
Renate Dürr, Dr. phil.
Professor of History
Universität Tübingen
Born in 1961 in Bologna, Italy
M.A. and Dr. phil. in History, Freie Universität Berlin
Arbeitsvorhaben
Dealing with Ethnic and Religious Diversity In Early Modern Germany: Baptismal Sermons for Muslim, Jewish, and “Heathen” Converts
Fragmented into rival territories, ravaged by wars, and beset by confessional discord, the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) has long been perceived as playing a marginal role in European expansion, global trade, and slavery. Recent scholarship challenges this notion by introducing the concept of “colonialism without colonies” to the study of early modern Germany. My book project explores the potential of a postcolonial reinterpretation of the HRE through an interpretation of printed baptismal sermons delivered to Muslim, Jewish, and “heathen” converts. These treatises, spanning at least 40 pages and often extending up to 200 pages, transcend the mere transcription of the sermon delivered at the baptismal ceremony. Instead, I interpret them as sites of knowledge production in church halls and thus as a first step towards a global intellectual microhistory of migration to and diversity in early modern Germany. Ultimately, the printed baptismal sermons provide a lens through which to examine ethnic and religious diversity in early modern towns and villages, the coexistence of non-baptized “heathens” in burgher households, and how pastors addressed slavery in their sermons. This approach will reveal a longue durée of forced migration to Germany and deepen our understanding of slavery’s impact on early modern German society. In the process, I will explore key questions like these: What did Germans know about Islam, Judaism, or West African pagan religions? What did it mean for Muslim, Jewish, and “heathen” converts to embody knowledge about the world, religious practices such as circumcision, or “natural historical” explanations of Black skin color? And how might this study reshape our understanding of contemporary concepts of dependency applied to servants and serfs (Leibeigene)?Recommended Reading
Dürr, Renate. “Mapping the Miracle: Empirical Approaches in the Exodus Debate of the Eighteenth Century.” Past and Present 237 (2017): 93–133.
—, ed. Threatened Knowledge: Practices of Knowing and Ignoring from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. Routledge, 2021.
Brauner, Christina, Renate Dürr, Philip Hahn, Anne Sophie Overkamp, and Simon Siemianowski, eds. Encountering the Global in Early Modern Germany: Microhistories of Mobility, Materiality, and Belonging. Berghahn, 2025.
Publikationen aus der Fellowbibliothek
Dürr, Renate (Paderborn, 2019)
Religiöses Wissen im vormodernen Europa : Schöpfung, Mutterschaft, Passion Dürr::Religiöses Wissen im vormodernen Europa
Dürr, Renate ([Gütersloh], 2006)
Politische Kultur in der Frühen Neuzeit : Kirchenräume in Hildesheimer Stadt- und Landgemeinden 1550 - 1750 Quellen und Forschungen zur Reformationsgeschichte ; 77
Dürr, Renate (Berlin, 2005)
Frauenarbeit in Haus, Handel und Gewerbe : ihr Beitrag zur Hamburger Stadtwirtschaft im 14. Jahrhundert Reihe Hochschulschriften ; Bd. 10
Dürr, Renate (Berlin, 2005)
Expansionen in der Frühen Neuzeit Zeitschrift für historische Forschung
Dürr, Renate (Frankfurt am Main, 2005)
Kirchen, Märkte und Tavernen : Erfahrungs- und Handlungsräume in der Frühen Neuzeit Zeitsprünge ; Bd.9, H.3/4
Dürr, Renate (Leonberg, 2000)
Streifzüge durch 750 Jahre Leonberger Stadtgeschichte Beiträge zur Stadtgeschichte ; 7
Dürr, Renate (Frankfurt/Main [u.a.], 1995)
Mägde in der Stadt : das Beispiel Schwäbisch Hall in der Frühen Neuzeit "Deß Menschen Feinde werden seine eigene Haußgenossen seyn ..." - Mägde im 'Ganzen Haus' am Beispiel von Schwäbisch Hall im 17. Jahrhundert