Peasants' War in focus: Experience a historical media event in Gotha!

Peasants' War in focus: Experience a historical media event in Gotha!

On Tuesday, May 27th, at 6:15 p.m., a lecture entitled "The Peasants' War. A media event" will take place in the Hall of Mirrors at Friedenstein Castle. This important lecture is organized by the Gotha Research Library at the University of Erfurt. The speaker is the renowned historian Prof. Dr. Dr. theol. h.c. Dr. phil. h.c. Thomas Kaufmann from the Georg-August University of Göttingen. Admission to this event is free.

In his lecture, Kaufmann, a Leibniz Prize winner and scientific director of the Göttingen State and University Library, will analyze the Peasants' War as the first major media event in the age of pamphlets and book printing. His core thesis is that the Peasants' War serves as a collective term for numerous war events, media coverage and contemporary images of the peasantry.

Accompanying activities and registration

The event is accompanied by an exhibition of manuscripts and prints on the subject of the Peasants' War. Blog posts will also be published to deepen the discussion about this historic event. Interested visitors must register by May 26th as capacities are limited. Registrations are possible by phone at 0361/737-5530 or by email at veranstaltungen.fb@uni-erfurt.de.

The book by Thomas Kaufmann

Kaufmann's lecture is based on his book "The Peasants' War", which deals in detail with the media history of the Peasants' War in the 16th century. The invention of printing in the 15th century is seen as the fundamental basis for the distribution of printed pamphlets, which were considered the first mass medium. Kaufmann describes the Peasants' War as a major military and political event in European history that was initiated and staged by the media.

The structure of the book covers various topics, including the history of the interpretation and research of the Peasants' War, the prehistory of the war, and the journalism of the Peasants' War and its processing. Kaufmann's approach in this work is appreciated differently in reviews. Markus Friedrich from the FAZ describes this as convincing and predicts that it will shape future discussions. Christoph Auffarth from the blog “‘Hot!’ – Book Recommendations Religion” praises the illustrations and explanations and emphasizes the importance of the printers.

Although there are no interviews or videos from Thomas Kaufmann on the subject of the Peasants' War, many remain interested in further clues and information. The combination of lecture and accompanying activities promises to sustainably promote engagement with this important part of European history.

For further information on the topic, we recommend taking a look at Amazon or Web historian. The extensive interest in this topic shows how important the Peasants' War was not only for historiography, but also for the development of media communication.

The University of Erfurt and Thomas Kaufmann invite everyone interested in history to take part in this insightful evening and to delve deeper into the topic of the Peasants' War.

Unexpected insights into the Peasants' War and its media dimensions are to be expected at the event.