Photograph: Ekko von Schwichow, Berlin
Initially, I studied Cuneiform, Hebrew, and History of Religions. Out came a dissertation on the collective memory of Ancient Mesopotamia (The Topography of Remembrance, Leiden: Brill 1995). Afterwards, I turned to the collective memory and long durée perceptions of religious minorities in Europe. In focus were new Muslim communities, old European perceptions of Jews and Muslims, and Ahmadiyya mission in Berlin in the interwar years. The discovery of the mosque archive of the Lahore-Ahmadiyya Mosque in Berlin helped retrace an important Jewish-Muslim encounter.
Current research inquires into mosque archives as historical sources. Ahmadiyya engagement in interwar Berlin was placed in the wider field of German-Indian religious entanglements. The process of charting and channelling memories in present-day European societies has come once again on the agenda.
I am affiliated to the Erlangen Centre of Islam and Law in Europe (EZIRE) at Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen - Nürnberg. All research was funded by the German Research Council (DFG).
Fields of Publication and Expertise
Modernisation of religion around 1900: Indian-German religious entanglements; Ahmadiyya mission in interwar Europe; Mission libraries and - archives; the Jewish-Muslim encounter
Islam in Western Europe: Community building and collective memory; Sufism and Neo-Sufism in European contexts
The memory of a nation: The longue durée of history textbook narratives reflecting European perceptions of Jews and Muslims
Death and memory: Collective memory and remembrance practices in Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Israel; Death and mourning practices in the German diaspora
Research projects
2023 - Charting and Channelling Memory in Present-Day European Societies
2020 - 2023: Die Erforschung von Moscheearchiven in Deutschland / Researching Mosque Archives in Germany.
The Example of the Ahmadiyya-Lahore Archive in Berlin (DFG, Bonn)
2019 - 2020: Findbuch D Rep 920-16 (deutsch). Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore (AAL).
Das Moscheearchiv in Berlin-Wilmersdorf (Landesarchiv Berlin) / Finding aid D Rep 920-16
(English). Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore (AAL). The Mosque
Archive in Berlin-Wilmersdorf (National Archive of Berlin)
2016-2019: Ahmadiyya Mission in Interwar Europe (2) (DFG, Bonn)
2013-2016: Ahmadiyya Mission in Interwar Europe (1) (DFG, Bonn)
2011-2013: Ahmadiyya Mission History in Continental Europe (Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen)
2007-2008: Jews and Muslims Through the Lens of European Textbooks (ESF, Strasbourg)
2005-2011: The Production of Knowledge on Muslim History(-ies) & Cultures (Aga Khan Foundation, London)
2004-2005: Living together post 9/11 (Thyssen Foundation / ESS, Rom)
2001-2003: Institutionalizing Islam in Europe (EU Fifth Framework, Brussels)
2001-2003: Communication Structures of Muslim Communities (DFG, Bonn)
1998-2001: Süleymanci in Europe (ZMO, Berlin)
1996-2000: Institutionalizing Islam in Germany (Thyssen Foundation)
1996: Religion from the Outside (Fellow at Rutgers University, New Jersey)
1994-1996: The Hour of the Women: Mourning and Memory in Migration (Research Council of the City of Berlin)
Current research inquires into mosque archives as historical sources. Ahmadiyya engagement in interwar Berlin was placed in the wider field of German-Indian religious entanglements. The process of charting and channelling memories in present-day European societies has come once again on the agenda.
I am affiliated to the Erlangen Centre of Islam and Law in Europe (EZIRE) at Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen - Nürnberg. All research was funded by the German Research Council (DFG).
Fields of Publication and Expertise
Modernisation of religion around 1900: Indian-German religious entanglements; Ahmadiyya mission in interwar Europe; Mission libraries and - archives; the Jewish-Muslim encounter
Islam in Western Europe: Community building and collective memory; Sufism and Neo-Sufism in European contexts
The memory of a nation: The longue durée of history textbook narratives reflecting European perceptions of Jews and Muslims
Death and memory: Collective memory and remembrance practices in Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Israel; Death and mourning practices in the German diaspora
Research projects
2023 - Charting and Channelling Memory in Present-Day European Societies
2020 - 2023: Die Erforschung von Moscheearchiven in Deutschland / Researching Mosque Archives in Germany.
The Example of the Ahmadiyya-Lahore Archive in Berlin (DFG, Bonn)
2019 - 2020: Findbuch D Rep 920-16 (deutsch). Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore (AAL).
Das Moscheearchiv in Berlin-Wilmersdorf (Landesarchiv Berlin) / Finding aid D Rep 920-16
(English). Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore (AAL). The Mosque
Archive in Berlin-Wilmersdorf (National Archive of Berlin)
2016-2019: Ahmadiyya Mission in Interwar Europe (2) (DFG, Bonn)
2013-2016: Ahmadiyya Mission in Interwar Europe (1) (DFG, Bonn)
2011-2013: Ahmadiyya Mission History in Continental Europe (Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen)
2007-2008: Jews and Muslims Through the Lens of European Textbooks (ESF, Strasbourg)
2005-2011: The Production of Knowledge on Muslim History(-ies) & Cultures (Aga Khan Foundation, London)
2004-2005: Living together post 9/11 (Thyssen Foundation / ESS, Rom)
2001-2003: Institutionalizing Islam in Europe (EU Fifth Framework, Brussels)
2001-2003: Communication Structures of Muslim Communities (DFG, Bonn)
1998-2001: Süleymanci in Europe (ZMO, Berlin)
1996-2000: Institutionalizing Islam in Germany (Thyssen Foundation)
1996: Religion from the Outside (Fellow at Rutgers University, New Jersey)
1994-1996: The Hour of the Women: Mourning and Memory in Migration (Research Council of the City of Berlin)
