization of university folklore and its relationship to ethnology. In: Andre Gingrich, Peter Rohrbacher (eds.): Völkerkunde zur NS-Zeit aus Wien (1938-1945), vol. 3. Vienna 2021, pp. 1303-1335.
- 50 Jahre Empirische Kulturwissenschaft Tübingen. An introduction. In: Karin Bürkert/Reinhard Johler (eds.): “The renaming question is thus decided.” May 19, 1971. Ludwig Uhland Institute for Empirical Cultural Studies. Tübingen 2021, 17-32.
- Hatzfeld - an introduction. In: Hatzfeld. Orders in transition. Edited by Reinhard Johler. Timişoara/Hermannstadt/Bonn 2020, 7-31.
- The maps of the ethnographers. Folklore, ethnographic maps, ethnographic atlases (1850-1980). In: Describing and measuring. Spatial knowledge in the Eastern Habsburg Monarchy in the 18th and 19th centuries. Edited by Reinhard Johler and Josef Wolf. Berlin, 2020, 583-625.
- Raumwissen in der östlichen Habsburgermonarchie im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert - zur Einführung. In: Describing and measuring. Spatial Knowledge in the Eastern Habsburg Monarchy in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Edited by Reinhard Johler and Josef Wolf. Berlin, 2020, 9-30.
- Orders. In: Catastrophes/Culture. Contributions to an interdisciplinary conceptual workshop. Edited by Jan Hinrichsen, Reinhard Johler and Sandro Ratt. Tübingen 2019, 121-144.
- The future of the Danube. Commonalities and differences in the Danube region as connecting potentials. In: Impulses for the Danube Region. 10 years of the European Danube Academy. 5 years of Danube Schools. Edited by Gerhard Mayer, Paul F. Langer and Tanja Salzmann-Reißer. Ulm 2019, 13-28.
- The occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the institutionalization of Austrian ethnology as a science. In: Bosnia-Herzegovina and Austria-Hungary, 1878-1918. Approaches to a colony. Edited by Clemens Ruthne and Tamara Scheer. Tübingen 2018, 325-358.
- The war, the Soldiers, the Prisoners, and the Folklorists in Europe: a comparative research summary. In: International Forum on Audio-Visual Research/Jahrbuch des Phonogramm Archivs 9 (2018), 41-79.
- Universität und Diversität. A study project of the E(mpirical) C(ultural) Science. In: Ders. (ed.): University. Diversity! We? 13 snapshots from everyday life at Tübingen University. Tübingen 2017, 9-26.
- Searching for a home in Europe. Orientation points of the present. In: Rethinking Europe. Longing for the Foreign - Experiencing Neighborhood. Edited by Ilse Fischer and Johannes Hahn. Salzburg 2017, 215-221.
- Diversity. In: Rethinking Habsburg. Diversity and Ambivalence in Central Europe. 30 cultural studies keywords. Edited by Johannes Feichtinger and Heidemarie Uhl. Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2016, 229-236.
- Foreword. In: Doris Orgonas: Old bridges - new paths. Baden-Württemberg's cultural exchange with Hungary and the Middle Danube region. Ulm 2016, 1-14.
- Collecting the war in war. On the genesis and function of anthropological and ethnological collections during the First World War. In: Remembering the First World War. Archival transmission and collection activities in the Weimar Republic. Edited by Rainer Hering, Robert Kretzschmar and Wolfgang Zimmermann. Stuttgart 2015, 207-236.
- Soldatensprache. Finding and inventing the Great War. In: Text fronts. Perspectives on the First World War in Southeastern Europe. Edited by Olivia Spiridon. Stuttgart 2015, 55-79.
- The Invention of the Multicultural Museum in the late nineteenth Century: Ethnography and the Presentation of Cultural Diversity in Central Europe. In: Austrian History Yearbook 46 (2015), 51-67.
- Made in Europe. Or: Do things create Europe? In: Materiality in culture. Papers presented at the 26th Austrian Folklore Conference in Eisenstadt. Edited by Karl Berger, Margot Schindler and Ingo Schneider. Vienna 2015, 18-35.
- Heimisch werden in Baden-Württemberg: Integration, acculturation and assimilation in everyday life. In: Baden-Württemberg. a history of immigration. Edited by Mathias Beer. Stuttgart 2014, 199-216.
- Donau/Schwäbisches. An introduction to the study project “Donauschwäbische Grüsse zum baden-württembergischen Geburtstag”. In: Matters of home. Danube Swabian greetings on the occasion of Baden-Württemberg's birthday. Edited by Reinhard Johler, Josef Wolf and Christian Glass. Tübingen 2012, 11-31.
- “Hibridism”. Istria, folklore and cultural theory. In: Zeitschrift für Volkskunde 108 (2012), 1-21.
- Doing European Ethnology in a Time of change. The Metamorphosis of a Discipline (in Germany and in Europe). In: Traditiones 41 (2012). H. 2, 245-255.
- No Spirit on the Danube. The Role of the Humanities and Social Sciences in the Danube Region Strategy. In: The EU Strategy for the Danube Region and the Non-EU Danube Region Countries. European Policy Papers of the Europa-Zentrum Baden-Württemberg, 3. ed. by Florian H. Setzen. Stuttgart 2012, 28-29.
- Things, cultures, museums. Ethnographic representations and the depiction of German-speaking minorities in the Habsburg Monarchy. In: Danubiana Carpathica 6 (2012), 21-58.
- Migration, Sister Cities, Europe: the Pursuit of Cultural Diversity. In: Migration, Integration, and Health: The Danube Region. Edited by Reinhard Johler, Harald C. Traue and Jelena J. Gavrilovic. Lengerich 2010, 177-188.
- Kriegserfahrungen in den Humanwissenschaften. Folklore and the Great War. In: War experiences. War and Society in the Modern Era. New horizons of research. War in History 55. ed. by Georg Schild and Anton Schindling. Paderborn 2009, 179-196.
- Town twinning and cultural diversity. On the municipal shaping of Europe. In: Municipal Partnerships between West and East. Edited by Hans-Werner Retterath. Freiburg i. Br. 2009, 17-37.
- “Unity in diversity”. On the cultural construction of a “Europe of the regions”. In: Distant homeland. Near strangers. With poets and thinkers. Edited by Eduard Beutner and Karlheinz Rossbacher. Würzburg 2007, 195-208.
- Home - Globalization World. Observations on the cultural present. In: Americanization - Globalization. Transnational processes in European everyday life. Edited by Ute Bechdol, Reinhard Johler and Horst Tonn. Trier 2007, 157-170.
- Folklore and Europe. For example: the “Europe of the regions”. In: Schweizerisches Archiv für Volkskunde 102 (2006), 121-137.
- Re-thinking Socialism and Culture in Germany. An Ethnological Approach. In: Socialism: Realities and Illusions. Ethnological Aspects of Socialist Everyday Culture. Publications of the Institute for European Ethnology at the University of Vienna 24. ed. by Klaus Roth. Vienna 2005, 213-222.
- European Places. Territorialization processes in the “new Europe”. In: Place. Work. Body. Ethnography of European Modernity. 34th Congress of the German Folklore Society. Edited by Beate Binder, Silke Göttsch, Wolfgang Kaschuba and Konrad Vanja. Münster et al. 2005, 33-44.
- In search of the “other” Europe: Eugenie Goldstern and the Viennese “Völkerkunde Europas”. In: Österreichische Zeitschrift für Volkskunde LIX/108 (2005), 151-164.
- Local Europe. The Production of Cultural Heritage and the Europeanization of Places. In: Articulating Europe. Local Perspectives. Edited by Jonas Frykman and Peter Niedermüller. Copenhagen 2003, 7-18.
- In the Intermediate World of Cultures. Folklore, folk games and sport. In: Underworlds of Culture. Themes and theories of folkloristic cultural studies. Edited by Kaspar Maase and Bernd Jürgen Warneken. Cologne-Weimar-Vienna 2003, 179-201.
- European Ethnology: A Chance for an anthropological “East-West”-Dialogue? In: Breaking the Wall. Representing Anthropology and Anthropological Representations in Post-Communist Eastern Europe. Edited by Viroel Anastasoaie et al. Cluj-Napoca 2003, 275-286.