Geschichte (auf Englisch)

3.3 The scientific publications of the society

In the course of its history the ÖGE 18 established three series: the yearbook, its supplement, and the ÖGE 18 book series. The oldest one is the yearbook which goes back to the foundation of the ÖGE 18. In the first volume of 1983 Moritz Csáky gave a number of reasons for the establishment of the yearbook: (1) the yearbook should make the public aware of the existence, goals, and activities of the new founded society; (2) the yearbook should give insight into the endeavours of the society and reflect the variety of opinions and approaches in the research of the Eighteenth Century; (3) the yearbook should facilitate and initiate public scientific exchange, debates, and reflection. The society’s officers (supported sometimes by members) mainly oversaw the management of the yearbook. In 1996 the board discussed the implementation of an advisory board only for the yearbook. However, this idea ended in talk.

Back in 1983 the first Volume of the yearbook was published under the title “Das Achtzehnte Jahrhundert”. The name, however, turned out to be a problem as the German Society had already claimed the name for its yearbook. Thus for the second volume a change of name became necessary. The board decided to add “Österreich” to the title: “Das Achtzehnte Jahrhundert und Österreich”. At first the yearbook contained mainly the proceedings of the jour fixes as stated in the first volume of the yearbook: “Die publizierten Aufsätze und wissenschaftlichen Kurzberichte decken sich […] mit jenen Themen, die im Rahmen unserer monatlichen Treffen (jour fixe) diskutiert werden.”[57] By doing so it manifests the diversity of Eighteenth Century Studies. The range reached from musicological topics via history of literature till identity research. Additionally the yearbook also included the register of members. This was slowly replaced by including more and more reviews of books on the various subjects on the Eighteenth Century since Volume 5 (1988/1989) and finally completely abandoned with Volume 9 (1994). Resulting from a member survey at the beginning of the Gunnar Hering’s presidency in 1990 the yearbook addresses from now on always one main subject such as Aspects of communications in the Eighteenth Century (Vol. 8 / 1992); Piety in the Eighteenth Century (Vol. 9 / 1994); Education in the Eighteenth Century (Vol. 10 / 1995); Foreigners in the Habsburg monarchy, Austrian subjects abroad (Vol. 12 / 1997)[58]; Places of Knowledge (Vol. 18-19 / 2003-2004).

The society’s publishing organs were expanded at the end of Csáky’s presidency by including a supplement to the yearbook and a book series. The former made the results of the various congresses accessible to a broader public. However, after the first two volumes[59] it became redundant as the yearbook during the presidencies of Harald Heppner and Wolfgang Schmale became itself eventually the publishing organ of the congresses.[60] It started with volume 10 (1995) which includes not only articles on the main subject of one of the jour fixes “Education in the Eighteenth Century”, but also articles based on the presentations during the international congress “Conflict between regulation and liberty: Ways out of the 18th century to modernity” in Graz in 1994. Besides publishing the results of the congress, the yearbook, nevertheless, stayed also open for other articles presented to and accepted by the editors, as well as book reviews and review articles. For example the volume 16 (2001) contains an anthology of essays and a wide variety of all together 71 reviews. Moreover the new cosmopolitan self-concept of the society is also expressed in the yearbook. In the preface of the first yearbook (Volume 18-19/2003-2004) under his guidance the new president Wolfgang Schmale emphasized it with the words “Zugleich wird Wert auf eine “kosmopolitische” AutorInnenschaft gelegt.”[61] Starting with Volume 22 (2007)[62] the yearbook reflects this new cosmopolitism also in its outer appearance: It is bi-lingual. The yearbook in its present guise (Volume 23, 2008)[63] is multi-lingual: French, German, and Italian as languages of the 18th century; volume 24, 2009, will contain also English articles. The yearbook gives English abstracts of all articles, it figures in international indexes such as Historical Abstracts, and others.

With 2010, the supplement is revived as a three lingual international series: “Das achtzehnte Jahrhundert und Österreich. Internationale Beihefte“ / Le dix-huitième siècle et la monarchie des Habsburg. Collection internationale / The Eighteenth Century and the Habsburg Monarchy. International Series.”[64] The first volume in French will be Renate Zedinger’s “Lorraine et Pays-Bas autrichiens au XVIIIe siècle”.

Now the book series is mainly a publishing tool for monographs. Moritz Csáky headed the publication of this organ by the publishing house Böhlau until 2002 when he passed it onto Wolfgang Schmale. The series contains a total of 13 volumes[65]. The first volume “The journalism in the Danube area between 1740 and 1809” by Andrea and Wolfram Seidler (1988), both member of the society since 1984/1985, goes back to a project which was initiated by talks between them and the Hungarian professor Andor Tarnai. The series prints also excellent dissertations such as “Pax Kantiana. Systematical-historical examination of Immanuel Kant’s draft ‘Perpetual peace’” by Georg Cavallar in 1992 or in 2005 “Literary life in Melk. A monastery of the 18th century at a cultural turn” by Johannes Frimmel. The series crossed the line to an anthology twice. In 1995 when it published the papers of the cultural historical congress “Europe during the lifetime of Mozart“[66] at the university of Vienna in January 1992, coordinated by Moritz Csáky and Walter Pass; and in 2006 with the papers of the congress “The change of a landscape. The long 18th century and Styria” in Graz. The scientific groundwork for the research field “Francis Stephen of Lorraine” and thus for the congress in 2008 was laid by Renate Zedinger[67] with her pioneer work, published among others in Volume 3 (1994) “A wedding in the focus of the powers. Francis Stephen of Lorraine and the Archduchess Maria Theresa” and in volume 13 (2008) “Francis Stephen of Lorraine. Monarch – Manager – Patron” of the book series.

Starting with the new millennium the society planned further book projects. In 2000 Harald Heppner initiated an anthology project with the aim to illustrate the relevance of the 18th century for some of today’s problems and questions by the means of 53 sources.[68] In a workshop in Kitzeck in March 2001 the authors agreed on the seven categories public order, the relationship between state and the people, education, progress, social and everyday life, role and image of women, and foreigner. Each source is introduced, quoted, and commented by one of the 25 authors. The introduction establishes the link of each source between its past and today’s world. If one looks closely then many of today’s questions and problems are not a case sui generis. The approach reveals existing parallels and today’s relevance of phenomena, which pre-existed in the 18th century. The book “In the past many news. Traces from the 18th century in today’s world”[69] was presented to the public in the rooms of the Palais Fürstenberg in Vienna.

At the start of his presidency Wolfgang Schmale suggested another series project: Travel Guides.[70] Its approach is similar to the anthology source project as it also aims to manifest traces from the past in today’s world. Not so much by using exclusively written or visual records, but more by focusing on touristic highlights as well as forgotten or rather hidden places the author of the travel guide aims to visualize their many time layers as well as cultural layers, especially concerning the 18th century.[71] By dissecting and revealing them the reader’s understanding of the past and view on today’s world would be put into perspective. The project gave birth to a first couple of articles in the Yearbook “Places of Knowledge” (18/19, 2004). One of the articles was put into action in 2005 when the author Herbert Karner offered a guided tour from the Viennese “Jesuiterplatzl zum Universitätsplatz” to the members of the ÖGE 18.

^{[57] Csáky, Vorwort, 3.}

^{[58] Renate Zedinger suggested for Volume 12 of the yearbook the topic „Zugereisten-Schicksale“. See board minutes from September 19th, 1996.}

^{[59] Csáky/Hagelkrys, Bericht; Csáky/Lanzer, Etatisation.}

^{[60] See table 1 under 3.2 „22 congresses in 26 years and Graz 2011“ of this article.}

^{[61] Schmale, Vorwort, 9.}

^{[62] See Schmale/Zedinger/Mondot, Josephinismus.}

^{[63] See Zedinger/Schmale, Franz Stephan von Lothringen.}

^{[64] See board minutes from June 13th, 2008.}

^{[65] See <http://www.oege18.org/publikation/reihe.html> (14.02.2010).}

^{[66] Csáky/Pass/Haslmayr, Europa.}

^{[67] Besides her publication to Francis Stephen Renate Zedinger also published another two books in the ÖGE 18 series on the Austrian Netherlands in the 18th century. Zedinger, Verwaltung; Dies., Migration.}