Die Entwürfe der Schlachtenkupfer der Kienlung- und Taokuang-Zeit

Henkama, ?Daddy Heng“ – A Mediator between the Kangxi Emperor and Jesuit Missionaries during Chinese Rites Controversy in the 18th Century

The author's main concern is to turn the somewhat enigmatic person of Henkama (1645/1646–1708), known under many (also false) names, into a more tangible historical figure. For this purpose, all the available sources in European languages, Manchu, and Chinese are taken into account. Beginning with investigating the very name of this Manchu official who was responsible for the administration of the affairs of the Europeans, the author tries to obtain available and solid knowledge of Henkama's life and work, possibly year by year, which goes far beyond what is normally known about him, i.e., his role as main intermediary during the papal legation in Beijing (December 1705 – August 1706). However, this mediatory role cost him the trust of all around him, including the Kangxi Emperor, who was convinced that Henkama had been paid off by the papal legate and cardinal Charles-Thomas Maillard de Tournon (1668–1710). At the end of his life, being in ill health, he became a Catholic. Henkama died in 1708 in disfavor due to slander. In the rest of his article, the author depicts another four important contact persons between the Kangxi Emperor (state administration) and Jesuit missionaries, all of whom are to be considered as Henkama's co-workers or his successors. Among these four, there are two Chinese – Zhao Chang (1654–1729) and Wang Daohua (fl. 1706–1720) and two persons of Manchu origin – Bursai (fl. 1705–1706) and Zhang Changzhu/Carki (fl. 1707–1722).     

Über den ursprung der voneinander abweichenden Strukturen der Munda- und Khmer-Nikobar-Sprachen

Vorbemerkung Da die Bezeichnung Mon-Khmer zweideutig ist - sie umfasst nämlich einmal nur die Mon-Khmer-Sprachen im engeren Sinne, also Mon, Khmer, Bahnar, Mnong usw., zum anderen aber diese Sprachen und die verwandten Gruppen Khasi, Nikobar, Palaung-Wa, Semang, Sakai und Jakud - sei hier vorgeschlagen, den Terminus Mon-Khmer nur noch im engeren Sinne zu verwenden und ihn im weiteren Sinne gegen die Bezeichnung Khmer-Nikobar einzutauschen, da dadurch Irrtümer vermieden und ausserdem die zu bezeichnenden Sprachgruppen besser charakterisiert werden als durch die zu einer Gruppe gehörenden Sprachen Mon und Khmer. Die gesamte Ostobergruppe der austroasiatischen Sprachen wird durch die beiden charakteristischen und wichtigen Sprachen, die alte Literatursprache Khmer und die besonders altertümliche Nikobar-Gruppe, wohl am besten repräsentiert. Die Bezeichnung Mon-Annam-Sprachen ist wegen des Übergangscharakters des Vietnamesischen abzulehnen. Die Khmer-Nikobar-Sprachen stehen also den Mundasprachen in Vorderindien gegenüber.     

Was zählt der Preis? Dogmengeschichte und Wissensgeschichte der Ökonomie

What’s in a Price? History of Economic Ideologies vs. History of Economic Ideas. This paper suggests applying the approach of a historical epistemology to the field of economics. We observe that an assumedly fundamental opposition between the market and the state dominates popular images of the history of economic ideas. Two conflicting ideologies are roughly assigned to the two opposing sides in the Cold War. To this historical narrative the paper opposes a different view. The argument is that when taking the technical practices of economic knowledge production in the twentieth century into view, similarities abound across ideological ruptures. The chief characteristic change in the recent history of economics was a radical turn towards quantification, measurement, and mathematical modelling. A historical epistemology of economics could show how deeply both, admirers of the state and of the market, share a history. The paper concludes that to-date critique of political economy should also take into consideration a critical perspective towards the unfolding of this measurement revolution in the social sciences.     

Menschenbild und Wirtschaftsordnung: Der Menschenbegriff im Kameralismus und in der National?konomie

This essay addresses the construction of human nature in cameralism and early German political economy. It suggests that the emergent economic sciences in Germany propounded a vision of human beings that stressed the psycho‐physiological roots of human behavior in general, and of economic activity in particular. In this vision, human beings possessed a body and soul whose constant interaction gave rise to needs and desires, and thus to the drive to behave as economic agents. Here the cameralists and early German political economists adopted conceptions of human nature current in the ‘Sciences of Man’ of the Enlightenment. This stress on the non‐rational, psycho‐physiological aspects of human nature prevented the theoretical construction of a stable human social life, and in this way justified the continued need for governmental oversight and control of economic activity.     

Robert Hooke und die frühe Geschichte der Federwaage

A large number of the so-called electronic balances, for example those using wire strain gauges, are based on the elastic deformation of solid materials, and on the electrical measurement of the resulting changes in length. Such instruments must therefore be grouped into the class of spring balances. The spring balance operates within the limits of proportionality according to the law discovered by and named after Robert Hooke. No precise information about the spring balance can be found so far in the literature about balances: it is assumed that it was invented before 1700, without knowledge of the name of the inventor. As the result of a literature research it is shown that Robert Hooke found experimentally in 1676 with „ut tensio sic vis”︁ not only the physical principles which led to the law of elasticity: he also drew practical conclusions from it, and in the treatise De potentia restitutiva, published 1678, he described the most important types of spring balances. Experiments carried out by him to demonstrate the reduction of gravity with increasing altitude by using such a balance led, however, to a negative result because of its lack of sensitivity. Further developments for more than 100 years were necessary, until the spring balance come into more general application.     

Best Practice und Worst Case? Der Umgang mit der Hochschulzeitgeschichte an der Universität Jena und der Humboldt‐Universität: ein exemplarischer Vergleich

Best Practice vs. Worst Case? How East German Universities Deal with their Contemporary History: the Humboldt University of Berlin and the University of Jena. East German universities are often criticized for a lack of efforts to come to terms with their own history in the GDR. Two universities are regularly compared to illustrate the chances and shortcomings in this field: while the University of Jena is considered as very active in dealing with their own contemporary history the Humboldt University of Berlin is claimed to have substantial deficits. As a part of a general survey of the efforts of East German universities concerning their own contemporary history this contrastive picture is examined. It can be shown that the main differences between the two universities are less the intensity of historical self‐reflection but rather the thematic focus and the forms of presentation.     

Kommunikation und Veränderung—aktuelle Herausforderungen in der Kommunalberatung

Die Herausforderung und das Ziel eines jeden kommunalen Beratungsprojektes ist die konsensorientierte und zielführende Kommunikation von notwendigen Veränderungen. Nicht unterschiedliche Städte und Gemeinden mit ähnlichen Problemlagen stehen im Vordergrund der Bearbeitung, sondern das höchst individuelle Angebot alternativer Kommunikationsverfahren. Auch der Kommunalberater aus der Geographie überzeugt vor allem durch seine persönliche Ansprache und seine beruflichen Erfahrungen. Die Perspektiven in diesem weiten Berufsfeld sind grundsätzlich nicht schlecht, wenn Geographen es heute und zukünftig verstehen, ihre fachlichen Vorzüge entsprechend darzulegen. Dieser Artikel soll Mut machen für die Herausforderungen vor Ort und Perspektiven aufzeigen!