Acta conciliorum Oecumenicorum
The minutes and documents of the ecumenical councils are a key foundation for studying the history of the church and dogma in the first millennium. The doctrinal decisions made by the councils were regarded as binding by both the Western and Eastern Churches. The project made the acts of the seven councils accessible in reliable scholarly editions.
Dictionary of the Old Occitan Language – Dictionnaire de l’occitan médieval
The digital dictionary documents Occitan, a member of the Romance language family that still spoken today and which also enjoyed an illustrious past as the language of the troubadours. Around 37,000 keywords provide interesting insight into life in the Middle Ages. For scholars of Romance studies and related disciplines, the dictionary provides a modern tool for different avenues of further research.
Archaeology of the Roman Alpine and Danube Regions
The project explored the transitions from the pre-Roman Iron Age to the early Roman Empire and from late antiquity to the early Middle Ages (focus area early period / late period). Excavations formed the basis of the project between 2012 and 2025 (early period: Pfaffenhofen and North Tyrol; late period: San Martino/San Silvestro and Trentino). Regional studies were then initiated to assess the sites in a wider context.
Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi Correspondence
Philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (1743–1819) was one of the most important figures in classical German philosophy. His letters and works place him at the end of the Enlightenment, and he also drew attention to its downsides. His correspondence with contemporaries like Kant, Schiller and Schlegel provides valuable insight into intellectual and cultural life around the year 1800. The edition documented approximately 2,600 surviving letters.
Corpus of Greek Official Documents from the Middle Ages and the Modern Period
Imperial documents are among the main sources that formed the basis for the edition project, which published five extensive regesta volumes. The project also encompasses a unique photographic archive containing official deeds as well as a large number of diplomas of secular and religious dignitaries as well as private documents.
German-language Lyric Poetry of the Middle Ages
This project was the first to systematically examine lyric poetry, a key genre of medieval German literature, from the perspective of its historical transmission. Individual studies were dedicated to different aspects of this art form, with themes including love, politics and religion, while also examining how they were handed down.
Ernst Troeltsch Complete Edition
Protestant theologian, cultural philosopher and liberal politician Ernst Troeltsch (1865-1923) was one of the most influential scholars in the late period of the German Empire and the early Weimar Republic. A critically edited and commented edition of his extensive works, including many writings and speeches, letters, expert opinions and autobiographical texts, is available in 26 volumes. The secondary literature can be accessed in a database.
Factuality of the world
The ad hoc working group “Factuality of the world” addressed the subject of post-truth politics. The often deliberate denial of reality in political discourse poses just as much of a challenge to science as the merely negligent handling of the truth. Against this background, the working group made transparent the methods of critical research focused on constant revision of all levels of knowledge and investigated their significance to the processes shaping and transforming society.
Early Modern Physicians’ Correspondence
The project catalogued the letters written by and addressed to physicians in German-speaking regions between 1500 and 1700. Many thousands of these documents are preserved in libraries and archives and their contents are of great interest for the history of science, culture and everyday life. The project was the first to take a systematic approach to the letters and provides an extensive summary of the contents. The online database is free for everyone to access.
Geomorphology
The project enabled collaboration and the sharing of experiences between researchers in symposia, study trips and workshops. The interdisciplinary project connected geomorphologists with experts from fields like coma research, palaeontology, soil science and geology.
Islam in Bavaria
This ad hoc working group investigated the living environments of Muslim communities in Bavaria with a focus on religion. Its broad scope of research included multiple identities and migration-related issues, as well as topics such as language skills, education, ethnic distinctions and conflicts, communication cultures, general social debate with repercussions for Muslim communities, etc. The working group’s study was the first of its kind to be conducted in a territorial German state.
Johannes Zacharias Aktuarios
Byzantine physician and scholar Johannes Zacharias Actuarius (c. 1275–1328) became known for his writing on the “psychic pneuma”. This was in line with the belief of ancient scholars that the breath was the seat of vitality. Approximately 30 manuscripts of his writings in Greek dating from the 14th to the 16th centuries have been handed down. The critical edition provides the original text, a German translation and a classification according to medical history, intellectual history and the history of the text’s reception.
Johann Gottlieb Fichte Complete Edition
Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814) was a leading figure in German idealism. His most important work, “Foundations for the Science of Knowledge”, ranks among the world’s most significant in the field of philosophical literature and is crucial for studying the theory of science as such. His “Addresses to the German nation” (1807/08) also made him known to a wider audience. The complete edition of his works comprises 42 volumes.
Judaism in Bavaria
Building on earlier research on Jewish communities in Munich, Franconia, Swabia and the Upper Palatinate, the ad hoc working group “Judaism in Bavaria – Past and Present” provided a broad impression of Jewish life in Bavaria up to the present day through public lectures, podcasts, films, video interviews, podium discussions and an interactive map.
Cuneiform Texts from Isin (Išān Baḥrīyāt)
Archaeological excavations carried out by Barthel Hrouda in Išān Baḥrīyāt (Isin) in the south of Iraq uncovered a number of cuneiform texts from the 20th to the 18th centuries BC. They provide information about the shrine to the goddess of healing, Gula, and the way of life in what was at the time the main city in Babylonia. The project produced a single edition (catalogue, manuscripts and transliterations) that placed every clay tablet that was uncovered into its precise archaeological context.
Cultures of Political Decision-Making in Modern Democracy
Democracy is an ongoing process that continually requires fresh thinking, negotiation and practice. The project examined the period from around 1950 to the present day and focused on several countries, including the Federal Republic of Germany, the UK and eastern and central Europe (since 1989). The studies centred around the legal, socio-political and cultural foundations and forms of democratic decision-making processes.
Johannes Kepler Edition
The complexity of the body of work produced by astronomer, physicist, mathematician and natural philosopher Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) did not come to the full attention of the science world until the 20th century. The historical-critical edition of the collected works of Kepler (letters and writings) comprises 27 volumes.
Artificial intelligence in medicine
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is opening up new opportunities in medicine. The ad hoc working group “AI in medicine” brought together representatives from science, politics, healthcare and business to advance this future-oriented trend in Bavaria and put forward several recommendations for action.
Lexicon musicum Latinum
The project systematically compiled the Latin music terms used from the Middle Ages to the end of the 15th century. The music theory writings from this period are a key source for improving understanding of medieval culture and the development of Western music. The lexicon is regarded as a pioneering project in the digital humanities and comprises 3,733 word entries, 26 accompanying publications and an online dictionary.
Max Weber Complete Edition
Max Weber (1864–1920) is acknowledged worldwide as one of the leading figures in modern sociology. His methodology, conceptualisation and studies on economics, religion, governance, law and art remain relevant today. The Max Weber Complete Edition (MWG) presents his complete works in accordance with historical-critical principles. The “MWG digital” online platform is currently in development.
Munich Center for Internet Research
Digitalisation is fundamentally changing the way we communicate and find information, the shape of the world of work, how political processes unfold and opinions are formed, and how values are created and knowledge is shared. The Munich Center for Internet Research (MCIR) explored this societal transformation with a focus on the internet and digitalisation. In 2018, it was incorporated into the newly established „Bayerischen Forschungsinstitut für Digitale Transformation“ (bidt) of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
Neuroscience – Sensorimotor Systems in Humans and Machines
Sensorimotor control – the implementation of sensory information in motion – is governed by very similar laws in biological and technical systems. The project promoted interdisciplinary cooperation between representatives from technology, medicine and industry.
Orlando di Lasso Complete Edition
The 47-volume edition contains over 1,350 works by Munich-based court composer Orlando di Lasso (1530/32–1594), from motets, madrigals and chansons through German lieder, masses, Magnificats and hymns to major cycles like the Penitential Psalms. Under his direction, Munich’s Court Chapel achieved Europe-wide acclaim, and he greatly elevated the city’s musical reputation.
Otloh of Sankt Emmeram: Author and Copyist
Otloh of Sankt Emmeram (c. 1010–1070) was a Benedictine monk who was both author and copyist for many of his works. Up to recent times, however, research on Otloh relied on outdated editions based on simple transcriptions. In order to meet the needs of today’s scholars, the project created a critical edition to distinguish between originals, corrections, annotations and later additions by Otloh.
Commentaries on the Sentences of Petrus Lombardus
The Sentences of Petrus Lombardus († 1160), a leading scholastic theologian and Bishop of Paris, is a standard medieval textbook of theology. The commentaries on this work are not included in the original and were never printed. Instead, they were only available as handwritten copies. The project catalogued the critical edition of these texts for the first time.
Repertorium Academicum Germanicum
The “Repertorium Academicum Germanicum” (RAG) project gathered the biographical, social and cultural data of every graduate of theology, law and medicine and every Master of Arts graduate during the Holy Roman Empire (c. 1250–1550) in a single database. This created a broad empirical basis to study a human-centric history of knowledge in Europe and offered new perspectives for interdisciplinary research.
Encyclopaedia of Ancient Near Eastern Studies
The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Near Eastern Studies (RlA) is an international encyclopaedia covering the archaeology, history and culture of the ancient Middle East. Its comprehensive entries cover kings and other figures, places and excavation sites, deities and religion, the natural sciences (fauna, flora, material items) as well as the scientific and legal history.
Schelling – Edition and Archive
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775–1854) was one of the most important and influential figures in classical German philosophy, along with Kant, Fichte and Hegel. The “Historical-critical Edition of Schelling’s Works” is the first textual criticism edition of his oeuvre. All the important documents and studies needed to understand his life and his thinking are now compiled in a database.
Schmeller’s Bavarian Dictionary
Johann Andreas Schmeller’s Bavarian Dictionary laid the foundation for modern research of dialects. Commissioned by the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the reference work was the first ever scholarly dictionary of dialects. An index published in cooperation with the society set up in his name, the Johann-Andreas-Schmeller-Gesellschaft, helps users to navigate Schmeller’s comprehensive Bavarian Dictionary.
Semantics of Doing Without: The Affluent Society and its Costs
The concept of “doing without” has gained currency in public debate in view of the climate crisis, economic uncertainty and resource scarcity. In academic circles, however, it has not yet been sufficiently defined. The project explored different levels of meaning for the concept in order to facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue, and offered its findings for socio-political debate.
Semitic Philology
The territory of the 70 or so Semitic languages, which include Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic, stretches from Africa to the Middle East to Europe. The project confined itself to classical Arabic, in particular the Dictionary of the Classical Arabic Language (WKAS), and involved collaboration in the inter-Academy project “Cataloguing Oriental Manuscripts in Germany” (KOHD).
Lexicon of Authors – German Medieval Literature
The lexicon of authors is a comprehensive reference work documenting German medieval literature and a selection of German authors writing in Latin at that time. It contains over 5,000 articles by German and international experts, alphabetically arranged by author and anonymous titles.
Works and Letters of Adalbert Stifter
The writer, painter and educationalist Adalbert Stifter (1805–1868) was one of the most important authors of the Biedermeier period. The “Historical-critical Edition of the Works and Letters” comprises approximately 50 volumes and contains his poems, official documents relating to his official activities as a school inspector in Linz and as provincial curator in Upper Austria as well as his extensive correspondence. The project produced a critical and commented edition of the texts. Origin and reception information is also included in the edition.
Dictionary of the Language of Middle High German Official Documents
The Dictionary of the Language of Middle High German Official Documents (WMU) catalogued the German vocabulary that was used in official documents in the 13th century. It complements the lexicons and grammars of Middle High German, which were primarily based on poetic texts, for a particular segment of 13th-century prose and is an important research tool for the translation of official documents and comparable texts.
Future values
The ad hoc working group “Future values” was dedicated to examining key social values that face a wide range of challenges, e.g. from digitalisation and social media, nationalism and populism, migration, or the questioning or loss of significance of institutions that create and foster values. The research focused on three pairs of values and the tensions associated with them: freedom and security, the common interest and self-interest, and multiculturalism and identity.