2005

DG -- Europe

Große bayerische biographische Enzyklopädie [Comprehensive Bavarian Biographical Encyclopedia]. Ed. Hans-Michael Körner. 4 vols. München: Saur, 2005. xvii, 2,178 p. 25 cm. ISBN 3-598-11587-3: EUR 368 [05-1-221]

The 1995-2002 first edition of the Deutsche biographische Enzyklopädie (see, e.g., RREA 6:39, 6:40, 7:30, and 8:22) has already been mined for several subject biographies (for instance, German philosophers and scientists), as well as a biography of an era (the German-speaking Enlightenment), so it was to be anticipated that a state biography would one day be published based on its content. Since all of the content of the DBE and its spin-offs exist in digital form in the Deutsche biographische Enzyklopädie & Deutscher biographischer Index (München, 2001—see RREA 8:23), it is not difficult continually to select content according to different criteria and, to avoid the criticism of purely selective duplication, to augment this content with new articles and updated and expanded older articles, as the case may be (this action limited in large part to the bibliographical references). The reviewer focuses on information taken from the DBE directly over into the Große bayerische biographische Enzyklopädie (GBBE). Approximately 10,900 of the 61,500 names in the DBE with a distinct relationship to Bavaria were selected, and their number was increased by more than 1,700 names of people who had died since the DBE’s publication as well as of people of regional and local importance.

The selection of people in the GBBE is geared to the area of the present-day Free State of Bavaria. The only real exception is provision for including people from the Rhenish Palatinate, which belonged to Bavaria from 1816 to 1945. Other selection criteria include persons born in Bavaria who achieved a high profile in other countries or continents as well as those who were neither born nor died in Bavaria but who worked there for a longer period of time. This last criterion can result in the inclusion of a large number of persons; for example, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel is included only on the basis of his years as director of the Ägide-Gymnasium in Nürnberg, 1808-1816. The extensive Volume 4 includes a chronology (that is, names arranged chronologically by birth or alternatively by death dates); an index of persons including cross-references by name, profession, year of birth and death; and an index of places including place of birth, residence, and death. Unfortunately an index of professions is lacking and would have been second only to the index of places in importance.

Bavaria already had a useful state biography in Bosls bayerischer Biographie (Regensburg 1983-1988), which contains ca. 8,000 short biographies in the basic volume and ca. 1,000 more in a supplemental volume. It is therefore astonishing that this standard biography is mentioned neither in the GBBE’s introduction nor in the short list of introductory literature on the history of Bavaria. A random sample in the alphabetical section AN-AZ yielded 113 unique names for the two volumes of Bosl but 160 for the GBBE. Thus, the latter contains a considerably larger number of articles, mostly longer and with more information on current literature, justification for moving the Bosl from the reference collection to the stacks. [sh/tl]

Autoren und Autorinnen in Bayern: 20. Jahrhundert [Authors in Bavaria: 20th Century]. Ed. Alfons Schweiggert and Hannes S. Macher. Dachau: Verlagsanstalt "Bayerland," 2004. 416 p. ill. 25 cm. ISBN 3-89251-340-6: EUR 59.80 [05-1-222]

Instead of the encyclopedia of authors that this title leads one to expect, the reader finds a mixture of lexicon and literary history. The 311 signed author portraits are arranged chronologically by year of birth rather than alphabetically, and this main section is broken up with eleven multi-page descriptive inserts on literary movements in 20th century Bavarian literature and the Bavarian literary landscape. Bibliographies are entirely absent with the exception of a short one on the first descriptive essay relating to the emergence of Bavarian literature. The defining criterion for inclusion of authors is loose, for numerous writers are included who were not indigenous to the region. Yet some figures are not included who may be found, for example, in the Große bayerische biographische Enzyklopädie (see RREA 11:182). [sh/rlk]

Chronik der Stadt München [Chronicle of the City of Munich]. Helmuth Stahleder. Ebenhausen; Hamburg: Dölling und Galitz. 24 cm. Vol. 1 published by Verlag Hugendubel, München. ISBN 3-937904-14-X (set + CD-ROM) [05-1-223]

Vol 1. Herzogs- und Bürgerstadt: die Jahre 1157-1505 [City of Dukes and Burghers: The Years 1157 to 1505]. 1995. 696 p. ill. ISBN 3-88034-835-9 (Hugendubel); ISBN 3-937904-10-7 (Dölling und Galitz): EUR 49.80

Vol. 2. Belastungen und Bedrückungen: die Jahre 1506-1705 [Burdens and Pressures: The Years 1506 to 1705]. 2005. 807 p. ill. ISBN 3-937904-11-5: EUR 49.80

Vol. 3. Erzwungener Glanz: die Jahre 1706-1818 [Forced Glory: The Years 1706 to 1818]. 2005. 680 p. ill. ISBN 3-937904-12-3: EUR 49.80

Chronik der Stadt München. Helmuth Stahleder. München; Hamburg: Dölling und Galitz, [2005]. 1 CD-ROM (available only with the complete print ed.) ISBN 3-937904-20-4 (CD-ROM), ISBN 3-937904-14-X (CD-ROM with print ed.): EUR 120 [05-1-224]

This three-volume chronological history of the city of Munich by a long-time staff member of the Munich city archives is based on the meeting records of the city council, including financial records of the city treasury, dating back to 1318, as well as relevant scholarly materials. Entries for each day are indicated by the year, month, day, and day of the week, including any relevant holiday, in bold type. The body of the entry presents factual information, followed by quotation from original sources in italic type. Entries conclude with a listing of primary and secondary source materials, generally in abbreviated format for often-cited sources. Abbreviations and short entry references are decoded in the indexes in each volume. Indexes of persons, places, and keywords facilitate access to the information in the respective volumes, but the fact that location references consist only of the year and month means that the user must scan through a number of entries to locate facts pertinent to a particular date. The CD-ROM that accompanies this edition consists solely of .pdf page versions and is therefore not very useful as a search tool. Otherwise, this set is appropriate for academic and scholarly libraries. [sh/jb]

Juden in Berlin [Jews in Berlin]. Ed. Andreas Nachama. Berlin: Henschel-Verlag. 25 cm. [05-1-225]

Vol. 1. [no special title]. Ed. Andreas Nachama, Julius H. Schoeps and Hermann Simon. 2d ed. 2002, 264 p. ill. 24 cm. ISBN 3-89487-336-3: EUR 25

Vol. 2. Biographien [Biographies]. Ed. Elke-Vera Kotowski. 2005. 304 p. ill. ISBN 3-89487-461-9: EUR 25

Jews in Berlin.. Ed. Andreas Nachama, Julius H. Schoeps and Hermann Simon. Berlin: Henschel, 2002, c2001. 263 p. ill. 25 cm. ISBN: 3-89487-426-0

The richly illustrated history, Jews in Berlin, began as a single volume in 2001 but has been expanded to three volumes. Its first volume has been translated into English (ISBN 3-89487-426-0) and Russian. The second volume contains approximately 1,400 short biographies written by students from two upper-level seminars at the University of Potsdam. Selection criteria for inclusion in the encyclopedia were that the person must be Jewish (with "Jewish" defined as broadly as possible), be no longer living, and have a significant connection to Berlin. Period coverage ranges from the second half of the 16th century to the present day, and lesser-known individuals have been included as well as more recognizable names. Entries for the latter are followed by a selection of primary and/or secondary literature for further reading (with at most three titles in both instances). The appendix includes a list of abbreviations, a very short glossary, a directory of places in Berlin named after the people in this encyclopedia, and a subject bibliography. Unfortunately, indexes for topics such as careers are not included. [sh/kb]

Niedersächsische Juristen: ein historisches Lexikon; mit einer landesgeschichtlichen Einführung und Bibliographie [Jurists from Lower Saxony: A Historical Dictionary; Including an Introduction to Regional History and Bibliography]. Ed. Joachim Rückert and Jürgen Vortmann. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2003. lv, 606 p. ill., maps. 25 cm. ISBN 3-525-18241-4: EUR 48.90 [05-1-230]

This biographical dictionary provides background information on lawyers, judges, and other persons active in jurisprudence who were born in the area of what is today Lower Saxony. The dictionary contains 491 entries, beginning with the 14th century. One of the more prominent figures treated is Otto Grotewohl, the first prime minister of the GDR, who had been the minister of justice of the Free State of Braunschweig before World War II. The work contains three indexes, one organized by profession, one by alphabet, and one by year of death. An introduction to the history of law and legislature in the area of Lower Saxony complements the dictionary, as well as historical maps of the di?erent judicial districts. [sh/ao]

Das grosse Köln-Lexikon [The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Cologne]. Ed. Jürgen Wilhelm. Köln: Greven, 2005. 491 p. ill. 25 cm. ISBN 3-7743-0355-X: EUR 49.90 [05-1-235]

The author is an attorney in Cologne and lecturer at the Professional School of Public Administration of North Rhine-Westphalia. This work is the result of several years of research. It begins with Johann Stephan Pütter from Iserlohn (1725-1807), and concludes with biographies of Carl Schmitt from Plettenberg (1888-1985). Each entry begins with a portrait and includes the person’s genealogy, youth, studies, and professional activity. Attention is paid to providing as complete a bibliography as possible, as well as to secondary literature. This carefully compiled volume includes an index. Sensenberg relies on public sources and biographies rather than archives. With few exceptions, all these persons are also found in the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, the Neue Deutsche Biographie (see RREA 11:23), and other major German biographical reference works.

To be included, the jurist must have been born in the Sauerland and have had a noteworthy and meaningful legal career. Sauerland is here a geographical, not a political, expression and includes principalities and bishoprics unified under Napoleon’s reorganization of Westphalia and after 1815 incorporated into the new province of Prussian Westphalia. These 22 men represent a wide variety of legal careers and the many political jurisdictions, religious confessions, and historical eras and experiences in this multifaceted region of western Germany.

Sensburg has created a significant work on the formation of regional elites. It is eminently readable and allows one new insights into this subject. [frh/ga]

Der Leipzig-Atlas: unterwegs in einer weltoffenen Stadt am Knotenpunkt zwischen West- und Osteuropa [The Atlas of Leipzig: Guide to a Cosmopolitan City at the Junction of Western and Eastern Europe]. Ed. Dorothea Wiktorin, Helga Schmidt and Gudrun Mayer; photographs by Armin Kühne and the LVZ. Köln: Emons, 2005. 232 p. ill. 32 cm. ISBN 3-89705-269-5: EUR 49.80 [05-1-239]

Frankreich-Lexikon: Schlüsselbegriffe zu Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft, Politik, Geschichte, Kultur, Presse- und Bildungswesen [Encyclopedia of France: Key Concepts Concerning Its Economy, Society, Politics, History, Culture, Press, and Educational System]. Bernhard Schmidt. 2d rev. ed. Berlin: Erich Schmidt, 2005. 1,223 p. ill. 24 cm. ISBN 3-503-06184-3: EUR 125 [05-1-245]

The Frankreich-Lexikon provides impressive proof that the printed book still has a future. Even though one can always find something via Google, and often Wikipedia entries offer information that isn’t bad, as one’s requirements become more demanding, one wishes for a more rigorous degree of quality. This new encyclopedia—like its counterparts for Italy (see RREO 96-1-118) and the USA (see IFB 96-4-521)—leaves nothing to be desired, with regard to both quality and quantity. Over 600 entries on 1,017 pages of text present France more exhaustively than any other reference work currently available in German.

The focus of the volume is on the 20th century and the present, but the main events of French history are discussed thoroughly (e.g., Affaire Dreyfus, Commune de Paris). The coverage of social issues is broad. Attention is also given to art and culture, with entries for important cultural entities as well as for such items as French films, comics, and the chanson. Major national research institutions, archives and libraries, and also the various media, including radio, television, and individual publishing companies (e.g., Gallimard and Grasset), are included. There are entries for almost 100 important newspapers and journals.

Of France’s regions, only Alsace, Bretagne, Corsica, Occitania, and the Basque country are discussed, presumably because of their efforts to attain political autonomy. It would be desirable to include the remaining regions, even if they are not as politically turbulent.

The encyclopedia is easy to use and includes information often lacking in similar works, such as postal and internet addresses and suggestions for further reading. Illustrations and (a few) maps enhance the articles. An 80-page appendix offers a chronology of French history, with subdivisions on political economy, society and culture, research and scholarship, education, and the press. It also includes tables of data about major French industrial and service organizations, banks, and insurance companies, as well as a bibliography of further print and online resources.

The type font and format of the Frankreich Lexikon make it easy to read. Its price is not unreasonable in relation to the value it offers. [uh/nb]

Bibliographie zur Geschichte der böhmischen Länder und der Slowakei = Bibliografie dejin Ceských zemí a Slovenska = Bibliografie histórie Ceských zemí a Slovenska [Bibliography of the History of the Czech Lands and Slovakia]. Marburg: Herder-Institut. 24 cm. (Bibliographien zur Geschichte und Landeskunde Ostmitteleuropas, …). ISSN 1436-9613 [05-1-250]

1996. 2004. lxv, 523 p. (… 34). ISBN 3-87969-318-8: EUR 49

1995. 2002. lx, 601 p. (… 30). ISBN 3-87969-303-X: EUR 49

1994. 1997. xxix, 136 p. (… 20). ISBN 3-87969-250-5: EUR 14.83 (see RREA 4:151)

The 2004 bibliography is the third in the series published by the Johann Gottfried Herder-Institut in Marburg, Germany, in cooperation with the Historical Institutes of the Slovak and the Czech Academies. This work is also at the same time a printed portion of the on-line accessible Literaturdatenbank Geschichte Ostmitteleuropas (Database of Historical Literature for East Central Europe, found at www.herder-institut.de/index.php?id=2219&lang=de). Research institutes in Wroclaw, Poznan, Torun, Cracow, Prague, Bratislava, and Herne (in the Ruhr Region of Germany) have contributed as well. Almost half the entries are in Czech or Slovak, and a further one-third are in German. The rest are in several other languages, including English. The bibliography includes monographs, articles, and reviews from journals and anthologies and is organized by subject, personal names, geographic region, and chronology. There are 3,620 titles about the Czech Lands, 827 about Slovakia, and 416 about Czechoslovakia–4,863 titles in all.

There are countless references to résumés, reviews, and commentaries with additional descriptions of publications that are not immediately recognizable by the respective title. All in all, the current edition of this bibliography is a unique reference work in form, content, and coverage. [su/ga]

Die Regionalbibliographie im digitalen Zeitalter: Deutschland und seine Nachbarländer [The Regional Bibliography in the Digital Age: Germany and Its Neighbors]. Ed. Ludger Syré and Heidrun Wiesenmüller. Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann, 2006. 426 p. 25 cm. (Zeitschrift für Bibliothekswesen und Bibliographie. Sonderband, 90). ISBN 3-456-03461-9: EUR 89; EUR 80.10 (Subscription) [05-2-409]

Retrospective and current regional bibliographies of the German Länder and smaller territories have been favorite review subjects of the IFB. See for example the Landesbibliographie von Baden-Württemberg (see RREA 11:197), the Vorarlberg-Bibliographie (see RREA 11:206), and the 1997 Bibliographien zur deutschen Landesgeschichte und Landeskunde [The Bibliographies of German Regional History and Geography] (see RREA 3:227). Over the past ten years, this type of bibliography has not diminished in importance; it has migrated first to databases on CD-ROM and then to online databases. The home page of the Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart features Heidrun Wiesenmüller’s continually updated information about the state and regional bibliographies of Germany and its neighboring states ( http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/bawue/regbib.html). Now that the age of the printed regional bibliography has given way to that of the online database, the Arbeitsgruppe Regionalbibliographie [Regional Bibliography Working Group] has again assessed the situation in the special issue of the ZfBB under review here.

The first section of this four-part work contains a lone historical-theoretical essay. The second part opens with a group of five essays on recent developments in various aspects of regional bibliography, followed by an overview of the regional bibliographies of Germany and selected, mostly German-speaking, neighboring countries’ regions. This information would have been far more usefully presented as a single, unified essay on regional bibliography in theory and practice, with facts on individual bibliographies presented in tabular form in a later section, instead of scattered willy-nilly throughout the narrative essays here and in the fourth section. The book’s subtitle does not accurately describe the regional scope of the work. While non-German speaking regions of Switzerland are included, Swiss regional bibliographies covering more than one canton are not, even when one is German-speaking, and the only neighboring regions included are those in Austria, Switzerland, and the Alsace region of France.

The overview is followed by a chronological report on the regional bibliographies of east-central Europe written by Norbert Kersken of the Herder Institute in Marburg, which has been cooperating with eastern German institutes since 1990 in creating a common database from which printed bibliographies have been extracted, for example their 1997 Bibliographien zur Geschichte Ostmitteleuropas [Bibliographies on the History of East-Central Europe] (see RREA 4:153). In the third section the editors discuss various aspects of the bibliography in the online context, including an introduction to the Virtuelle Deutsche Landesbibliographie [Virtual German Regional Bibliography—VDL], the Bayerische Landesbibliothek Online [Bavarian Regional Library Online], and comparable projects being developed in other regions. Online collection development, archiving issues, and researchers’ expectations are also discussed. The fourth and largest section contains self-portraits contributed by the libraries of fifteen of Germany’s sixteen Länder (all but Bremen). Contributions consist of an introductory essay, usually followed by a select list of retrospective and current bibliographies for the region. For easily accessible facts on German-language regional bibliography, librarians will continue to look to the 1997 Bibliographien zur deutschen Landesgeschichte…, while the present work contains more background information on "the inside story." [sh/rb]

Die deutschen Länder: Geschichte, Politik, Wirtschaft: Lehrbuch [The German States: History, Politics, Economy: Textbook]. Ed. Hans-Georg Wehling. 3d updated ed. Wiesbaden: VS, Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2004. 399 p. ill. 21 cm. ISBN 3-531-43229-X: EUR 24.90 [05-2-410]

The German federal states have been neglected in the literature of political education and applied geography. A short time has elapsed between editions of Die deutschen Länder (2000, 2d rev. ed. 2002), showing that this volume’s systematic description of the individual states fills a gap in the market. The editor was head of publications for the Stuttgart state office headquarters until his retirement and is, as an honorary professor in Tübingen, recognized as an expert in local and state politics.

The main portion of the work is dedicated to the 16 federal states, with an average of 19 pages devoted to each one. The articles include similar information: the name of the state followed by a motto, an illustration of its coat of arms, and short contributions in, for instance, the following areas: geography, history, regions, economy, political system, administrative organization, parties, individual fields of policy (environmental and regional policy), educational system, media, and churches, among others. Each section concludes with an explanation of the coat of arms and a few references to further literature. At times one might wish the content were more extensive or prefer a different emphasis; for example the GDR period in the eastern states is only very briefly referenced. However, overall the coverage and concise treatment are geared toward political education and fully correspond to this purpose. Articles on the topic of federalism, both intra-German and in comparison with other countries, supplement the main portion of the volume. These articles are written by recognized experts and conclude with extensive bibliographies.

According to its conceptual design, the volume can be used in two areas: both sections are suited to political education, for which reason the volume also should be considered for public library collections, and, because the second section meets academic requirements, it should also be purchased by academic libraries. [jpl/tl]

Landesbibliographie von Baden-Württemberg [Regional Bibliography of Baden-Württemberg]. Ed. Kommission für Geschichtliche Landeskunde in Baden-Württemberg and Landesbibliotheken Karlsruhe und Stuttgart. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. Preceded by: Bibliographie der badischen Geschichte und Bibliographie der württembergischen Geschichte. ISSN 0170-2378 [05-2-411]

Vol. 21. 2000. Ed. Heidrun Wiesenmüller and Ludger Syré. With addendum: Beiträge zu Geschichte und Gegenwart der Landesbibliographie von Baden-Württemberg [Contributions on the History and Present of the State Bibliography of Baden-Württemberg]. 2004. 80 p. ISBN 3-17-018498-9: EUR 66.50

Volume 21 is the final print volume of this comprehensive regional bibliography, which started publication in 1978; it is henceforth subsumed in the existing electronic edition. The final volume contains articles by various contributors offering a retrospective on the publication. Historians offer users’ perspectives on the bibliography and the editors recount the development of the bibliography, including the introduction of automated processes in the 1990s and its continuation by the internet edition, Landesbibliographie Baden-Württemberg (http://www.statistik-portal.de/LABI). [sh/kw]

Nachlässe im Bayerischen Hauptstaatsarchiv 1800 bis heute [Literary Remains in the Bavarian Central Archives, 1800 to the Present]. Ed. Sylvia Krauss. München: Generaldirektion der Staatlichen Archive Bayerns, 2005. 296 p. 25 cm. (Bayerische Archivinventare, 53). ISBN 3-921635-89-6: EUR 12 (Generaldirektion …, Postfach 221152, 80501 München, fax [49 89] 28638-2615, e-mail: poststelle@gda.bayern.de) [05-2-412]

This is a catalog of the papers of 234 individuals (including some still living), as well as the archives of a number of prominent families (aristocratic and bourgeois), held by the Bavarian Central Archives. The collections house the papers of "statesmen, politicians, leading public officials, or political publicists" who have had a state-wide impact in Bavaria (figures of primarily local and regional importance are not included). Entries contain biographical data as well as a likeness of the individual and describe contents, scope, size, and the location of the papers collections within the Bavarian Central Archives. The entries also indicate when additional papers of an individual represented in the Bavarian Central Archives are archived elsewhere.

This work is a useful reference, despite the fact that the papers cataloged here are also listed in the Zentrale Datenbank Nachlässe (Central Database of Literary Remains), maintained by the German Federal Archives ( http://www.nachlassdatenbank.de/). [sh/kw]

Persönlichkeiten in München: von 1275 bis heute [Personalities in Munich from 1275 to the Present]. Werner Ebnet. München: Verlag Dr. Hut, 2005. 367 p. 25 cm. ISBN 3-89963-900-6: EUR 38 [05-2-413]

Although this title is listed as a first edition, it is condensed from the author’s 2004 book of the same title from the same publisher, now out of print (the difference is mostly in page layout, rather than content). Compiled by a self-described lay historian, the book contains more than 4,000 short biographies of figures associated with the city of Munich. These vary little in length, regardless of the stature or notoriety of the profiled individual. Biographical data are provided in a somewhat idiosyncratic way. Birth and death years are included, for instance, but dates are not; most entries for the deceased, however, indicate the cemetery where they are buried. A serious weakness is an almost exclusive focus on those actions and accomplishments of the book’s subjects that actually took place in Munich. Names are cross-referenced under numerous subject headings: company names, institutions, voluntary societies, historical events, book and journal titles, inventions, buildings, etc. However, these are not listed in an entirely consistent way, and some that would have been important for the book’s topic are not included. The book contains a very brief list of works consulted but does not include a full bibliography.

This is not an essential title for research library collections. Those figures profiled here whose significance extends beyond the city of Munich are also included in Bosls bayerische Biographie and in the Große bayerische biographische Enzyklopädie (see RREA 11:182). The latter contains a place index by which one can locate figures associated with Munich. [sh/kw]

Hamburgische Biografie: Personenlexikon [Hamburg Biography: Dictionary of Persons]. Ed. Franklin Kopitzsch and Dirk Brietzke. Hamburg: Christians. [05-2-414]

The Hamburgische Biografie continues with volume 2, issued only two years after the publication of the first volume (see RREA 8:253). Volume 2 adds 406 persons to the 355 of volume 1 (the review for which says 325 persons), again from all areas of life and eras, excluding living persons. Biographies of the 19th and 20th centuries clearly predominate. The merits of volume 1 are repeated: signed articles by identified authors; each article beginning with name, birth and death dates and places, religious affiliation, and profession; numerous portraits; clearly organized text as well as essential titles from selected primary and secondary literature, enabling further research. As announced in volume 1, volume 2 contains a cumulative index. One hopes that speedy progress will be made in issuing future volumes. In the meantime, artists’ biographies are available in Der neue Rump: Lexikon der bildenden Künstler Hamburgs, Altonas und der näheren Umgebung [The New Rump: Dictionary of Artists of Hamburg, Altona and Environs] (see RREA 11:201). The Hamburgische Biografie is one of the most gratifying new municipal biographies, for which other large German cities can only envy Hamburg. [sh/rm]

Der neue Rump: Lexikon der bildenden Künstler Hamburgs, Altonas und der näheren Umgebung [The New Rump: Dictionary of Visual Artists in Hamburg, Altona, and Surrounding Areas]. Ed. Kay Rump. Rev. ed. of the 1212 dictionary by Ernst Rump. Neumünster: Wachholtz, 2005. 520 p. ill. 29 cm. ISBN 3-529-02792-8: EUR 59 [05-2-416]

The original Lexikon … was self-published in 1910 by ship’s chandler Ernst Rump (1872-1921), himself a practicing artist as well as a sponsor and collector of many of his contemporaries. Rump’s unpublished manuscript for a second edition was lost when his offices caught fire in the bombing of Hamburg during World War II, and due to demand for the increasingly rare copies of the original, a reprint edition was issued in 1980. Most of the ca. 3,000 (as advertised by the publisher) articles in the new edition were contributed by art historian Maike Bruhns. They comprise entries for practitioners of the visual arts, including painting, drawing, graphic arts, and sculpture, born 1945 or earlier, who have been active in Hamburg, regardless of their place of origin. The entries vary in length from a few lines to a full two-column page. They begin with the name, birth and death date, and genre of the artist in question, followed by biographical details, and, variously, further information subdivided by abbreviated headings in boldface type. Regrettably the meaning of these abbreviations (e.g. "single exhibits," "group exhibits," "works illustrated," and the like) are available only in the general abbreviations key, not at the head or foot of each page where they can be easily referred to. Each entry also includes a short bibliography of other general and specialized biographical dictionaries where the artist is referenced, as well as selected secondary literature. The Neue Rump is an excellent regional biographical dictionary of artists and will remain indispensable for research libraries with comprehensive collections in the subject, at least until—and unless—the third edition, which publisher Kay Rump (granddaughter of the original Rump) anticipates at the end of her foreword, becomes a reality. [sh/kst]

Köln und sein Umland in alten Karten: von der Eifelkarte zur Generalstabskarte 1550 bis 1897 [Cologne and Environs in Old Maps: From the Eifelkarte to the Ordnance Map, 1550 to 1897]. Uwe Schwarz and Werner Schäfke. Cologne: Emons, 2005. 152 p. ill. maps. 33 cm. ISBN 3-89705-343-8: EUR 36 [05-2-417]

This opulent and much-anticipated volume will appeal not only to fans of historical maps, but also to anyone interested in the history of the Rhineland in general as well as Cologne in particular. Schwarz skillfully depicts the overall development of Cologne and its surrounding areas using maps spanning 400 years of history. The work is well structured: an introduction covers the entire span of the city’s history, highlighting the more important events and eras as illustrated in maps of the time. The main part of the book consists of reproductions of 40 maps mostly from the collections of the Cologne City Museum, each displayed on facing pages, with explanatory text. The reproductions are of excellent quality and are presented in both a scaled-down version of the map as a whole and in excerpts where details are more clearly visible. (Even so a magnifying glass will sometimes come in handy.) Although the presentation is mainly chronological, this principle is sometimes abandoned to maintain thematic relationships.

Thus, for example, six maps created between 1555 and 1840 that cover the length of the Rhine River are presented together as a set.

The accompanying explanatory texts give information about the circumstances in and for which each map was created and introduce the cartographers. The collection includes examples of the works of well-known cartographers, as well as rarities, so that in addition to tracing the political and geographical changes of the area the book serves as a survey of the development of cartography in the period covered. A third part of the atlas gives catalog-like entries for each map, including data such as scale, orientation, condition of the copy, etc. A bibliography of maps and an extensive bibliography of secondary literature are included as well. The Emons-Verlag is to be congratulated on this thoroughly successful publication, not the least for keeping such a well-appointed volume at an affordable price. [hdw/kst]

Kölner Theologen: von Rupert von Deutz bis Wilhelm Nyssen [Theologians in Cologne from Rupert von Deutz to Wilhelm Nyssen]. Ed. Sebastian Cüppers. 1st ed. Köln: Marzellen, 2004. 515 p. ill. 25 cm. ISBN 3-937795-02-2: EUR 32.90 [05-2-418]

This volume presents 22 chronologically ordered biographical portraits of famous theologians who had varying degrees of connection with the city of Cologne. Of the first five "major theologians" covered, only Rupert von Deutz (ca. 1075-1129/30), whose biography begins the book, "remained within the sphere of influence of the Cologne cathedral throughout his life" (p. 10). The other four of the five major theologians are Albertus Magnus (1200-1280), also known as "Albert of Cologne," Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), who taught in Cologne for a few years, Meister Eckhart (1260-1328), who was active in Cologne for only about five years, and Johannes Duns Scotus (1265-1308), whose stay in Cologne encompassed only the year prior to his death. These latter four theologians were members of one of the two mendicant orders founded in the 13th century: the Franciscans (Duns Scotus) or the Dominicans (Albertus Magnus, Aquinas, Eckhart). Both of these orders administered schools in Cologne, and these four theologians carried the work of their religious orders throughout Europe. According to the table of contents, the sixth portrait is that of Johannes von Steingassen [sic] but actually covers Das Studium coloniense der Dominikaner [Dominican education in Cologne] with a survey up to the present. This chapter presents several brief biographies of Dominicans; among these is Johannes von Sterngassen (his correct name; he died after 1327). The rest of the volume contains biographies of individuals from the 15th-20th centuries; among the best-known are the Jesuit Friedrich von Spee (1591-1635) and the only female theologian included, Edith Stein (1891-1942).

The treatment given to the individuals covered is uneven. The length of an entry does not always correspond to the individual’s significance. The format in which an individual’s life and work is presented follows no particular pattern. The bibliographies following the articles are variously labeled ("Further sources and literature," "Works and literature," etc.) and inconsistent as to the type of material included. The article on Thomas Aquinas has no bibliography at all. Firmer editorial guidance would have resulted in greater consistency and clarity. [sh/rc]

Lexikon pfälzer Persönlichkeiten [Biographical Dictionary of the Palatinate]. Viktor Carl. 3d rev. and augmented ed. Edenkoben: Hennig, 2004. 992 p. ill. 25 cm. ISBN 3-9804668-5-X: EUR 60 (Arwid-Hennig-Verlag, D-67480 Edenkoben) [05-2-419]

Each new edition (previous editions published in 1995 and 1998) of this biographical dictionary of prominent Rhinelanders—both living and deceased—sees an increase of at least 1,000 entries, at least according to its compiler, Viktor Carl. This new volume, in a shiny gold binding and with an introduction by Rhineland-Palatinate Minister-President Kurt Beck, is supposed to contain more than 4,000 entries. Nevertheless, in terms of the selection and form of the individual articles, little has changed from previous editions. The dictionary includes entries for persons from all epochs, but the vast majority are for those currently still living (a precise percentage can no longer be determined, because an index to birth and death dates featured in earlier editions is lacking). Entries on average are fairly brief—one column or less—with only the rare exception for the especially prominent (Helmut Kohl, with two full columns). There are numerous, good-quality black and white portraits; headings to each article include only the dates and places of birth and death; publications by the subjects are cited within the text, only occasionally summarized at the end; and there are no references to secondary literature. The continuing absence of this last feature is all the more disadvantageous in this edition, because the appendix that used to feature sources for the articles in the name index (as well as additional indexes for places and organizations) is lacking from this new edition. At any rate, the main source for the compiler appears, once again, to be the Pressesammlung Viktor Carl (Carl’s own collection of press clippings), which has since been donated to the Institut für Pfälzische Geschichte und Volkskunde (p. 6). This work remains a must for libraries in the Rhineland-Palatinate, but while libraries elsewhere in Germany may acquire it, they are unlikely to sing its praises. [sh/kst]

Tirol-Lexikon: ein Nachschlagewerk über Menschen und Orte des Bundeslandes Tirol [Tyrol Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to People and Places in the Province of Tyrol]. Gertrud Pfaundler-Spat. Rev. and expanded ed. Innsbruck: StudienVerlag, 2005. 707 p. 25 cm. ISBN 3-7065-4210-2: EUR 49.90 [05-2-422]

The Tirol-Lexikon, which first appeared more than 20 years ago, is now available in a fully revised and expanded edition. Only the Austrian province of Tyrol is covered; the South Tyrol is not included. This edition is estimated to contain 1,530 articles, about three-quarters on people and one-quarter on places, as well as numerous cross references. All articles on municipalities were updated with 2001 census information, and approximately 150 biographical articles—80 on people who died between 1980 and 1995—were added. The articles are not clearly structured. Those on places include administrative affiliation, origin of place name, first mention, and detailed history. The biographical articles, which only include people who died before the end of 1994, are shorter and mention the subject’s occupation and birth and death dates and places, followed by a brief biographical treatment. How information on artists and their works is presented and accessed varies. Secondary literature is noticeably absent from all articles; only references to the most important sources used by the author are found in the appendix. Although the Tirol-Lexikon was written for a broad audience and is mainly a compilation, this should not stop academic libraries from acquiring it for their collections. [sh/tl]

Vorarlberg-Bibliographie [Vorarlberg Bibliography]. Ed. Thomas Feurstein. Feldkirch; Graz: Neugebauer. 21 cm. [05-2-423]

1 1997. 2002. xiii, 468 p. ill. ISBN 3-85376-180-1: EUR 38

2 1998/99. 2003. ix, 677 p. ill. ISBN 3-85376-181-X: EUR 45

3 2000/01. 2004. ix, 638 p. ill. ISBN 3-85376-182-8: EUR 45

4 2002/03. 2005. ix, 565 p. ill. ISBN 3-85376-183-6: EUR 45

Published under the auspices of the Vorarlberg State Library, this print regional Austrian bibliography is appearing at a time when other Austrian state libraries are switching to on-line only formats. However, the titles in this bibliography are also found in the Vorarlberg State Library’s on-line catalog. The province contains 96 communities and only about 375,000 inhabitants, which makes it possible for the bibliography to reach down to the local level. The work covers books, brochures, and essays from journals and anthologies. It also contains transcripts of regional radio and television programs. Illustrations of book jackets dot the bibliography, adding visual appeal. The rapid appearance of the individual volumes indicates that the bibliography will soon be current. Entries are sometimes duplicated when they cover more than one community or region, which is a convenience for the user. The layout is also user-friendly, with headwords easily recognizable. The place, person, corporate-body, and subject indexes are very useful search tools; for instance, each name-index entry includes the person’s birth and death dates as well as profession.

The Vorarlberg Bibliography is a successful example of a modern print regional bibliography. It is well thought out and offers many possible ways of searching. It is a rich addition to the field of regional bibliographies. [hdw/ga]

Die Deutschen und das europäische Mittelalter [Germans and the European Middle Ages]. München: Siedler. ISBN 3-88680-785-1 (set) [05-2-424]

[Vol. 1] Die Welt der Wikinger [The World of the Vikings]. Birgit und Peter Sawyer. Transl. From the English by Thomas Bertram. 2002. 476 p. ill. ISBN 3-88680-641-3: EUR 60

[Vol. 2] Das westliche Europa [Western Europe]. Joachim Ehlers. 2004. 512 p. ill. 24 cm. ISBN 3-88680-759-2: EUR 60

[Vol. 3] Das östliche Europa [Eastern Europe]. Christian Lübke. 2004. 544 p. ill. 24 cm. ISBN 3-88680-760-6: EUR 60

This is the third volume in a successful series that might be described as "Germans and Their Medieval Neighbors." A fourth volume on Italy is in the planning stages. This volume on Eastern Europe fills a significant gap in the scholarly mosaic of the Middle Ages. Eastern neighbors have always played a prominent role for Germans, a fact somewhat lost since the Second World War. (Nowadays, in fact, Germans themselves are often unacquainted with that part of their history: members of the official German delegation to Gniezno [Gnesen], Poland in 2000, for instance, totally missed their hosts’ allusions to the visit of Emperor Otto III exactly a millennium before.)

This work spans time from antiquity to the 14th century and space from the Baltic to the Black Sea, a challenging task that is largely fulfilled. The panorama includes Christianization to the Latin rite for Western Slavs and to the Byzantine rite for the Eastern Slavs, a difference used to explain the varying tempo of later Europeanization. The historical overview has three parts: "Shaping a Gray Zone" up to the Early Middle Ages; "Formation of States and Nations in the Eastern Reaches of the Empire" at the migration period, for which archaeological evidence is gradually supplanted by written documentation; and "Between Disintegration and New Beginnings" for the destruction by Mongolian hordes in the 13th century and subsequent restructuring and "Europeanization" by settlers from the West. Though the 14th century is the terminus of the presentation, we are given a short view forward, tracing connections to the present to show that Ostpolitik is no recent invention. Comprehensive illustrations, photos, and maps involve the reader, as does an excellent appendix with bibliographic, genealogical, geographical and biographical data, augmented by relevant indexes. This well-conceived and attractive history book is also written with enough flow and flourish to attract a broad readership at a time when the EU is expanding to the East. [ks/rdh]

Was ist Osteuropa? Handbuch der osteuropäischen Text- und Sozialgeschichte von der Spätantike bis zum Nationalstaat [What is Eastern Europe? A Handbook of Eastern European Intellectual and Social History from Late Antiquity to the Nation-State]. Siegfried Tornow. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2005. 675 p. 25 cm. (Slavistische Studienbücher: Neue Folge, 16). ISBN 3-447-05223-6: EUR 58 [05-2-425]

Since the political Wende of 1990 and inclusion of several new countries into the EU in 2004, Eastern Europe has once again come to the fore of German public consciousness and with it an increased demand for reference works about this area. This work is arranged not alphabetically but chronologically in six large epochs further subdivided by subject area. The extensive and detailed table of contents allows for quick reference. The chronological divisions include prehistory, language diversity, education, literature and writing, and religious language. Then come the historical periods High Middle Ages, Late Middle Ages, Humanism and Reformation, Baroque, Enlightenment, and finally the 19th Century. These sections run parallel to other sections and with developments in other regions of Europe. A brief epilogue gives a look into the present in light of the title’s initial question, and an equally brief bibliography and personal index close this broadly encompassing work. The work could have benefited from a subject index and better reference access to the various texts. In contrast to the handbook Südosteuropa: Gesellschaft, Politik, Wirtschaft, Kultur: ein Handbuch [Southeastern Europe: Society, Politics, Economy, Culture: A Handbook] (see IFB 01-1-199), which features many contributors, this book is penned by one person, with the disadvantage of not including more sub-topics and other aspects of this region, such as Jewish history and the great interplay among the various Christian divisions. Tornow’s work remains an important cultural-studies, interdisciplinary work on Eastern Europe and promotes greater understanding of Germany’s neighboring countries. It should reach a broad audience beyond the circle of academic specialists. [ks/ga]

Handbuch der Geschichte Russlands [Handbook of the History of Russia]. Ed.by Manfred Hellman, Klaus Zernack, and Gottfried Schramm. Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1976-2004. 6 vol. in 10. maps. 25 cm.

Vol. 1. Bis 1613. Von der Kiever Reichsbildung bis zum Moskauer Zartum [To 1613. From Kievan Rus’ to Muscovite Russia]. 2 vol. ISBN: 3-7772-8111-7 (Bd. 1/I): EUR 168; ISBN: 3-7772-8908-3 (Bd. 1/II): EUR 128

Vol. 2. 1613-1856. Vom Randstaat zur Hegemonialmacht [From Border State to Hegemon]. 2 vol. ISBN: 3-7772-8618-1 (Bd. 1/I): EUR 140; ISBN: 3-7772-0130-6 (Bd.2/II): EUR 160

Vol. 3. 1856-1945. Von den autokratischen Reformen zum Sowjetstaat [From the Autocratic Reforms to the Soviet State]. 2 vol. ISBN: 3-7772-8326-5 (Bd 3/I): EUR 162; ISBN: 3-7772-9238-0 (Bd. 3/II): EUR 198

Vol. 4. Register zu Band 1 bis 3 [Indexes to Volumes 1-3]. viii, 167 p. ISBN: 978-3-7772-0215-0: EUR 76

Vol. 5. 1945-1991. Vom Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs bis zum Zusammenbruch der Sowjetunion [From the End of the Second World War to the Collapse of the Soviet Union]. Ed. by Stefan Plaggenborg. 2 vol. ISBN: 3-7772-0203-7 (Bd. 5/I): EUR 188; ISBN: 3-7772-0343-0 (Bd. 5/II) EUR 198

Vol. 6. Einführung in Literatur, Quellen und Hilfsmittel [Introduction to Literature, Sources, and Research Aids]. Peter Hoffmann. 2004. xii, 340 p. ISBN 3-7772-0408-0: EUR 69 [05-2-426]

The sixth volume of the Handbook, the subject of this review, incorporates the material that editor Klaus Zernack had originally planned for independent publication. To make it suitable for inclusion in the Handbook, the material has been expanded, while the structure of the bibliography has been rearranged for easier access. Besides the purely "bibliographical" chapters, there are also several that contain specialized subject information.

The chapters are organized as follows: (1) general literature, including general encyclopedias and specialized reference works; (2) research information, including conducting research in Russian libraries, bibliographies and catalogs, announcements of new publications, and indices; (3) historiography, which contains sections ranging from the history of historiography to military history; (4) sources, which is similar to section 2 but also includes information about doing research in Russian archives); (5) biographies; (6) kinship, names, genealogy; (7) calendars; (8) weights and measures; (9) numismatics; (10) symbols (sphragistic, heraldry, and phalera); and (11) territory and population (geography, ethnography).

The stated aim of the authors is not to provide comprehensiveness but to offer a selection of materials. The brief but excellent articles on general encyclopedias in chapter 1 point to the wealth of information on Russian topics available in the older reference works, such as the 43-volume Entsiklopedicheskii slovar’ [Encyclopedic Dictionary] (Leipzig: Brockhaus; St. Petersburg, I.A Efron, 1890-1907) or the eight-volume Nastol’nyi entsiklopedicheskii slovar’ [Home Encyclopedic Dictionary] (Moskva: Tovarishchestvo A. i I. Granat i Ko., 1891-1895). The three editions of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia / Bol’shaia sovetskaia entsiklopediia are discussed and compared, since each of them has intrinsic value. One cannot, however, agree with the authors’ statement that a considerable number of titles are not easily available, since it is contradicted by checking the catalogs of special and large academic libraries in Europe and North America. The bibliography lists titles that appeared before 2001 and in many cases well before that date. The same applies to the "Bibliographic materials" section of chapter 5, and to the "Literature" section of chapter 3, which regrettably omits references to titles published after 1996.

The appendices contain a chapter on translation, transliteration tables for the languages that use the Cyrillic alphabet, a useful glossary of Russian historiography terminology, a subject index, a geographical index, and an index of personal names. [sh/as]

Lexikon zur Geschichte Südosteuropas [Dictionary of the History of Southeast Europe]. Ed. Edgar Hösch, Karl Nehring and Holm Sundhausen. Wien: Böhlau, 2004. 770 p. 24 cm. (UTB, 8270: Geschichte). ISBN 3-205-77193-1 (Böhlau); ISBN 3-8252-8270-8 (UTB): EUR 29.90 [05-2-427]

This region is home to 90 million people of a number of ethnic, linguistic, and religious affinities. Since the end of the 19th century Southeastern Europe (aka the Balkans) has been viewed in Western Europe as a powder keg and scene of internecine wars; the 1990s have to many only strengthened this impression. 62 domestic and foreign authors contributed to this dictionary that contains 544 different topics. Each article has a brief bibliography of further references. A keyword index gives a very useful survey of the contents of the work, which range from Absolutism to Cyprus [Zypern]. Within each main article, subsections are arranged alphabetically, although the keyword index unfortunately does not provide page numbers.

The dictionary covers the early Middle Ages (the three empires: Byzantine, Hapsburg, Ottoman) to 14 modern states plus the European part of Turkey. This number includes Slovakia and Cyprus, which illustrates the much-discussed question of where the border of this region actually lies. The work also covers the many historical provinces and regions, as well as cities (the selection criteria for which are not consistent). Errors are few. Place names are given in their original plus their Austro-Hungarian variants (e.g., Bratislava-Pressburg-Poszony). The spectrum of topics includes, for example, events (Congress of Berlin), organizations (Iron Guard), movements (Young Turks), religious confessions, and some biographies. (The reader is referred to the five-volume Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Südosteuropas (1974-81) for thorough biographical treatment.) Regrettably there are no maps or illustrations, which would have greatly enriched the reader’s comprehension.

Published for the prestigious Südost-Institut in Munich (which also published the Biographical Lexicon), this work is the first of its kind and is an indispensable guide to the complex history of this multifaceted region, one that will appeal to a wide circle of readers. [ks/ga]

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