Berlin

The Mosse-Lectures are an interdisciplinary and international project. Founded in 1997 by George L. Mosse and Klaus R. Scherpe more than 190 events have been organized. With their motto of “culture and science as a public commitment,” the Mosse-Lectures commemorate the history and legacy of the German-Jewish Mosse Family, successful entrepreneurs, progressive political thinkers and philanthropists. The publishing empire of Rudolf Mosse, the founding patriarch, with its flagship newspaper, Die Berliner Tageblatt, helped to shape the public perception of democracy in the Weimar Republic. Descendants of the Mosse Family have continued to advocate these principals in their academic, professional and philanthropic achievements and associations. George L. Mosse, the historian of fascism, opened the Berlin Mosse on 14 May 1997 with his speech on “The Liberal Heritage and the National-Socialist Public.”

Choosing a new topic each semester, the Mosse-Lectures are dedicated to imparting knowledge and learning in the areas of history, art history, political sciences, economy and literature. Prominent researchers, writers, artists and politicians are invited. Special attention is devoted to the past and present of Jewish life and thought in Germany and Israel.

The Mosse-Lectures introduce speakers and their work to students of all faculties and to the broader public. Events with discussions, in English and German, are typically held in the Senatssaal or in the Auditorium Maximum of the Humboldt University, Unter den Linden on a Thursday evening. Student internships and colloquia then follow, and the lectures are frequently broadcast on radio (RBB, Deutschlandradio) and published.

The Mosse-Lectures are organized and supported by the Institute of German Literature and the President of the Humboldt University. A board of researchers and organizers is responsible for the program, including Prof. Klaus Scherpe, Prof. Joseph Vogl, Prof. Ethel Matala de Mazza, Prof. Michael Kämper-van den Boogaart, Prof. Ulrike Vedder, Prof. Stefan Willer, Dr. Hendrik Blumentrath and Dr. Elisabeth Wagner. The Mosse-Lectures have long enjoyed the support of businesses and foundations: the Mosse Foundation, Fritz Thyssen Stiftung, Gerda Henkel Stiftung, and currently the Friedrich Stiftung and again the Mosse Foundation.

Published Mosse-Lectures an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin volumes:

• Étienne Balibar, Friedrich A. Kittler, Martin van Creveld, Vom Krieg zum Terrorismus?: Mosse-Lectures Winter 2002/2003 (Berlin: Forschungsabteilung der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2003).
• Klaus R. Scherpe, Elisabeth Wagner, Kontinent Kafka: Mosse-Lectures an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Berlin: Vorwerk 8, 2006).
• Thomas Macho, Gert Mattenklott, Klaus R. Scherpe, Künste Der Verneinung: Mosse-Lectures 2006 (Berlin: Humboldt-Universität, 2007).
• Burkhardt Wolf, ed. Odysseen: Mosse-Lectures 2007 (Berlin: Vorwerk 8, 2008).
• Elisabeth Wagner, Burkhardt Wolf, and Elena Esposito, VerWertungen von Vergangenheit: Mosse-Lectures 2008 an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Berlin: Vorwerk 8, 2009).
• Elisabeth Wagner and Burkhardt Wolf, Korruption: Mosse-Lectures 2010 an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Berlin: Vorwerk 8, 2011).
• Klaus R. Scherpe and Elisabeth Wagner, Staatsbürgerschaft: Rechtliche, Soziale, Kulturelle Und Politische Grenzwerte = Citizenship (Berlin: Vorwerk 8, 2013).
• Klaus R. Scherpe and Elisabeth Wagner, eds. Europa in Anderen Kulturen: Mosse-Lectures an Der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Berlin: Vorwerk 8, 2015).
• Lothar Müller, Klaus R. Scherpe, Literarische Nachbarschaften: Mosse-Lectures an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Berlin: Vorwerk 8, 2016).
• Ulrike Vedder and Elisabeth Wagner, eds. Konversionen: Erzählungen Der Umkehr und Des Wandels: Mosse-Lectures an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Berlin: Vorwerk 8, 2017).
• Elisabeth Wagner, Johanna Hähner, Lisa Trekel, and Tabitha van Hauten, Mosse Almanach 2017: Zum zwanzigjährigen Jubiläum der Mosse-Lectures an der Humboldt Universität (Berlin: Vorwerk 8, 2017).
• Klaus R. Scherpe and Elisabeth Wagner, eds. Non-Finito. Un-Fertig: Fluchtlinien Des Kreativen in Kunst und Literatur (Berlin: Vorwerk 8, 2019).