Digital Herrnhut
The "DigitalHerrnhut" project in the "Moravian Knowledge Network" (MKN)
In this sub-project, we utilise modern technical possibilities to make Moravian knowledge archives accessible for academic teaching. The central starting point for the virTUos sub-project is the creation and enrichment of 3D models of historical sites of the Moravian Church and their use in educational contexts (academic teaching also in international cooperation and citizen science). Some aspects, and some models, are briefly presented here on this page for illustrative purposes. You can find more detailed information on our blog.
Historische Quellen im digitalen Raum © Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre
- At the DH2023 under the theme Collaboration as Opportunity from 10-14 July 2023, the virTUos partners Katherine Faull (Bucknell University, USA), Philipp Tögel (KIT) and Alexander Lasch (TUD), with the participation of Juan Garcés (SLUB), presented possibilities and results of cooperation with regard to research into Herrnhut knowledge archives in the panel "Transforming the Pietist Tradition: Disciplinary Innovation through Linked Digital Engagement". Video recordings and presentations are available on the project blog.

Alexander Lasch, Katherine Faull und Philipp Tögel auf der DH2023.
- At the interdisciplinary conference "Brüderische Gemeinschaft als universales Lebensmodell? Die Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert zwischen Uniformität und Pluralität" on 27-28 July 2023, Kerstin Roth (TUD) and Marleen Schindler (TUD) spoke about their research into the use of language in Moravian hymns. The conference offered participants the opportunity to make international contacts and exchange views on the different perspectives of research on the Moravian Church. You can find a detailed conference report on our project blog.

Kerstin Roth (TUD), Marleen Schindler (TUD) und Lubina Mahling (Sorbisches Institut Bautzen) vor der Orgel in der Aula des Instituts für Historische Musikwissenschaft (UHH)
- At the international conference "Halle and Herrnhut Pietism: Conflicts - Strategies - Practices", Halle, November 22-25, 2023:
Alexander Lasch presented his contribution "Are there still living people in Germany who were missionaries in America? and what are their names? and where are they? On the fragility of grammatical networks of scholars at the beginning of the 19th century". Relationships between historical-linguistic research and the innovative teaching projects developed for DigitialHerrnhut. Presentation, recording and further information on this contribution can be found here.
Lubina Maling spoke directly about the virtual model of the Sisters' House, which is part of the virtual excursions in DigitalHerrnhut, in her contribution "Das Schwesternhaus in Kleinwelka: Gemeinsames Leben im Herrnhuter Pietismus". The recording and further information can be found here.
In July 2022, the virtualised Kleinwelka Single Sisters' House (funded by CLiC & virTUos) was presented at the start of the Sommerreise der Bundesstifung Baukultur:
Kindermann, Nora, Alexander Lasch & Sarah Wagner. 2022. Kleinwelka als Wissensarchiv. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6850913.
In September 2022, the first two 3D models from Nazareth, Pennsylvania, were added, which Robert C. Schuppe (funded by virTUos) and Dominik Hetjens (funded by CLiC) were allowed to record in August 2022. The building complex of Whitefield House & Gray Cottage is a special testimony to Herrnhut missionary activity on the east coast of what is now the United States.
In February 2024, we were able to visit the oldest mission stations of the Moravian Church in South Africa, Genadendal (formerly Baviaanskloof) and Mamre (formerly Groenekloof), as well as the Moravian Theological Center in Cape Town. In addition to archive research and initial discussions on the initiation of international teaching and learning cooperations for the digital indexing of handwritten archive collections, we also had the opportunity to expand our virtual models to include the churches in Mamre (pictured) and Genadendal as well as the Genadendal Mission Museum (pictured):
In the model of the museum, we will integrate our third self-learning module for acquiring the ability to read and transcribe German Kurrent script and to convert texts into a digital edition. All information about this first exploration can be found on our project blog.
The DigitalHerrnhut project is developing immersive self-learning modules that are embedded in 3D models as virtual excursions. With this tool, students can learn at their own pace and also contribute to the learning environment themselves. The self-study modules are offered in English and German and are designed as project courses in WikiVersity.
In the German Kurrentschrift sub-module, the teaching of subject-specific skills is being tested on the basis of gamification elements. In a virtual 3D environment, students can learn to read the handwriting used in German until around 1900. New spaces are unlocked by completing exercises. In this way, students can practise with a specific objective and at the same time boost their motivation by exploring historically significant places step by step.
Systematische Erfassung von Kurrentschriften
12. und 13. März 2024
Kooperativer Workshop (Juan Garcés, Disseminationspartner SLUB, & Alexander Lasch, TUD-virTUos)
Moravian Knowledge Network-Workshop
18.09.2023
Kooperativer Workshop (Juan Garcés und Kay-Michael Würzner, Disseminationspartner SLUB, & Alexander Lasch, TUD-virTUos)
Moravian Knowledge Network. Aktuelle Forschungsarbeiten und Perspektiven
6. und 7. März 2023
Kooperativer Workshop (Juan Garcés und Kay-Michael Würzner, Disseminationspartner SLUB, & Alexander Lasch, TUD-virTUos). Dominik Hetjens, Alexander Lasch, Lubina Mahling, Kerstin Roth, Josefine Salomo, Marleen Schindler & Robert C. Schuppe. 2023. Moravian Knowledge Network. Aktuelle Forschungsarbeiten und Perspektiven (Datenset 1.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7707509.
Herrnhut im Wikimedia-Universum – Normdaten und Wikidata
1. und 2. September 2022
Kooperativer Workshop (Juan Garcés, Disseminationspartner SLUB, & Alexander Lasch, TUD-virTUos)
Von der Handschrift zum maschinenlesbaren Text
1. bis 3. August 2022
Kooperativer Workshop (Juan Garcés, Disseminationspartner SLUB, & Alexander Lasch, TUD-virTUos)
Juliane Flade. 2022. Wie fange ich an? Grundlagen offener Kulturdaten erlernen anhand der Erschließung handschriftlichen Quellen der Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine. saxorum.hyptheses.org.
Anna Meyer. 2022. Wie fange ich an? Grundlagen offener Kulturdaten erlernen anhand der Erschließung handschriftlichen Quellen der Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine. Wo findet sich Geckelemuckpeschünck*? — Eindrücke des Workshops: “Herrnhut im Wikimedia-Universum”. textlab.hyptheses.org.
Alexander Lasch. 2024. “who called them, Sunday *Indians or Shwannaks, that is, white people, the most opprobrious name they could invent. Powerful Constructions in the Service of Verbal Devaluation”. In: Simon Meier-Vieracker, Heidrun Kämper & Ingo Warnke (Hg.). Invective Discourse. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. 45-70. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111146553-004.
Juan Garcés, Anna S. Meyer, Arne Rümmler, Kay-Michael Würzner. 2023. Fliegel Flügel verleihen. In: Wolfgang Breul (Hg.). Die Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert. Theologie – Geschichte – Wirkung (Arbeiten zur Geschichte des Pietismus 69). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 675–698. DOI: https://doi.org/10.13109/9783666565618.675.
Alexander Lasch. 2023. Unterschiede „zwischen uns & den weißen Leuten“. Selbstpositionierungen in Missionsnarrativen. In: Wolfgang Breul (Hg.). Die Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert. Theologie – Geschichte – Wirkung (Arbeiten zur Geschichte des Pietismus 69). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 531–550. DOI: https://doi.org/10.13109/9783666565618.531.
Alexander Lasch. 2023. Am Grab und darüber hinaus. Leichenpredigten und Herrnhutische Lebensbeschreibungen im (kognitionslinguistisch-konstruktionsgrammatischen) Vergleich. In Susanne Haaf & Britt-Marie Schuster (Hg.). Historische Textmuster im Wandel: Neue Wege zu ihrer Erschließung (=RGL 311). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. 419-438. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111086538-014.
Marlene Wolf & Alexander Lasch. 2023. Index der Gemein-Nachrichten (ab 1765 (0.9). Zenodo. DOI: https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.8228849.
Alexander Lasch. 2023. Doch dieſe Gewohnheit, die Kinder auf Brettchen zu binden, kommt nach und nach ab. Mehrlingsformeln als Konstruktionen der Modalität im Kontext einer konstruktionsgrammatischen Narrativik. In: Alexander Ziem (Hg.). Konstruktionsgrammatik VIII: Konstruktionen und Narration. Tübingen: Stauffenburg. 153-177.
Alexander Lasch. 2023. Multimodale und agile Korpora. In: Arnulf Deppermann, Christian Fandrych, Marc Kupietz & Thomas Schmidt (Hg.). Korpora in der germanistischen Sprachwissenschaft. Mündlich, schriftlich, multimedial (Jahrbuch des Instituts für Deutsche Sprache 2022). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. 225-250. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111085708-011.
Alexander Lasch, Dominik Hetjens & Robert C. Schuppe. 2022. DigitalHerrnhut. Neue Zugänge zur historischen Linguistik durch digital gestützte Lernumgebungen – ein Werkstattbericht. In: Jörg Meier (Hg.). Sprachgeschichte und Bildung (Jahrbuch für Germanistische Sprachgeschichte 13). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. 129-146. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jbgsg-2022-0009.
Dominik Hetjens, Alexander Lasch, Marlene Rummel & Robert C. Schuppe. 2022. Virtuelle Exkursion Kleinwelka. In: Lessons Learned II. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25369/ll.v2i1.39.
Alexander Lasch. 2021. (Wissenschafts-)Kultur der Digitalität. In: Lessons Learned I. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25369/ll.v1i1/2.27.
- Prof. Dr. Alexander Lasch (Professorship for German Linguistics and Language History, Project Management)
- Robert C. Schuppe (Project employee)
- Marlene Wolf (Project employee)
- Jördis Römer (Project employee)