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The Research Magazine of the University of Potsdam
Two 2015
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F O X C U Q W S J E O W M Q Y U L R U J X B C Q V M R S T H M Y B VA Q P I O U T Q S E F T H U K O W P L I
J Z G R D W AY S C F V H N W K M J E B LV V U R S V V T F T O P T F A Q Y B D B T H W B A G U N K S H G K T
N V E W E T X Q L I A Z G D T J S S W N V D F S N W C Q V R M R S T H M Y B VA Q P I O U T G Q S E F T
H U K O P L X R I I J Z G R D W AY S C G R N E U I G K M A B G S T E N Q I U T O N Y B VA F R J K A E R C
F U Q AY V J N W S B G T D F B O N V E W U Z V C X K U C O W R V U B H L A P J B V M Y V X X F Z V V Q Z
Q I E I C H V Z O Q B Y F A R E H T K U N X VA D E L E V I U O V N AT B G R K H I K S B S S G N V B K D H S
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M A N H L K I O A G E B VA D S H Z N S U V C L I O P A Q N M Z F C Z S F G F K R N E H A B F U K W S B Y
F A F V K H N K R D M J B LV F T J U S S H R Z U C B N M S T V B A W O F B Y F W K M R O V U Z Q A H L
P U L K E Z S X R E K U Z G H Z T Y S F R G J H AW C X O U L J K S N W P B D S F T R AV X I K N V H S W G D
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B H C F O X C U Q W R P E N V F S N W C Q V M R S T H M Y B VA Q P I O U T Q S E F T H G U K O P L I
J Z G R D S W A Y D S C F V H N K M J B LV F S T J S S W H R Z U V C B N M L S T V B A W O F B Y F W K M
R O V U Z Q A H L P V U L K E Z D S F T Y R A V X N V H S G D B Q M V O R YA H Z U O B E A Y D LV B V
Z I O R E N W U O V C X T R E G F D S H B LT Z N U B A B K N Z E J X B C Q Z U C B N M S T V B A W O F
SIGNS
B Y F W K M R O V U Z Q A H L P U L K E Z T R A V X N V H S G A Y D LV B V Z I O R E N W U O V C X T R
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The Photographer of Signs
Sandra Bartocha took the cover photo and I love nature. It makes me really happy to be outside and feel
the pictures introducing the five themed the elements. As a nature photographer I have to keep an eye
sections of the magazine. out for signs – for example weather signs that create the per-
fect conditions for shooting my photos. Has the night been
cold and the morning windless enough to create the necessary
fog in the forests in autumn? What do satellite pictures and
the precipitation radar have to say? Will there be nice, fluffy
clouds and a clear sunny evening that allow me to work with
light in the landscape?
When I am out in nature, I pay attention to internal signs.
Moments that make me pause, situations that fascinate me
because they appeal to me aesthetically and emotionally. Why
do I find a situation beautiful? Why does it appeal to me?
What is the essential element I want to capture? This raises
the question of the right technique and realization to perfectly
capture this specific motif and mood.
The intended result of this process is not, however, to docu-
ment but rather to interpret the experienced scene and thereby
takes on a very personal dimension.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Sandra Bartocha is a nature photog-
rapher and a specialist author as well
as a project seminar leader. She grew
up in Mecklenburg-Western Pomera-
nia and fell in love with the striking
landscape of the Baltic Sea, the for-
ests, and lakes of this unique German
federal state. Bartocha studied Media
Studies, English Language and Literature, and Educational
Studies at the University of Potsdam. She is chief editor
of the magazine »Forum Naturfotografie«. Between 2007
and 2013 she was vice president of the German Associa-
tion of Wildlife Photographers (GDT). Sandra Bartocha
has successfully participated in national and international
competitions like »Wildlife Photographer of the Year«
and »International Photography Awards«. She took part
Our service for you. Scan further in the pan-European project »Wild Wonders Of Europe«.
links directly with your smart- For four years, Bartocha has been working on a long-term
phone or tablet and a free app for multimedia project – »LYS« – about northern Europe.
QR-Codes (e.g. ZBar, QR Code
Scanner, QR Droid). Contact
Sandra Bartocha
Photo: Bartocha, Sandra
Kiefernring 72 | 14478 Potsdam
$ www.bartocha-photography.com
g info@bartocha-photography.com
2 Portal Wissen Two 2015
Editorial
Dear Readers,
Signs take a variety of University of Potsdam are
forms. We use or encoun- examining whether statis-
ter them every day in vari- tics about petitions made
ous areas. They represent by GDR citizens can be
perceptions and ideas: A interpreted retrospectively
letter represents a sound, a as a premonitory sign of
word or picture stands for the peaceful revolution
an idea, a note for a sound, of 1989. Colleagues at
a chemical formula for the Institute of Romance
a substance, a boundary Studies are analyzing what
stone for a territorial claim, in upper class and lower the processing of signs, i.e. Alexander von Humboldt’s
a building for an ideology, class. The consequences the construction of mean- American travel diaries sig-
a gesture for a cue or an of such labeling, therefore, ing and the interaction nalize, and young research-
assessment. may decide on the raison of different sign systems. ers in the Research Train-
d'être of the signified A sign is not limited to a ing Group on “Wicked
On the one hand, we open within an aspect of reality monolithic meaning but Problems, Contested
up the world to ourselves and the nature of this exist- is culturally contingent Administrations” are exam-
by using signs; we acquire ence. and marked by the socio- ining challenges that seem
it, ensconce ourselves in economic conditions of to raise question marks
it, and we punctuate it to Since ancient times we the individual decoding it. for administrations. A
represent ourselves in it. have reflected on signs, at Sociopolitical and sociocul- project promoting sustain-
On the other, this reference first mainly in philosophy. tural developments there- able consumption hopes
to the world and ourselves Each era has created theo- fore affect the processing to prove that academia
becomes visible in our sign ries of signs as a means of of signs. can contribute to setting
systems. As manifesta- approaching its essence. an example. An initiative
tions of a certain way of Nowadays semiotics is Dealing with signs and of historians supporting
interacting with nature, especially concerned with sign systems, their cir- Brandenburg cities in dis-
the environment, and fel- them. While linguistics culation, and reciprocal seminating the history of
low human beings, they focuses on linguistic signs, play with shapes and the Reformation shows
provide information about semiotics deals with all interpretive possibilities that the gap between aca-
the social order or ethnic types of signs and the is therefore an urgent and demia and signs and won-
distinctions of a certain interaction of components trailblazing task in light der is not unbridgeable.
society or epoch as well as and processes involved of sociocultural commu-
about how it perceives the in their communication. nication processes in our I wish you an inspiring read!
world and humanity. Semiotics has developed increasingly heterogeneous
models, methods, and con- society to optimize com-
As a man-made network cepts. Semiosis and semio- munication and promote PROF. DR. EVA KIMMINICH
of meanings, sign systems sphere, for example, are intercultural understanding PROFESSOR OF ROMANCE
can be changed and, in concepts that illuminate as well as to recognize, CULTURAL STUDIES
doing so, change how we use, and bolster social
perceive the world and trends.
humanity. Linguistically,
this may, for example, be The articles in this maga-
Photo: Kimminich, Prof. Dr. Eva
done by using an evalua- zine illustrate the many
tive prefix: human – inhu- ways academia is involved
man, sense – nonsense, in researching, interpret-
matter – anti-matter or by ing, and explaining signs.
hierarchizing terms, as Social scientists at the
Portal Wissen Two 2015 3
Inhalt
Omen
Vorzeichen
The True Richard III.���������������������������������������� 8
Thaw in the Permafrost ���������������������������������12
6
16 Signalize
Ausgezeichnet
Leaving Behind Signs of Life�������������������������18
BRAIN scholar John Jansen is at home
on high plateaux ������������������������������������������ 22
26 Signs and Wonders
Zeichen und Wunder
Ancient Languages and the
Benefits of Slowness ������������������������������������ 28
I Spy with My Little Eye ... �����������������������������31
pearls of science�������������������������������������������� 34
Punctuation
Zeichensetzung
A Camel instead of a Mouse �������������������������38
Side Mirror�����������������������������������������������������41
The Genome Analysts ���������������������������������� 42
Question Marks
Fragezeichen
36
The Electric Code for a Partner �������������������� 48
Complex Problems����������������������������������������� 51
46
Imprint
Portal Wissen Photos/Figures: Advertisements: unicom MediaService,
The Research Magazine of the University of Potsdam Bartocha, Sandra 1, 2, 6/7, 16/17, 26/27, 36/37, 46/47; Egholm, Tel.: (030) 509 69 89 -15, Fax: -20
ISSN 2194-4237 D.L. 22, 23, 24, 25; Fotolia.com/Mopic 51; Fritze, Karla 9, 11(3), Applicable price list for advertisements: No. 1
Publisher: Press and Public Relations Department 15 top, 20 top(2), 21 M., 21 top, 21 bottom, 28(2), 30(3), 38, www.hochschulmedia.de
on behalf of the President of the University 39(2), 40(2), 41(2), 48, 50 top, 50 bottom, 52, 53(3); Hölzel,
Print: Brandenburgische Universitätsdruckerei
Thomas 42/43, 44(2), 45(4); Kimminich, Prof. Dr. Eva 3; Lee,
Editors: Silke Engel (ViSdP), und Verlagsgesellschaft Potsdam mbh
Choonkyu 31; Lima, Raphael 54; PIK 34; private 33 middle, 33
Matthias Zimmermann Circulation: 1,500 copies
middle top, 33 middle bottom, 33 top, 33 bottom; Rahmstorf,
Contributions: Antje Horn-Conrad, Petra Görlich, Prof. Dr. Stefan 35; Schennen, Stephan 12/13, 14, 15 middle, 15 Reprints permitted provided source and author are credited,
Heike Kampe, Jana Scholz bottom; Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – PK 18(3), Staatsbibliothek specimen copy requested.
Translation: Susanne Voigt (22ff.,28ff.34f., 38ff., 41, 42ff., zu Berlin – PK, Carola Seifert 20/21; University of Leicester 8,
48ff.), Monika Wilke (8ff., 12ff., 18ff., 31ff., 51ff.) 10 top(2), 10 bottom left; Wikimedia/gemeinfrei 10 bottomr., The editorial office reserves the right to shorten submitted
Address of the Editorial Office: 19, 29; XPRAG 32 articles or letters without changing their meaning.
Am Neuen Palais 10 Layout/Design:
14469 Potsdam unicom-berlin.de
Tel.: (0331) 977-1675, -1474, -1496
Fax: (0331) 977-1130 Editorial deadline for next issue: Portal Wissen online at
E-mail: presse@uni-potsdam.de 31 January 2016 $ www.uni-potsdam.de/portal
Photo: Bartocha, Sandra
OMEN
The True
Richard III
What bones tell us about people, or how Professor Michael Hofreiter
decodes the DNA of the English King
Photo: University of Leicester
The skeleton of Richard III.
8 Portal Wissen Two 2015
Omen
No, Richard III did not have a hunchback; Lars Eidinger is For Hofreiter, the research project on Richard III be-
exaggerating. When the actor prepares for his role as king gan in 2012 with a phone call from geneticist Turi
of England at Berlin’s Schaubühne and adds a hunch to his King of Leicester University. “Turi King always wanted
back, this is just theater. It is his way of suggesting the evil that to learn more about old DNA from me. She told me
has been ascribed to the English king for centuries. Whether that the Richard III Society was searching for the re-
Richard III actually was the unscrupulous monster that Shake- mains of their revered king.” Richard III was one of
speare depicted in the darkest colors, Prof. Michael Hofreiter the few English kings whose skeleton was presumed
cannot say. But he does know that the hunchback is an exag- lost. It was known that he had been laid to rest in the
geration. “Richard III suffered from scoliosis, which caused a Franciscan monastery of Leicester – but Henry VIII
“
misalignment of his shoulders. That’s all. And he was neither had most monasteries razed, includ-
dark-haired nor dark-eyed, as often portrayed, but had blonde ing this one. At least there were old But genetics would
hair and blue eyes.”
The Potsdam researcher can prove these details and
maps of the former site. It turned out
that the foundations of the monastery
have the final say.
had been covered by a parking lot. So a small ditch was
”
many more. Together with a team of 15 specialists, he dug there on 25 August 2012 – and what a find they
performed a scientific analysis of the king’s skeleton – made! “It was stunning,” Michael Hofreiter says. The
and a skeleton discloses not only age, eye color, and hair excavated skeleton was almost complete. “Only the feet
color, but also cardiovascular problems, earwax consist- were missing.” Scientists soon established that these
ency, and lactose tolerance. The meticulously isolated were the remains of a man in his mid-30s; the wounds
and purified DNA, which is now being decoded step also fit with what we know about Richard III: The skel-
by step in the laboratories on the Golm campus of the eton showed signs of eleven injuries, nine of which on
University of Potsdam, speaks a clear language: it reveals the skull. All evidence pointed to Richard III.
the genotype of the supreme military leader of the Eng-
lish army, who lost his life at Bosworth Field in 1485. In But genetics would have the final say. For that, living
their laboratories, the researchers ground small samples descendants of the king had to be found. The gene-
of the royal bones and teeth, dissolved them, and sifted alogists followed many clues, combed through church
out the genetic material. In the end, there was almost a registers, marriage records, land registers, and old
hundred percent certainty that these were the remains newspapers – and came up with two maternal and five
of Richard III. paternal relatives, some of whom were unaware of their
aristocratic background. They were scattered across the
But how did samples of the royal remains, which sur- country, and one of them was tracked down as far as
faced in the Middle English town of Leicester in 2012, Australia.
end up at the University of Potsdam? Professor Hof
reiter, who is dressed casually in jeans, t-shirt, and or- Richard III himself had no living descendants. All his
ganic slippers, worked in England for four years. He offspring, born in or out of wedlock, died childless.
knows the full story of the late recovery of Richard III. So the researchers followed the lineages of his sisters
However, the long line of small animal figurines on Hof and great-great-grandfather. “There are two regions
reiter’s desk indicates that many of his earlier projects in the human genome that are passed on almost un-
must have been in a different field. He has re-
searched extinct mammoths, cave
bears, saber-toothed tigers, and
wild horses; animal biodiversity THE RESEARCHER
is his true passion. “Fierce bat- Prof. Dr. Michael Hofreiter studied biol-
tles are raging in the field of ogy in Munich and earned his PhD at
human genetics, so I prefer to Leipzig University in 2002. Until 2010
avoid them. Besides, he worked at the Max Planck Institute for
sources of contamination Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. He
with mod- ern DNA are held a professorship in evolutionary biol-
very high in number.” But he ogy and ecology at the University of York
made an exception for the E n g - until 2013, when he was appointed Professor of General
lish king. In the laboratory, strict care is Zoology/Evolutionary Adaptive Genomics at the University
taken to ensure sterility. The researchers stand- of Potsdam.
ing between the centrifuges and freezers wear gloves,
and the most sensitive areas can only be entered via Contact
a security door system. By the end of the year the Universität Potsdam
Professor of General Zoology and Evolution- Institut für Biochemie und Biologie
ary Adaptive Genomics, who grew up in Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24–25
Photo: Fritze, Karla
Bavaria, hopes to finish this project 14476 Potsdam
and return to his research on g michael.hofreiter@uni-potsdam.de
extinct animals.
Portal Wissen Two 2015 9
Omen
The tomb of Richard III was found
under a parking lot.
changed from generation to generation: First, the mi- descendants and Richard III’s great-great-grandfather
tochondrial DNA from the mitochondria, the energy – there must have been a “milkman’s child” in at least
“
sources of cells. These ‘power stations’ one of the lineages, that is, a child from an extramarital
There are two
“
have their own genes, which make affair. The two maternal descendants
regions in the human up about 16,000 of our three billion were “real”. “It’s less likely there is a We now have the
base pairs. They are maternally in- ‘milkman’s child’ in the maternal lin-
genome that are herited, through the ovum,” Hofreiter eage,” Hofreiter says, “unless a baby
technical capabilities
passed on almost explains. Second, the Y-chromosomes. was switched at birth.” The research- to decode centuries-old
unchanged from gener- These sex chromosomes are passed
down from father to son. Of the seven
ers were very lucky. They now have
the technical capabilities to decode
DNA.
”
ation to generation.
”
descendants found, the five on the
paternal lineage turned out to be un-
centuries-old DNA and opened the right window of op-
portunity at just the right time. “In a few decades, the
related to Richard III. In other words, since Edward lineage of Richard III will be extinct. The two maternal
III – the common ancestor of Richard III and his five descendants have no children.”
The two living descendants of Richard III
from the maternal lineage: Wendy Dulig
and Michael Ibsen.
Portrait of Richard III,
16th century.
Photos: University of Leicester (3); Wikimedia/gemeinfrei (bottom right)
10 Portal Wissen Two 2015Omen
The genome, or genetic material, of a living organism
or virus is the entirety of material carriers of the herit-
able information of a cell or virus particle: chromosomes,
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA)
in the case of RNA viruses, in which RNA (not DNA) is
the carrier of information. In a more abstract sense, the
genome represents the entirety of heritable information.
Thanks to the rapid development of modern techniques,
much progress has been achieved in genome analysis in
recent years. It is estimated that about 20,000 research-
ers worldwide are involved in decoding the human
genome alone.
On 4 February 2013, a press conference was held in
Leicester, in which the definitive positive identification
of the Richard III’s remains was announced. In Decem-
ber 2014 the genetic facts were published in a paper by
18 authors, led by Turi King and Michael Hofreiter. They
would have liked to finish the entire project by the time
the remains of Richard III were reburied as part of a one-
week ceremony in Leicester in late March 2015. “But that
was not possible. We are planning to have the genome
completely analyzed by the end of the year – including
any genetic defects,” Michael Hofreiter explains. A total
of €50,000 has been earmarked for the project. “The
costs of such analyses are much lower these days than
they used to be. The first genome sequence extracted
from fossils, the Neandertal genome, had a budget of
€5 million. And now, just five years later, the same can
be done for €10,000. Since we want to considerably
improve quality, we have budgeted €50,000 for Richard
III to get a high-quality genome that offers all sorts of
answers.”
The bone dust has almost been used up. What was
left was returned to Leicester, where it was buried with
the remains of Richard III. Michael Hofreiter could
not attend, for time reasons. He would also like to see Analyzing DNA in the
“
the performance of Richard III at the Potsdam laboratory.
We are planning Schaubühne – despite scientific inac-
to have the genome curacies. “But at the moment I have
no time to go to the cinema or theat-
completely analyzed by er.” And he missed the Wave Gothic
the end of the year – Meeting in Leipzig in May this year.
Does Michael Hofreiter feel drawn to
including any genetic mortality in his spare time, too? “No,”
defects.
” he says cheerfully. He just enjoys the
music and the great atmosphere of the
city where he has been researching old DNA for over
10 years. In his early days, he worked in the labora-
tory; these days he spends most of his time in front of
his computer writing manuscripts and applications for
third-party funding.
Photos: Fritze, Karla (3)
HEIDI JÄGER
Portal Wissen Two 2015 11Omen
Thaw
Permafrost
in the
Will the Siberian tundra become
a source of carbon emissions?
Photo: Schennen, Stephan
12 Portal Wissen Two 2015Omen
The permafrost soils of the Arctic are the cold stores of the In the summer of 2014, PhD student Stephan Schennen
North. What they shut in over thousands of years is kept safe: made his second trip to the Great Lyakhovsky Island to col-
plant remains, animal bones, microorganisms. But it seems lect data for the CarboPerm project. Electromagnetic and
that climate change is slowing this cooling system. Air tem- geoelectric methods allow him to “look” up to 25 meters
peratures are rising, twice as much as the global average. In into the ground in an area the size of a football field. And
the thawing soil, microbes are starting to break down carbon, while boreholes show the composition of the soil or its
which enters the atmosphere in the form of the greenhouse sediments at one particular point, his geophysical methods
gases methane and carbon dioxide, further contributing to can map larger underground structures, even in 3D.
the heating up of the climate. The Russian-German Project
“CarboPerm” drills down on this subsurface problem. Potsdam The idea to include geophysicists from the University of
geophysicists help to look into the ground. Potsdam in the investigations was a result of the close
collaboration between researchers from Potsdam’s Alfred
As Stephan Schennen and Jens Tronicke trudge through Wegener Institute/Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Ocean
rough terrain, their feet sink into the mud. Every few Research, who are in charge of the CarboPerm project,
decimeters, geophysical profile lines run across the sur- and the Institute of Soil Science of Hamburg University.
face. The muddy ground of the Great Lyakhovsky Island For many years they have been research-
far in the North, in the Siberian Arctic, gives the re-
searchers a hard time. With a ground-penetrating radar,
they send electromagnetic waves into the ground and
ing Siberian permafrost landscapes with
their Russian colleagues. Many drill
cores were transported to laboratories,
“ Our technologies
permit us to explore
register travel time and amplitude of the reflected signals where they were analyzed layer by layer and characterize the
to make hidden geological structures visible. When a in order to reconstruct, for instance, the
storm rolls in, the Potsdam geophysicists interrupt their climate of past millennia. But they had
underground across a
work, as they do not want to risk damaging the sensitive
devices. Spare parts cannot be obtained here. If anything
no way of probing a larger area. “Our
technologies permit us to explore and
wide area.
”
goes wrong, everything will have been in vain. characterize the underground across a wide area,” says
Jens Tronicke, Professor of Applied Geophysics at the Uni-
versity of Potsdam. “Be it in archaeology, geology, or engi-
neering – geophysical methods can be applied anywhere,
and now on permafrost soil, too.”
Marked out measuring surface in a
secondary valley, the outcrop shows
the extremely ice-rich sediments.
Portal Wissen Two 2015 13Fo r u m
Data acquisition with a ground-
penetrating radar on a permafrost
site in the summer.
Under the auspices of the CarboPerm project, geophysi- can be moved in the winter on ice and snow. Even
“
cists from Potsdam work hand in hand with polar, oce- though the researchers arrive in the
anic, and atmospheric scientists, with spring, temperatures can drop to -30°. If you know you
“ It is the first time
that such a compre-
geologists, biologists, and soil scientists
and geochemists. It is the first time
For heating there is nothing more
than a potbelly stove, Stephan Schen-
have only three weeks
and can’t come back
that such a comprehensive methodical nen explains. During his first visit in
hensive methodical approach has been applied in a perma- April 2014, it was still snowing. He easily, every minute
approach has been frost region, with researchers analyzing
the same samples, data, and measure-
applied in a permafrost ments from one particular place in the
had to interrupt his work many times
to protect the sensitive measuring de-
vices. “I had brought some spare parts, cables and
counts.
”
region.
” Siberian Arctic. Together they want to
find out more about the organic carbon
that has been stored there for thousands of years, about THE PROJECT
its formation, turnover, and release as a result of global “CarboPerm” is a three-year project comprising multi-
warming. disciplinary investigations into the formation, turnover,
and release of organic carbon in Siberian permafrost. Pro-
And the problem may indeed reach dramatic propor- ject partners are the Alfred Wegener Institute of Polar and
tions: The permafrost soil covers as much as a quarter Ocean Research, the universities of Potsdam, Hamburg and
of the landmass of the northern hemisphere and holds Cologne, the German Research Centre for Geosciences in
1,700 gigatons of carbon, that is about 2.5 times the Potsdam, the Max Planck Institute in Hamburg and Jena as
amount of carbon in the global vegetation. well as Russian institutes. Research focuses on the effects
of climate-induced and environmentally related changes on
If temperatures continue to rise, will these gigantic the sensitive terrestrial Arctic ecosystems and the natural
Arctic carbon reservoirs turn into sources of carbon production of greenhouse gases
emissions? This is the question plaguing the project’s in tundra landscapes. The German
researchers. To find answers, they do not mind braving Federal Ministry of Education and
Photo: Schennen, Stephan
the harsh Arctic conditions. Research (BMBF) is funding the
project with €4.5 million.
The Great Lyakhovsky Island is nearly uninhabited. At
camp at the mouth of a river, built by reindeer herders, www.carboperm.net
the researches stay in wooden houses on skis, which
14 Portal Wissen Two 2015Omen
plugs, and large rechargeable batteries, which lasted
quite a while. In the end, I was very lucky; everything THE RESEARCHERS
went fine.” Prof. Dr. Jens Tronicke studied geophys-
ics in Münster. After being awarded his
During the second measuring campaign last summer PhD in Tübingen, he researched at vari-
everything went according to plan, too. It does not get ous universities in the US and at the ETH
dark there at night, as the sun never sinks below the ho- Zurich. Since 2005 he has worked as a
rizon, but that did not affect the sleep of the exhausted Professor of Applied Geophysics at the
young geophysicist. As long as he was awake he was University of Potsdam.
measuring. “If you know you have only three weeks and
can’t come back easily, every minute counts.” Contact
Institut für Erd- und Umweltwissenschaften
This spring Stephan Schennen went on his – for the Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24–25
moment – last trip to Siberia. This time he travelled to 14476 Potsdam
the Lena delta to take geophysical measurements on the g jens@geo.uni-potsdam.de
islands of Samoylov and Kurungnakh. Back in his of-
fice, he displays 3D images of the surveyed underground Stephan Schennen studied geosciences
on his laptop. An enormous amount of data has been with a focus on geophysics in Bremen
collected and needs to be analyzed. He plans to finish and Potsdam. Since 2013 he has been a
his doctoral thesis by the autumn of 2016 when the doctoral student in the CarboPerm pro-
CarboPerm project also ends. The project aims to more ject.
reliably forecast the development of permafrost soils and
their contribution to the global carbon balance. At the In-
ternational Permafrost Conference in Potsdam in 2016
the researchers will present their results. Contact
schennen@uni-potsdam.de
ANTJE HORN-CONRAD
Walking back to the base camp
after a long day of measuring.
Photos: Fritze, Karla (top); Schennen, Stephan (2, center, bottom)
Portal Wissen Two 2015 15Photo: Bartocha, Sandra
SIGNALIZE
F o r ufrom
Pages m Humboldt’s American Diaries.
Photos: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – PK (3)
18 Portal Wissen Two 2015Signalize
Leaving Behind
Signs of Life
Humboldt‘s American Travel Diaries
Between 1799 and 1804, Alexander von Humboldt (1769–
1859) and his companion botanist Aimé Bonpland undertook Humboldt and Bonpland at the foot of
three major expeditions: They explored the Orinoco River and the Chimborazo volcano. Painting by
the Rio Negro, crossed the Andes Mountains and climbed the Friedrich Georg Weitsch, 1810.
Chimborazo volcano, and trekked through Mexico to the Unit-
ed States, where they met President Thomas Jefferson. Hum-
boldt recorded his observations in his “American Travel Dia-
ries”, which were acquired by the Prussian Cultural Heritage
Foundation in the autumn of 2013. Since early 2014, a group of
experts led by Prof. Dr. Ottmar Ette has been researching the
diaries in the sub-project “Genealogy, Chronology and Episte-
mology”. The objective is to look back on and reappraise the
untapped quantity and breadth of Humboldt’s observations. A
second sub-project, “Preservation, Contextualization and Digi-
talization”, at Berlin’s State Library is dedicated to preserving
and digitalizing Humboldt’s scientific heritage.
Humboldt feared disappearing: vanishing off the face
of the earth, drowning or being buried under masses of
snow. Not only for his own sake, but also out of fear of of knowledge. Humboldt’s knowledge was not mono-
his notes being lost for future generations. “Humboldt lithic; it was dynamic and flexible.” That is why the
“
wanted to leave behind signs, which is why he wrote day Berlin researcher did not appreciate
and night during his American journey,” Ottmar Ette ex- the Academy of Sciences planning to Humboldt’s knowl-
plains. We are indeed lucky his travel notes were not lost honor him with a bust during his life- edge was not mono-
given what is written in them. After all, while traveling time. He objected – and won. “This
on the Orinoco, Humboldt and Bonpland’s pirogue – a is typical of Humboldt,” Ette says lithic; it was dynamic
small dugout canoe used by the indigenous population –
capsized and Humboldt’s notes went overboard as well.
Humboldt risked his life to save them. “He would later
with a smile. A bust did not fit with
Humboldt’s way of thinking. He was
and flexible.
constantly correcting himself, as doctoral student Ju-
”
blame the captain,” Ette smiles. While walking across a lia Bayerl reports: “Humboldt amended the marginal
snow slab during the expedition through the high An- notes in his travel diaries even decades later.” They
des, Humboldt’s biggest fear was that his notes would were a life’s work.
fall into the depths with him. “These anecdotes show
the fragility of Humboldt’s work and the precarious- This work consists of nine volumes Humboldt had
ness of passing these notes on to us,” Ette under- bound in pigskin after his return. All in all, they com-
lines. To make sure his “signs of life” would not be prise 4,000 pages written in ink and pencil in French,
lost forever, Humboldt sent many letters to Europe German, Spanish, Latin, and even the languages of the
during his journeys through America, so at least indigenous populations. He chose to describe mining
some of his comprehensive, transgressive thinking in German, plants and animals in Latin, and events and
Photo: Wikimedia/gemeinfrei
would be preserved. remarks about the journey in French. “Humboldt prac-
tically wrote the whole time. The number of pages he
Project coordinator Dr. Julian Drews describes produced is amazing,” Ette remarks. “Paper was scarce.
Humboldt’s scientific motivation as very mod- During the journey, they had to constantly replenish
ern: “He wanted to feed himself into a network their paper stock,” Julian Drews adds. Humboldt wrote
Portal Wissen Two 2015 19Signalize
Dr. Julian Drews, Prof. Dr. Ottmar Ette, and Julia Bayerl.
while on-board the pirogue on the Orinoco, very dan- knew that science is a neverending story, but the life of a
gerous given the monkey cages and the sail behind human being is not,” Ette states.
him; he wrote in the jungle, plagued by mosquitos, by
candlelight, oil lamp or the stars. At one point there The American Diaries testify to Humboldt’s goal to
Photos: Fritze, Karla (2, top); Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – PK, Carola Seifert
are 150 blank pages, so the exhausting walk up the make the invisible visible. While traveling on the river
Chimborazo must have made writing impossible. His he drew up maps, made drawings of the inside of a
mental condition is reflected in his diaries, too: “You mountain, and sketched landscapes from a bird’s-eye
can tell his mood by the regularity of his handwriting,” view. It may have been his way of silencing his fears
Ette points out. of getting lost: providing an overview and looking for
the macrocosm in the microcosm. “Humboldt also
As a natural scientist, Humboldt’s fields of interest described previously unknown plant and animal spe-
spanned from anatomy to zoology. He did not think cies. Who knows if we would know them today without
“
only in narrow scientific disciplines; him,” Julia Bayerl adds.
Humboldt knew he wanted more: “Humboldt wanted
Three doctoral students and two postdocs are working
that science is a never to find out what binds the universe at
its core,” Ette explains. “He searched on the sub-project at the Institute of Romance Philol-
ending story, but the for signs of life on our planet.” Hum- ogy in Potsdam. Since the Berlin State Library has com-
life of a human being boldt was interested in the totality of pleted the digitalization of Humboldt’s
”
life forms and the signs they create. Diaries, the researchers have been
is not. So after his journey to America, he ex- working primarily with reproductions
changed ideas on sign systems, vigesimal systems, and – to spare the originals. However,
language with his brother Wilhelm. Last but not least, when it comes to details such as vari-
he wanted to record his own life in writing. “Humboldt ous inks, pencil sketches, or water-
marks, the researchers have to consult
the originals at the State Library. They
THE PROJECT use not only the 4,000 pages of the
The joint research project “Alexander von Humboldt’s American Diaries, but also the works
American Travel Diaries” is funded by the BMBF and Humboldt published later, includ-
spans three years, 2014-2017. It combines two sub-projects: ing his multi-volume travel account
“Genealogy, Chronology, Epistemology” at the University “Relation Historique”. They exam-
of Potsdam under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ottmar Ette ine documents and let-
and “Preservation, Contextualization and Digitalization” at ters from his Ber-
the State Library of Berlin, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foun- lin and Cracovian
dation. Both projects have been closely linked and funded by estates. Bayerl,
the BMBF, after the Prussian Cul- for instance, Humboldt’s American Diaries:
tural Heritage Foundation acquired studies the 4,000 densely written pages in
the diaries in the autumn of 2013. American nine volumes bound in pigskin.
http://www.uni-potsdam.de/
humboldtart/projekt/
bmbfverbundprojekt.html
20 Portal Wissen Two 2015Signalize
Diaries from a pictorial science research perspective, like a jigsaw puzzle. For Humboldt, this was a clear
a very attractive and challenging venture as “Humboldt indication of the existence of a former supercontinent.
made more than 400 sketches in these diaries. Hum- We now know this supercontinent “Gondwana” drifted
boldt learned early in life from Daniel Chodowiecki apart over millions of years. He was just as fascinated
how to do copperplate engraving and etching,” the sci- by the similarities between ancient Egyptian and early
entist explains. She focuses on the complex relations American cultures – including the development of py-
between pictorial and written images. Among other ramidal architectonic structures and theocratic societies.
things, she compares the travel diaries with his later “For Humboldt everything was in motion and intercon-
travel book “Voyage aux régions équinoxiales du Nou- nected,” Ette says. “He was the first proponent of globali-
veau Continent” written between 1805 and 1838, which zation theory.”
is partly based on the travel diaries. Of particular note
is that not all sketches from the diaries where chosen to JANA SCHOLZ
be published in the travel book and engraved in copper.
“I can only assume at this point that Humboldt did not
publish these sketches because he considered them not
concise enough, or the high printing costs forced him THE RESEARCHERS
to be selective.” Bayerl mentions various kinds of im- Prof. Dr. Ottmar Ette studied in Freiburg
ages in the diaries: mathematical and astronomical vis- and Madrid; since 1995 he has held the
ualizations, animal and plant illustrations, diagrams, chair of Romance Literature at the Uni-
in-depth studies of architecture and hieroglyphs, and versity of Potsdam. He is the manager
maps and mountain profiles. She even takes a closer of the research project on Alexander
look at stains. Of course, they are not images in the von Humboldt “American Travel Diaries:
traditional sense, but are very telling visually: an inkpot Genealogy, Chronology and Epistemol-
tumbled over or water of the Orinoco; Humboldt also ogy” (2014–2017), which is funded by the German Ministry
used stains to mark passages in the text. On only one of Education and Research (BMBF).
occasion did he draw a human being: a priest wearing
a hat and some sort of high-heeled shoe. “Presumably Contact
this type of shoe was worn in the high Andes for better Universität Potsdam, Institut für Romanistik
grip,” Ette says. Am Neuen Palais 10, 14469 Potsdam
g ette@uni-potsdam.de
Julian Drews researches the history of the “discovery”
of America from an epistemological point of view. After
all, Humboldt’s journey to America is considered the Dr. Julian Drews studied Spanish philol-
“second discovery” of the continent. Humboldt walked ogy, general and comparative literature
in the footsteps of Christopher Columbus and in fact and philosophy at the Universities of
carried a copy of his biography. He crossed the Atlantic Potsdam and Granada. From 2008-2011
on almost the same route and found that the constel- he was an associate member of the
Photos: Fritze, Karla (3)
lations described by Columbus centuries earlier were post-graduate program of the German
no longer visible to the human eye. Thanks to Colum- Research Foundation (DFG) “Life forms
bus, Humboldt could refer back to century-old record- and life knowledge” and earned his doctoral degree in 2013.
ings. “This history of knowledge must be Since January 2015 he has been a research assistant (post-
reviewed now – also based on doc) and coordinator in the BMBF joint research project.
the relations between the
biographies and autobi- Contact
ographies of Humboldt g jdrews@uni-potsdam.de
and Columbus,” Drews
says.
Julia Bayerl studied Romance literature
Humboldt did not only and art history at the universities of
take others’ paths; he also Regensburg, Buenos Aires, and Santiago
blazed new ones. For in- de Compostela. In February 2014 she
stance, he anticipated a joined the BMBF project as a research
thesis later confirmed by assistant and doctoral student. Her
geoscientist Alfred Wege doctoral thesis focuses on “Iconotextual
ner about how the South Studies of Alexander von Humboldt’s American Travel Dia-
American ries”.
and Afri-
can coast- Contact
lines fit g bayerl@uni-potsdam.de
together
Portal Wissen Two 2015 21BRAIN scholar
John Jansen
is at home on
high plateaux
The Australian geoscientist John Jansen
researches the formation of the
Scandinavian Mountains
Photo: Egholm, D.L.
22 Portal Wissen Two 2015Signalize
John D. Jansen sampling bedrock
in Jotunheimen, Norway.
"When people think of mountains most bring to mind steep,
towering slopes with jagged peaks, as in some parts of the Alps”, THE RESEARCHER
says John Jansen. “But many mountain ranges have significant John D. Jansen, Ph.D. studied geology at the Bendigo Col-
areas that are flat-topped.” The Australian geoscientist with lege. He received his doctoral degree at Macquarie Univer-
European roots is currently at the Institute of Earth and Environ- sity in Sydney in 2001. He worked at the University of Wol-
mental Science to pursue an exciting geological question: What longong, the University of Glasgow, the University of New
actually causes flattish surfaces, or plateaux, to form in high South Wales and the Stockholm University. Since Decem-
mountains? The answer could reveal not only a lot about the ber 2014 Jansen has been a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow
history of mountains and their evolution, but also challenge a at the Institute of Earth and Environmental Science at the
theory that has prevailed for more than a century. University of Potsdam.
“The existence of high plateaux has traditionally been Contact
interpreted as evidence for tectonic uplift,” says Jansen. Universität Potsdam
“The flattish topography is usually thought to have formed Institut für Erd- und Umweltwissenschaften
long ago when that landscape was close to sea level fol- Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24–25, 14476 Potsdam
lowed by rapid tectonic uplift to its present-day high eleva- g john.jansen@uni-potsdam.de
tion.” But more recently, geoscientists
“ Nature is already
have proposed alternatives to tectonism
for explaining some plateaux. Climate
diabolically complicat- is the other major process that shapes
fewer things are going on all at once. This helps with tar-
geting the fundamental processes that drive landscapes.”
ed, so it often helps to Earth’s surface, and at high-latitudes Scandinavia presents a natural laboratory to examine the
mountains have experienced a very long role of cold-climate processes, because the region has not
study slightly simpler history of cold climate dating back more been subject to large-scale tectonic uplift.
systems where fewer than 10 million years when Earth experi-
enced accelerated cooling. “Cold climate The mountain felsenmeer plateaux make for a rather hos-
things are going on all processes, such as glacial erosion and tile workplace, but Jansen seems to thrive in such environ-
at once.
” frost action, might also have the capac-
ity to develop flattish topography in situ
ments. He clearly relishes the combination of intellectual
and physical labour that comes with a career in geosci-
without any involvement of tectonics.” The goal is now to ence: “We walk up steep mountains with heavy gear, dig
test this hypothesis and to do so, this Australian has left holes, walk back down with even heavier packs filled with
his sunny homeland for a research project that will take stones and sand for the lab; it’s insane but fun too,” he
Photo: Egholm, D.L.
him and his team to remote parts of the Scandinavian laughs. “Best of all are probably the weeks spent in far-
Mountains. “Nature is already diabolically complicated, flung places with comrades who can reliably work hard
so it often helps to study slightly simpler systems where and have fun while doing so. This produces good science.”
Portal Wissen Two 2015 23Signalize
He is also grateful for his good fortune. “I’ve been very year, which is fast, but northern Sweden is rocketing
lucky to have spent the years since gaining a PhD work- up at 10 mm per year!” Such uplift rates are among the
ing with some very clever folks in many wonderful fastest anywhere on Earth, but yield just a few hundred
landscapes. I especially like dry, stony places, but seem metres of uplift in total—nothing like the kilometres of
“
always to wind up in cold, wet spots,” he jokes about Nor- uplift experienced by mountain ranges
way and Scotland, where he was based at the University such as the Himalayas or the Andes. As it The Scottish High-
of Glasgow for six years. The time in Glasgow signalled turned out, the Swedish rivers lack the ero- lands opened up a new
a major shift in Jansen’s interests. Up until that time he sional power to down-cut and counteract
was primarily a fluvial geomorphologist (a specialist in this uplift and instead get carried up with world of processes asso-
desert rivers) and had barely seen a glacial landscape let
alone worked on one. “The Scottish Highlands opened
up a new world of processes associated with ice.” That
the rebounding landscape. Jansen found
that most of the erosion, in fact, occurs
ciated with ice.
under the ice during deglaciation when huge volumes of
”
work involved studying waterfalls and what they reveal meltwater and sediment combine to cut bedrock gorges
about how rivers respond to glacio-isostatic rebound, in just a century or two. “This was a surprising finding
which is the rapid uplift of Earth’s crust following ice and we published the results last year in Nature Com-
sheet decay. “We applied cosmogenic nuclides in a neat munications.”
way that allowed us to measure the rates at which knick-
points (waterfalls) were migrating upstream and there- Another string to Jansen’s research involves extreme
fore deepening valleys.” Cosmogenic nuclides by the way events. In April he travelled to Nepal along with fellow
are formed in surface rocks due to bombardment by cos- Geohazards Group members Amelie Stolle and Wolf-
mic rays from exploding supernovae. Jansen describes gang Schwanghart to help with their project examin-
that some of his work involves highly sophisticated tech- ing cataclysmic floods. “It’s not easy to imagine such a
nology and collaboration with geochemists and accelera- gigantic event, but roughly 5 cubic kilometres of gravel
tor physicists. “Using cosmo is way out and especially and sand were ejected from the Annapurna massif into
funny as I can’t even operate a telephone properly!” the Pokhara valley—possibly involving a combination
of earthquakes, landsliding, and the collapse of a tem-
The research in Scotland led naturally to Scandinavia. porary lake high up in the mountains,” he explains.
“Actually, it’s glacio-isostatic rebound that first got me in- “Most amazingly, this all happened just 800 years ago,
terested in Scandinavia. The Scottish Highlands, around which is just yesterday in geologic terms.” Such recent
Loch Linnhe, are rebounding today at about 2 mm per events are a reminder of the colossal upheavals that
frequently characterise this part of our planet. Indeed,
Jansen and his colleagues were fortunate to depart
The Gråskarvet Plateau, Norway.
Photo: Egholm, D.L.
24 Portal Wissen Two 2015Signalize
Kathmandu just days before the massive earthquake
struck on 25th April. John D. Jansen sampling
bedrock with a rock
Extreme erosion and deposition during deglaciation is cutting saw.
one of Jansen’s major research themes. Along with Mar-
tin Margold at Stockholm University, he is documenting
the size and timing of floods associated with the collapse
of a huge ice-dammed lake in a remote part of Sibe-
ria. “There were several floods more than 200 m deep
flowing down the Vitim-Lena river system to the Arctic
Ocean just as the big ice sheets were breaking up at the
end of the last two ice ages.” Big influxes of freshwater
into the Arctic Ocean have the potential to trigger major
climate feedbacks in the northern hemisphere. Jansen
makes the point here that “We know that climate drives
rivers and glaciers via precipitation, but in the case of
the Siberian superfloods, surface processes might have than one metre per million years.” Jansen suggests that
driven changes in Earth’s climate system. It’s compli- the impulse for ascribing an age to a given landscape
cated and endlessly fascinating.” surface is outmoded, and lacks real meaning for contem-
porary landscapes, except in rare cases. “Advances with
The fieldwork in Russia also feeds Jansen’s political inter- cosmogenic nuclides and thermochronometry mean
ests. “I’m very interested in totalitarianism; its develop- that erosion rates can be determined very precisely over
ment and aftermath, perhaps,” he sug- a wide range of timescales. This has been a revolution-
“ The plateaux top-
ping high-latitude
gests, “due to reading too much Orwell
and Kundera as a teenager.” Russia was
ary step forward for the geosciences and we are applying
these new approaches to understand the evolution of the
not an easy place to work back in 2012, Scandinavian Mountains.”
mountain ranges but in light of more recent events we’ve
The Scandinavian plateaux are certainly eroding slowly,
might have developed put further work on hold until change
finally comes and who knows when that but even slow erosion has an effect over very long time
via cold-climate pro- will be,” he says grimly. Of course liv- spans. Over the last 2-3 million years glaciers have cut
cesses.
” ing in the former GDR offers another
historical perspective, which clearly in-
spires Jansen too. “Living in amongst the last 80 years of
valleys and fjords more than 2 km deep in some places,
but the felsenmeer plateaux extending between deep
valleys have been subject to intense frost action over
German history means a lot to me. My father is Dutch but more than ten million years. “We know that freeze-thaw
his father’s family came from Germany.” processes break up rock and transport it downslope via
a diffusion-like process known as frost creep. We’re cali-
Before moving to Potsdam last December, Jansen had brating mathematical models with field-based analyses
been working in Scandinavia for some years already. and cosmogenic nuclide measurements to test the hy-
After Glasgow he moved on to a postdoc at Stockholm pothesis that frost action can cause topographic smooth-
University and it was there that he became familiar with ing over many millions of years. In other words, the
the long-standing theory that sees Norway’s mountain plateaux topping high-latitude mountain ranges, such
plateaux as remnants of uplifted peneplains whose flat- as in Norway and Greenland, might have developed via
ness was established close to sea level more than 100 cold-climate processes and need not be linked to tecton-
million years ago. The flattish summit areas are termed ics at all.”
the Paleic Surface, which literally means ancient, and
Jansen agrees that “they probably do have very ancient Thanks to a BRAIN-Marie Curie Fellowship, Jansen
roots, but I question whether such areas were ever close joined the group of Oliver Korup, Professor for Geohaz-
to sea level, and as for Mesozoic peneplains I think it’s ards at the Institute of Earth and Environmental Science,
fair to say that the evidence is rather thin. Such ideas go last December. “Oliver has assembled a talented group
back to the work of W.M. Davis more than a century ago, of researchers. Here in Potsdam there’s an expert in
yet still carry undue influence especially in some far cor- virtually every branch of the geosciences,” he enthuses.
ners of the geoscience community.” In addition, Jansen will be working with colleagues in
Denmark, Sweden and Australia. This international
In fact, Jansen questions the whole idea of describing project demands a cosmopolitan lifestyle with a lot of
erosional landscapes in terms of age. “It’s a question movement, but “most importantly”, he says, “I always
that’s more usefully framed in terms of erosion rates, try to travel with my old three-speed bike. It’s heavy like a
not ages. When you think about it, nearly every part of tractor and perfect for snowy winter days and for blowing
Photo: Egholm, D.L.
a mountain landscape is eroding: some regions, like Tai- off steam in the woods nearby.”
wan, are eroding at more than five km per million years,
whereas others like central Australia are eroding at less MATTHIAS ZIMMERMANN
Portal Wissen Two 2015 25Photo: Bartocha, Sandra
AND
SIGNS
WONDERSAncient
Languages
and the Benefits
of Slowness
Classical Philologist Ursula Gärtner
Ursula Gärtner gets carried away when talking about Catul- by Jean de La Fontaine and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.”
lus’ love poems – and her passion is contagious. She talks European philosophy and historiography were also de-
about how the Roman poet’s use of the “narrating I” when termined by ancient societies. Classical philology inves-
talking about his feelings immediately spoke to his readers. tigates not only fiction but also a variety of texts forms
Gärtner is Professor of Classical Philology at the Historical – for example, in philosophy, medicine, and historiogra-
Institute of the University of Potsdam and listening to her phy. “All texts handed down through history can be read
evokes similar feelings as readers of Catullus’ poems. Sit- as literature. There is no strict separation.”
ting in her office with a view of antique-like colonnades, the
researcher tells us what moves her so much about her subject.
“These wonderful texts are still so vivid today. They speak to THE RESEARCHER
us directly yet also have the charm of being distant.” Gärtner Prof. Dr. Ursula Gärtner has been Profes-
is interested in how these ancient texts affect readers. She is sor of Classical Philology at the Univer-
especially drawn to the imagery: pictures can signify a lot – sity of Potsdam since 2002 after being an
emotions, facts, or people. Assistant Professor at Leipzig University
and Interim Professor in Potsdam und
When asked whether one should learn Spanish or Latin, Mainz. She habilitated in 2000 about Vir-
Gärtner answers, “Our advantage is slowness.” Learn- gil’s impact on imperial Greek literature.
ing ancient languages, unlike modern ones, is not about
communicating as quickly as possible but rather under- Contact
standing them and their functionality from within. She Universität Potsdam
Photos: Fritze, Karla (2)
also emphasizes the traditional cultural and historical Historisches Institut
orientation of her subject, which provides access to Eu- Am Neuen Palais 10, 14469 Potsdam
rope’s roots. “Literary forms, such as fables, that had g bgeyer@uni-potsdam.de
been shaped in ancient times were later transformed
28 Portal Wissen Two 2015S i g n s a n d Wo n d e r s
Gärtner is particularly interested in the fables of Phae-
drus. She believes he was a very well educated author
from the upper class. That his texts address the upper
crust of Roman society strongly contradicts previous
research, which interpreted Phaedrus as a freedman
expressing an adaptive morality in the form of fables.
Gärtner believes, however, in poetological play in fa-
“
bles. “He is a poet very familiar with
All texts handed Greco-Roman poetry, continually al-
down through history luding to the existing literary topoi.”
He altered, for example, the poetologi-
can be read as litera- cal metaphor adopted from the Hel-
ture.
” lenistic poet Callimachus, which says
that you should not walk wide roads
but small paths – i.e. produce new, fine poetry. Ironi-
cally Phaedrus contradicted this metaphor: “I have
followed [Aesop] and have made the path a road.” For
Gärtner, a felicitous pun: “The irony reminds me of
Monty Python,” she says, laughing, “when the crowd in
the movie Life of Brian shouts, ‘Yes, we are all individu-
als’ and one person interjects: ‘I’m not.’”
Gärtner is proficient not only in Latin and Ancient
Greek but also Hebrew. She acquired the Hebraicum
on her own initiative at school in a “Hebrew study
group”. “Over two years, three of us met at our reli-
gion teacher’s house, where we had tea and cookies
while preparing for the Hebraicum.” Her father was
a professor of classical philology in Heidelberg at the
time, which is why Gärtner, born in Heidelberg, went
to Freiburg after high school. “I could not study under
my father,” she says. In Freiburg, she initially studied
classical philology and Protestant theology – not least
because of her love of Hebrew in the Old Testament.
After two semesters, however, she realized that she
would not become a pastor. Her passion for ancient
languages remained, and Gärtner finished her doctor-
ate about similes in the work of Valerius Flaccus in only
one year with a scholarship of the “Studienstiftung des Front page of an edition of Phaedrus’ fables published in Leiden in 1745.
deutschen Volkes”.
alog with the University. In March, six months after the
Her first application after her habilitation in Leipzig was Latin Day, the University of Potsdam hosts a schoolchild
“
successful (and she was accepted): 13 years ago Gärtner congress, in which children present
came to Potsdam. She took over a young subject at the projects on a given topic. Students of It shows that Latin
University of Potsdam. Classical Philology had only been classical philology support them didac- is not an exotic subject
established in 1995. “My two predecessors had laid the tically. The theme of the last confer-
foundation, and we built on it,” Gärtner remembers. ence was the concept of “the will”. One but one that attracts
“The Potsdam Latin Day is my baby,” she says with a
smile. When she established this event 10 years ago, only
70 people took part. Today, 500 participants attend the
group, for example, did a role-play on tremendous interest.
the Forum Voluntatum. “Some of the
schoolchildren really delved into the matter with a lot of
”
Latin Day lectures, which are specifically geared toward courage and fantasy,” says the philologist.
the interests of school children and teachers of Latin.
“It shows that Latin is not an exotic subject but one that Gärtner has helped develop a new research focus in the
attracts tremendous interest,” she says. The speakers field: ancient imagery. The research field is highly topi-
are not only Latinists and Graecists. Many visitors come cal, since it connects to both Visual Studies and Digital
Photo: Wikimedia/gemeinfrei
from related disciplines. The Latin Day was the starting Humanities. "We investigate how certain elements in
point for the project “www.BrAnD2. Wille. Würde. Wis- the literature evoke imagery in the mind of the reader,”
sen. Zweites Brandenburger Antike-Denkwerk”, funded says Gärtner. The imagery of similes in the ancient epic
by the Robert Bosch Stiftung from 2014-2017. Within has particularly interested her since her doctorate. At
the framework of this project, five schools enter into a di- that time, she had the idea to create an anthology of the
Portal Wissen Two 2015 29You can also read
