Mission
The Institute for Comparative Urban History (IstG) is an interdisciplinary research centre with an emphasis on international collaboration studying the history of the European town. Our core interest is the study of towns as key centres of social order, dynamism, and change.
Research Focus on Comparative Urban History
Comparison is central to our research. Using sources, data, and spatial analyses, we render structures, processes, and typological distinctions within and between urban spaces comparable on a European scale. Geographically, our primary focus is on Germany and Central Europe, with Westphalia serving as a key reference region to place regional patterns into a broader supra-regional and European context. In collaboration with our European partners, the institute is working towards a comparative urban history within a “Europe of Regions”.
Methods & Digital Infrastructure
Pioneering in spatial urban research, the IStG leverages its expertise in atlas creation to develop innovative ways of representing, analysing, and modelling historical spacial data. We continuously enhance this competence using digital tools and methods. By providing standardised geodata, digital editions, and sustainable research infrastructures, we aim to create new opportunities for interdisciplinary research in urban history. In doing so, the IStG acts as a bridge builder between traditional historical scholarship and an urban research based on data and digital technologies.
Regional and International Networks
We operate within a strong network: together with European partners, we run collaborative projects, offer exchange programmes, and maintain close ties with research institutions interested in comparative urban history. The IStG therefore serves as an international hub for encounter and collaboration with our fellows, scholarship holders, and partners.
Research Transfer and Public Relations
We share our research results with the public and the local community via publications, digital knowledge resources, and various events.
Work Environment & Community
The IStG is a vibrant research centre that provides excellent working conditions for a team of around 20 researchers and staff. Our facilities include an outstanding research library, complemented by an extensive bibliographic database for comparative urban research and major collections of images and maps. This infrastructure makes the IStG a renowned research location and an innovator for comparative urban history across Europe.
History
The institute was founded in 1970 as an interdisciplinary historical research institute at the University of Münster. The reason for its establishment was the contemporary controversy surrounding the destruction of established urban structures through war and reconstruction/redevelopment. These discussions led to an increasing focus on researching and documenting the spatial development of cities in addition to their history.
An important cornerstone of the institute was the academic association Kuratorium für vergleichende Städtegeschichte (Board of Trustees for Comparative Urban History), initiated in 1969 by Heinz Stoob together with renowned colleagues including Edith Ennen. Its aim was to create a research centre for interdisciplinary urban history in Münster. From the outset, the board of trustees was composed of representatives from the fields of urban and regional history, social, constitutional, and legal history, as well as municipal sciences, geography, and European ethnology.
From the very beginning, the development of historical town atlases as part of the joint project European Historic Towns Atlas has been an important focus of the institute's work. These core competencies in the fields of atlas work, spatial humanities (historical geodata), and thematic cartography are continuously being expanded at the IStG.
In addition, extensive basic research projects were launched early on, such as the publication of Deutsches Städtebuch (German City Book), the edition of pictorial and written sources, now also available in digital form. In addition, the IStG is constantly updating its information services (library/bibliographies), which have been redesigned and expanded with a view to Open Access. Through conferences and colloquia, as well as its renowned publication series Städteforschung (Urban Research), the IStG provides innovative impetus for urban history research and offers a platform for exchange.
Furthermore, the focus of the institute's work has been steadily expanded methodologically and geographically through third-party funded projects. Besides initiating and participating in large collaborative projects, there are also individual projects. In these time-limited research projects, comparative European perspectives on urban development from the Middle Ages to the present day have been and continue to be examined, each project with its own specific focus.
With its research library, which currently comprises around 68,000 volumes, its scholarship program, and its diverse research projects, the IStG is a prominent location for urban history research throughout Europe and an established address for international visiting scholars (EU, Humboldt, and DAAD scholarship holders) and young researchers.
Collaborative Projects
- Cluster of Excellence 212 "Religion and Politics in Pre-Modern and Modern Cultures" (2007–2027)
- Collaborative Research Centre SFB 1150 „Cultures of Decision-Making“ (2015–2019)
- Collaborative Research Centre SFB 496 " Symbolic Communication and Social Value Systems from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution" (2000–2011)
- Collaborative Research Centre SFB 231 " Representatives, fields, and forms of pragmatic written record in the Middle Ages" (1986–1999)
- DFG Priority Program "Die Stadt als Dienstleistungszentrum" (The City as a Service Centre) (1987–1992)
- Collaborative Research Centre SFB 164 "Vergleichende geschichtliche Städteforschung" (Comparative historical research on cities) (1976–1986)
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