Finalization of the project (in cooperation with the SNF): "Goethe's 'Farbenlehre'. The history of its reception in Berlin 1810-1832"

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Wolfram Horstmann; Professor Dr. Friedrich Steinle
• Subject Area: German Literary and Cultural Studies (Modern German Literature) ; History of Science
• Term: from 2018 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 386168200

It is main of the project is to analyse the reception of Goethe s 1810th work Zur Farbenlehre in Berlin in the first decades of the 19th century. The project, jointly funded by DFG and SNF, has started in 2018 and has been full success so far. It has become clear, however, that the amount of relevant sources is far higher than originally estimated. Hence we apply for an extension of another 14 months that will enable to reach the goals of the project and present its rich and significant results.The main goal of the project is to analyse the reception of Goethe’s 1810 work „Zur Farbenlehre“ in Berlin in the first decades of the 19th century. Goethe himself had suggested that his work had evoked mostly hostile reactions and essentially vanished soon after its publication, and this view has been taken over and partly supported in the scholarly literature. By contrast, however, there are indications of a strong and positive resonance of Goethe’s work in Berlin over more than two decades, driven mainly by the Prussian minister Altenstein and his staff. He supported scholars and scientists working on colour research, and some of them publicly supported Goethe’s approach. At Berlin university, a series of lectures on Goethe’s theory was installed and conducted by L. von Henning. Moreover, Altenstein and others arranged an extended journey of the painter Raabe to Italy, to investigate works of art mentioned by Goethe and to popularise Goethe’s „Farbenlehre“. Goethe applauded and supported von Henning’s lecture series and was actively involved in planning and evaluating Raabe’s travel - hence we see a ‚success story‘ (Müller-Tamm) of Goethe’s theory. The project will for the first time analyse this significant episode of reception in full, and place it within its political, cultural and economic context of early 19th ct. Prussia. It will explore, present and comment the bulk of relevant historical sources, and evaluate them systematically to reconstruct this historical process comprehensively. The results will be published as a monograph in print and electronic form, along with the sources and background information. All the historical material (documents, transcriptions, comments) will be made available open-access for further research. The project will provide a significant contribution to Goethe research, to the history of science, and to the history of Prussian cultural politics and society in the first half of 19th century. In its working so far, the project has been extremely successful, and it has become clear that there is significantly more source material to be included than estimated originally. In order to reach the goals of the project, i.e. to reconstruct and present a comprehensive picture of the peculiar reception of Goethe’s work in Berlin, this material has necessarily to be included. Hence we apply for an extension of the project for another 14 months.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Switzerland
• Partner Organisation: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF)
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Gerhard Lauer