Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger FBA (born 17 July 1955 in Bergisch Gladbach) is a German historian. She mainly researches the early modern period and has held the chair for early modern history at the

University of Münster The University of Münster (german: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of stud ...

. Stollberg-Rilinger is one of the leading representatives of research that examines the constitutional history of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

on the basis of symbolic-ritual forms of communication. Her work on rituals, symbolic communication and ceremonial influenced research on the exercise of power in the pre-modern era.

Career

She studied German language and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

, history and the

history of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic visu ...

at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

, graduating in 1980 and earning a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in 1985 in mediaeval and modern history, ancient history and German

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

. She habilitated at the University of Cologne in 1994. The first professorship she obtained was at the Historical Institute of the University of Cologne, only to follow a call from the

, where she has held the chair of Early Modern History since 1997. Since 2018, she has been a rector of the Berlin Institute for Advanced Study. Her focus lies on the political and cultural movements and changes in Europe in the 17th and 18th century (the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

Political positions – Criticism by the "Jüdische Allgemeine"

In December 2020, Stollberg-Rilinger was one of the initiators of the "Initiative GG 5.3 Open-mindedness" of numerous institutions and persons in the cultural and scientific community. The initiative criticizes a

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...

resolution of 2019 condemning Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) as anti-Semitic and banning government funding for the Israel-hostile movement, and warns against a restriction of the Basic Law constitutionally protected freedom of expression through the "misuse of the accusation of anti-Semitism". The initiators and signatories were accused of ignoring the fact that BDS denied Israel's right to exist.

Awards and honours

* 2017

Leipzig Book Fair Prize The Leipzig Book Fair Prize () is a literary award assigned annually during the Leipzig Book Fair to outstanding newly released literary works in the categories "Fiction", "Non-fiction" and "Translation". The Leipzig Book Fair Prize has been award ...

(non-fiction): "Maria Theresia. Die Kaiserin in ihrer Zeit" * In July 2017, Stollberg-Rilinger was elected a

Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

(FBA), the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with State (polity), state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but ...

for the humanities and social sciences. * 2017

Sigmund Freud Prize The Sigmund Freud Prize or Sigmund Freud Prize for Academic Prose (German ''Sigmund Freud-Preis für wissenschaftliche Prosa'') is a German literary award named after Sigmund Freud and awarded by the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (Ge ...

for Scientific Prose: "Maria Theresia. Die Kaiserin in ihrer Zeit" *2013 Award of the Historical Collegium of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities *2012 Innovation award of the federal state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

*2006 Doctorate honoris causa of the Ecole normale superieure Lyon *2005 Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz Award of DFG

Bibliography

* * * ''Das Heilige Römische Reich Deutscher Nation. Vom Ende des Mittelalters bis 1806'' (= ''Beck'sche Reihe. C.-H.-Beck-Wissen'' 2399). 4. durchgesehene Auflage. C. H. Beck, München 2009, . * 24th Annual Lecture of the GHI, Washington DC, 11 November 2010. * ''Des Kaisers alte Kleider. Verfassungsgeschichte und Symbolsprache des Alten Reiches.'' 2., durchgesehene und aktualisierte Auflage, C. H. Beck, München 2013, . *

Critical studies and reviews of Stollberg-Rilinger's work

;"Much ado about nothing?" *

References

External links

Homepage of Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger at the University of MünsterCluster of Exzellence at the University of Münster

Interview at Sciencegarden.de

Profile at H-Soz-u-Kult
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stollberg-Rilinger, Barbara 1955 births Living people German women historians Academic staff of the University of Münster Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy German Historical Institute, Washington, DC 20th-century German historians 21st-century German historians