The department of Church History In Göttingen is represented by Prof. Dr. Thomas Kaufmann, Prof. Dr. Peter Gemeinhardt and Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Martin Tamcke. In their teaching, Prof. Dr. Thomas Kaufmann and Prof. Dr. Peter Gemeinhardt cover all aspects of church history; temporal and thematic priorities arise in departmental research, in research-related courses, such as e.g. special seminars, and, of course, in the supervision of academic work.

History of the Department

With Johann Lorenz von Mosheim (1747-1755) the chair of Church History goes back to the founding of the Georg-August University. For more than a century Church History was represented by a single church historian (C.W.F. Walch 1757-1784; Gottlieb Jakob Planck 1784-1830; J.K.L. Gieseler 1831-1854; J.G.L. Duncker 1854-1875). In 1861 the department of was permanently split into two; one department with focus on the Early Church (Patristic), the other with focus on the Reformation.

Since that time, the chairs of the department of Early Church history have been held by: Hermann Reuter (1876-1889); Nathanael Bonwetsch (1891-1921); Carl Mirbt (1912-1928); Hermann Dörries (1929-1963); Carl Andresen (1961-1977); Ekkehard Mühlenberg (1978-2006), and Peter Gemeinhardt (since 2007). The chairs of Reformation and Modern Church History have been occupied by: J.A. Wagenmann (1861-1890); P. Tschackert (1890-1911); Emanuel Hirsch (1921-1936); M. Gerhardt (1937-1945); Ernst Wolf (1947-1957); Bernd Moeller (1964-1999) and Thomas Kaufmann (since 2000).

Oriental Church History, with a focus on Syrian Church History, has long been a Göttingen tradition which is mainly connected with the names of Johann David Michaelis (1717–1791) und Paul de Lagarde (1827-1891). Chairs have been held by Werner Strothmann (1958-1972), Wolfgang Hage (1975-1981) and Jouko Martikainen (since 1984). In 2001 Martin Tamcke took over the administration and the institute was affiliated to the Institute of Ecumenical Theology.

In the recent past, Church History was distinguished by additional professorships, such as in Lower Saxony Church History (Hans-Walter Krumwiede, Inge Mager) and in the History of Ecclesiastical Law (Anneliese Sprengler-Ruppenthal).

Research Area: Early Church

The research of Prof. Peter Gemeinhardt (b. 1970) focuses on the history of the church in antiquity and the Early and High Middle Ages, as well as in denominational studies. In addition to intra-theological discussions on exegetical and systematic-theological subjects, emphasis is also placed on collaboration with disciplines in the Faculty of Humanities (classical philology, history, Islamic Studies). Research lies in the field of the history of education, in particular through the directorship of the Courant Research Centre “Education and Religion from Early Imperial Roman Times to the Classical Period of Islam” (EDRIS), and in the history of dogma and hagiography.

The department is connected with the department for Patristic Theology; close co-operation continues with the Göttingen Centre for the Patristic Commission of the Union of Academies (Prof. Dr. Ekkehard Muhlenberg) .

Research Areas: Reformation and Early Modern Times

Professor Kaufmann (b. 1962) focuses his research on the church history of the Reformation and early modern period. At the centre of his work are the theological, educational and social history of Protestantism and the cultural and political effects of the Reformation in the confessional age and in more modern times, which are analysed in a European context. Special attention is paid to the journalistic mass media of the age (sermons, pamphlets, and broadsheets, etc.).

A further research area is the history of Protestantism scholarship in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The department is also concerned with French-German research projects on the use of religious books, Early Reformation leaflet/pamphlet journalism and on the history of Protestantism in the 19th and 20th centuries. Prof. Kaufmann co-operates closely with the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Research (ZMF), the Commission for investigations into the culture of the late Middle Ages (Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Göttingen) and the post-graduate programme “Expert Cultures”. He also heads the Commission for the text analysis of scholarly journals in the Age of Enlightenment (Union of the German Academies of Science and Humanities).

Research Area: Ecumenical Theology and Oriental Church and Mission History

The Christian cultures of the Near or Middle East are at the centre of Martin Tamcke’s (b. 1955) research. He is also concerned with issues of current social and political relevance in Europe today: oriental-occidental interaction (especially with regard to migrants and oriental minority cultures in Europe) and Orthodox and Christian-Muslim co-existence. The mission-historical focus allows a consideration of those basic issues that arose during encounters with foreign cultures and which find expression today in the churches and theologies of the non-European world. This thematic focus is unique in Germany.

• Church History of the Orient