Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Pietismusforschung

Who we are

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Pietism Research (IZP) at MLU is a unique institution worldwide dedicated to the study of Pietism and related currents of christianity in the context of religious transformation processes from the early modern period to the present. Since its founding in 1993, the IZP has bridged the gap between university research and the Francke Foundations, which, as a significant institution for the history of Pietism, possess outstanding archives and collections. Beyond its own research projects, the IZP sees itself as an institution that has been sustainably networking researchers nationally and internationally for decades, raising awareness of their work – both in academic discourse and through activities for a more general audience. This is achieved through conferences, lecture series, workshops, and counselling for young researchers.

IZP programme flyer winter term 2025/26

IZP_Semesterflyer_WiSe_25-26.pdf (3.6 MB)  vom 07.10.2025

Lecture series
Bibel, Böhme und Bekehrte:
Christentum in Deutschland zwischen Erweckung und Konfessionalisierung

IZP lecture series winter term 2025/26

The decades between the Napoleonic Wars and the revolutionary upheavals of 1830 and 1848 were characterised not only by profound social and political transformations but also by dynamic religious developments across Europe. New forms of experience-centred religiosity emerged; confessional boundaries were questioned; and philosophical, theosophical, and spiritualist ideas circulated between churches, cultural spheres, and the sciences. In the German-speaking world, these tendencies are frequently subsumed under the term Erweckungsbewegung (Revivalist Movement), which is generally understood as part of a wider transnational wave of religious revivalism in the early nineteenth century.

This lecture series seeks to illuminate fresh perspectives on this period and its diverse, often contradictory, religious phenomena—ranging from speculative and spiritualist currents to irenic and separatist movements—some of which brought them into conflict with established state churches.

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Johann Salomo Semler and the Religious Enlightenment:
Histories, Contexts, Legacies

Conference sponsored by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation

From October 22-25, 2025

Organized by Eric Carlsson (Madison, WI), Michael Lesley (Potsdam), Friedemann Stengel (Halle), and Thea Sumalvico(Halle)

To mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Halle theologian Johann Salomo Semler (1725–1791), there will be an international, interdisciplinary conference at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg dedicated to the person, work, context, and reception of one of the most influential and productive theologians of the eighteenth century.

Information

Flyer Semler Conference
Tagungsprogrammr_Semler.pdf (950 KB)  vom 23.09.2025

Natural Science and Protestant Missionary Work - Blog

The plant collections of the Moravian Church in the herbarium of the Dresden University of Technology: identificationand contextualization using digital humanities methods

For more information, visit our blog   

Dissertation honored

The prestigious award from the European Academy of Religion goes to Giovanni Tortoriello for his dissertation:

Scala Christus est. Reassessing the Historical Context of Martin Luther's Theology of the Cross, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2023 (Spätmittelalter, Humanismus, Reformation, Band 135)

https://www.europeanacademyofreligion.org/it/alberigo-award   

Conference reports

Christian Knorr von Rosenroth and Petism

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