Field research on World War I (History Harvest)

“Field Research on World War I” is a project of the newly founded “Digital Humanities Laboratory for Cross-Border Historical Research.” It contributes to research on family memory culture related to World War I in the Bavarian Forest/Bohemian Forest.

The project has compiled historical sources from family possessions in the cross-border region. To this end, students from the Universities of Passau and Budweis visited private individuals and were given the opportunity to digitally document family memorabilia. One of the contributors, Karl Hackl from Frauenau (see picture), provided the project with photographs, an ID card, medals, field post, and some personal items belonging to his ancestor Gregor Reif for digitization. The sources were digitized on site, the accompanying stories were recorded, and background information was collected. In the Bohemian Forest, the students digitized, among other things, finds belonging to unknown German soldiers that had been discovered in the forest with the aid of a metal detector (see picture).

The digitized material was then compiled and processed in a database, creating a scientifically usable collection of historical materials such as field post letters, postcards, photographs, diaries, and objects. In addition, the collected items were used to create a multi-part online exhibition that presents the spectrum of historical memorabilia to the public on both sides of the border.

“Field Research on World War I” is a project of the newly founded “Digital Humanities Laboratory for Cross-Border Historical Research.” It contributes to research on family memory culture related to World War I in the Bavarian Forest/Bohemian Forest.

The database and exhibitions impressively show the effects of World War I on people from the Bavarian Forest/Bohemian Forest region.

Česká verze této strany (Czech version)