Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (German: Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften), abbreviated BBAW, is the official academic society for the natural sciences and humanities for the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Housed in three locations in and around Berlin, Germany, the BBAW is the largest non-university humanities research institute in the region.[1]
Abbreviation
BBAW
- 1700 (founded)
- 1752 (Royal Society)
- 1918 (Prussian Academy)
- 1992 (modern charter)
treaty
German
Christoph Markschies
- Julia Fischer
- Ulrike Kuhlmann
Board of Directors
450
The BBAW was constituted in 1992 by formal treaty between the governments of Berlin and Brandenburg on the basis of several older academies, including the historic Prussian Academy of Sciences from 1700 and East Germany's Academy of Sciences of the German Democratic Republic from 1946. By this tradition, past members include the Brothers Grimm, Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt, Lise Meitner, Theodor Mommsen, Albert Einstein, and Max Planck.[2] Today the BBAW operates as a public law corporation under the auspices of the German National Academy of Sciences, and has over 300 fellows and 250 additional staff members.[3] Its elected scientific membership has included 78 Nobel laureates.[4][5]
The BBAW operates several subsidiary research centers. Projects include compiling large dictionaries; editing texts from ancient, medieval, and modern history; and editing the classical literature from diverse fields. Notable examples include Inscriptiones Graecae, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, the German Dictionary (German: Deutsches Wörterbuch), the Ancient Egyptian Dictionary (Altägyptisches Wörterbuch), the bibliography of works by Alexander von Humboldt, and a scholarly edition of the works of Ludwig Feuerbach.[6]
Research[edit]
Research projects[edit]
The academy sponsors a variety of interdisciplinary, long-term and externally funded projects. These include large German and foreign-language dictionaries; historical-critical publications of ancient, medieval, and modern texts; and editing and interpreting the classical literature by scholars from diverse academic fields. In 2012 the BBAW was home to 47 major projects, the most notable include:[6]
The Salon Sophie Charlotte is a public evening event organized by the BBAW bringing together leading academics and the general public. Being selected as an academic panelist or speaker is considered highly prestigious. The number of visitors increased over the years to up to 3000 visitors (2017) including academics, public intellectuals and politicians such as Chancellor Angela Merkel.[22]
Eponym of the salon is Sophia Charlotte of Hanover (1668–1705), Queen consort in Prussia as wife of King Frederick I., who initiated, together with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, the founding of the scientific academy in Berlin in 1700. On her estate Lietzow (Charlottenburg) near Berlin maintained Sophie Charlotte, who had a great passion for philosophy, free-spirited salons, which formed a counter-world to strict Prussia etiquette as a social meeting place for discussions, readings or musical events.
The event takes place in BBAW's academy building at Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt. Every year it is organized with a different thematic focus.