Interview with our school interns

Interview with school interns

From 15.04.2024 to 26.04.2024, two students from schools in Dresden completed an internship at the Research Center for Comparative History of Religious Orders (FOVOG). In this interview, they reveal what particularly interests them about history, what they experienced during their internship and what they liked best. The interview was conducted by Alina Schaarschmidt. The results of this internship can be viewed here.

Introduce yourselves briefly. What interests you most about history and do you have a favorite era?

Konrad Nöther: I am Konrad Nöther. I enjoy history a lot, but I tend to do it in my free time, as I can work on topics that interest me in a targeted manner. I am particularly interested in the epochs of antiquity, the Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern period. I find the emergence of the various great empires and the history of the Vikings and other tribes the most exciting.

Pauline Franke: My name is Pauline Franke. My favorite subject at school is history. The periods of antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque are particularly interesting. I find the history of the nobility and high nobility particularly exciting. In antiquity, I am particularly interested in mythology.

What were your expectations of the internship and were they met?

Konrad Nöther: I found out about FOVOG and the various projects on the website beforehand. In addition, the last Dresden Science Night sparked my interest in the subject. I didn't expect the internship to be so diverse and varied. We were given lots of different insights, including into courses, for example. I also liked the fact that we were allowed to choose our own project topic and were therefore able to incorporate our own interests.

Pauline Franke: I thought beforehand that my internship would give me new information about the Middle Ages and the specific area of monasteries. This has also come true. I also liked the great variety and the fact that we were able to gain insights into research and source work.

What aspects of the work of a historian were you able to get a taste of during your internship?

Konrad Nöther and Pauline Franke: We were able to gain an insight into the research work of historians. We also got to know the SLUB (Saxon State and University Library) and the literature management program Zotero. We also dealt with some areas of historical science, such as historical cartography. We were also able to gain a small insight into courses with students.

What was a highlight of your internship?

Konrad Nöther: Personally, I liked everything about the internship. It's difficult to pick out a specific highlight. I particularly enjoyed playing the board game "Brian Boru. High King of Ireland", working on my project and working with historical maps.

Pauline Franke: I also really enjoyed playing the game together, but also the visit to the SLUB and the lectures on "The World of the High Middle Ages".

During your internship, you worked on various internship projects. What were they all about?

Konrad Nöther: My project topic was pilgrimages in the Middle Ages. I started by researching the literature and then focused on creating an interactive map of a pilgrimage using the example of the knight Arnold von Harff. I also looked at the general conditions of pilgrimages in the Middle Ages, such as the hardships, costs and accommodation on the pilgrimage. I also incorporated this information into the interactive map.

Pauline Franke: In my project, I looked at the architecture of Franciscan monasteries in Brandenburg in the Middle Ages. I initially took the St. Gallen monastery plan as my starting point. I then turned my attention to the general spread of the Franciscans in Brandenburg in order to be able to use this as an example of the characteristics of the Gothic architectural style in a Brandenburg Franciscan monastery. I brought all this information together in a story map.

Did the internship help you with your professional orientation?

Konrad Nöther: This question is difficult to answer as we were only able to gain a brief insight into working life.

Pauline Franke: I agree with that. However, the internship has shown me that I would very much like to study later, even if I don't want to decide which direction to take yet.