Spanish-German Academic Conversations

Sina Rauschenbach is a member of the Board of Directors of the Fundación Xavier de Salas (FXS), Trujillo, and the coordinator of the “Spanish-German Academic Conversations” (Spanisch-Deutsche Arbeitsgespräche) between the FXS, the Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel (HAB), and the University of Potsdam (UP). The conversations were set up by Prof. Dr. Jaime de Salas (FXS), Prof. Dr. Friedrich Niewöhner (then HAB), and Prof. Dr. Dietrich Briesemeister (then Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) in 1993. Their original aim was to promote research in the field of Spanish-German relations and to encourage academic encounters between Spanish and German scholars beyond the proper fields of Hispanic/Germanic Studies. In 2005, after the retirement of Dietrich Briesemeister and the death of Friedrich Niewöhner, the cooperation was termporally suspended, only to be revived in 2011. Since 2014, Spanish-German Academic Conversations focus on topics related to religion, culture, and knowledge in early modern Europe. The following conferences have been organized:

“Naturrecht und Konfession: Konfessionelle Einflüsse und Religionsfreiheit im Naturrecht”, org. Prof. Dr. Diethelm Klippel and Prof. Dr. Salvador Rus Rufino (Wolfenbüttel, 2011)
“The Castilian ‘Arbitristas’ and the Cultural and Intellectual History of Early Modern Europe,” org. Prof. Dr. Sina Rauschenbach and Prof. Dr. Christian Windler (Trujillo, 2013)
“Religious Plurality and Interreligious Contacts in the Middle Ages,” org. Prof. Dr. Ana Echevarria and Prof. Dr. Dorothea Weltecke (Wolfenbüttel, 2015).
“Eastern Coins in the Early Modern World: Antiquarianism and the Oriental Artifact 1500-1800,” org. Prof. Dr. Martin Mulsow and Prof. Dr. Stefan Heidemann (Trujillo, 2017)
“Spanien auf dem Weg zum religiösen Einheitsstaat (15. Jh.) – España en el camino hacia un estado religioso homogéneo – Spain and its Way to a Religious Unitarian Country,” org. Prof. Dr. Teresa Jiménez Calvente and Prof. Dr. Klaus Herbers (Wolfenbüttel, 2019)
“Monasticism and Religious Life in the German Empire and the Peninsular Kingdoms (XI-XV Centuries): A Comparative Perspective,” org. Prof. Dr. Blanca Garí and Prof. Dr. Nikolas Jaspert (Trujillo, 2023)
“Purity of Blood: Travelling Concepts and Local Practices in the Early Modern Iberian World,” org. Prof. Dr. Peter Burschel and Prof. Dr. Sina Rauschenbach (Wolfenbüttel, 2025)

Spanish-German Academic Conversations are funded by the FXS and the HAB. They are organized every other year and convene about 10-15 scholars from Spain and Germany, alternately in Trujillo, and Wolfenbüttel. For further information or proposals, please contact Sina Rauschenbach.