Professor Dr. Jörn Happel

Curriculum vitae
Jörn Happel became director of the Professorship for Eastern European and East-Central European History at Helmut Schmidt University/Bundeswehr University Hamburg in October 2020.

Since December 2019, he has been working on the research project Surveying the empire: The Aral Sea, its exploration, and the Russian Empire in the 19th century, a Heisenberg project of the German Research Foundation. He is focussing on transnational, technological and colonial history and expedition painting. His current project is entitled Europe’s primal fear of the East and focusses on visual history. His planned biography of the German journalist Paul Scheffer will examine media and the history of foreign correspondents.

After studying Eastern European history, political science and modern history in Giessen, he worked as an assistant professor in the Department of History at the University of Basel. He completed his doctorate thesis there in 2009, which was published under the title Nomadische Lebenswelten und zarische Politik. Der Aufstand in Zentralasien 1916 (Nomadic lives and tsarist politics: The 1916 uprising in Central Asia). He was awarded the Fritz Theodor Epstein prize of the Verband der Osteuropahistorikerinnen und -historiker (Association of Historians of Eastern Europe) for this publication.

During the 2013/14 winter term, he represented the Professorship for Russia/Asia Studies at the Ludwig Maximillian University in Munich. He qualified as a professor at Basel University in 2016. His habilitation thesis was entitled Der Ost-Experte. Gustav Hilger — Diplomat im Zeitalter der Extreme (The East Expert: Gustav Hilger – Diplomat in the Era of Extremes) and was published in 2018. From October 2017 to September 2018, Jörn Happel represented the Professorship for East European History at Constance University, where he was awarded the LUKS award for teaching excellence. He was also a research assistant and adjunct professor at the Christian Albrecht University in Kiel (2018-2020) and at the University of Bonn (2019-2020).

• The history of Russia/the Soviet Union, Central Asia, Siberia and Poland
• The history of intercultural relations between Eastern and Western Europe
• The history of Eastern European Jewry
• The history of the Russian Revolution
• Lifeworld and biography research
• Diplomatic history
• Cartography and space
• Photographs, postcards and travel reports as historical sources

Current research projects of Professor Dr Jörn Happel

List of publications

Lectures

• 1848 — Das Jahr der Aufstände und des Aufbruchs in Ostmittel- und Osteuropa  (The year of uprisings and upheaval in East-Central and Eastern Europe) (Helmut Schmidt University, autumn trimester 2020)
• Träume, Terror, Technik. Die Sowjetunion 1917 bis 1956 (Dreams, terror, technology: The Soviet Union from 1917 to 1956) (University of Constance, summer semester 2018)
• Nomaden und Sesshafte. Eine Geschichte Osteuropas (Nomads and permanent populations: A history of Eastern Europe) (University of Constance, winter semester 2017/18)
• „Nach Asien kommen wir als Herren!“ Russlands Eroberung Sibiriens und Zentralasiens (“We come to Asia as rulers!”: Russia’s conquest of Siberia and Central Asia) (Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, winter semester 2013/14)

PhD courses

• Biographien schreiben (Writing biographies) (Graduate School of History, Basel University, spring semester 2015)
• Marx lesen! (Reading Marx!) (Graduate School for Eastern and South-Eastern European Studies, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, winter semester 2013/14)
• Fotografie als Quelle (Photography as a source) (Graduate School for Eastern and South-Eastern European Studies, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, winter semester 2013/14)

Advanced seminars

• Nation ohne Staat. Polen im 19. Jahrhundert (Nation without a state: Poland in the 19th century) (Helmut Schmidt University, autumn trimester 2020)
  Die Suche nach dem Imperium. Russische Forschungsreisen im 19. Jahrhundert (The search for an empire: Russian expeditions in the 19th century) (University of Bonn, summer semester 2020)
• Krieg und Frieden. Europas Osten 1939-1956 (War and peace: Europe’s east, 1939-1956) (Kiel University, winter semester 2019/20)
  Staffeleien und Messlatten. Russische Forschungsreisen im 19. Jahrhundert (Easels and yardsticks: Russian expeditions in the 19th century) (Kiel University, summer semester 2019)
• Alltag im Stalinismus (Everyday life in Stalinism) (Kiel University, winter semester 2018/19)
• Revolutionen! Petrograd 1917, Kiel 1918, Kronstadt 1921 (Revolutions! Petrograd 1917, Kiel 1918, Kronstadt 1921) (University of Constance, summer semester 2018)
  Die Schönheit des Meeres. Die Erstbeschreibung des Aralsees 1848/49 und das Russländische Imperium (The beauty of the sea: The first description of the Aral Sea in 1848/49 and the Russian empire) (University of Constance, winter semester 2017/18)
• Matrosen hört die Signale! Die Meutereien von Petrograd 1917, Kiel 1918 und Kronstadt 1921 (Sailors, hear the signals! The mutinies of Petrograd in 1917, Kiel in 1918 and Kronstadt in 1921) (University of Basel, spring semester 2017)
• Polen zwischen den Weltkriegen (Poland between the world wars) (University of Basel, spring semester 2015)
• The Great Game. Das afghanische Abenteuer von Russen und Briten (The Great Game: The Afghan adventure of Russians and Britons) (Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, winter semester 2013/14)
• 1848: Das Jahr der Aufstände und des Aufbruchs in Osteuropa – Perspektiven der Akteure (1848: The year of uprisings and upheaval in Eastern Europe – Perspectives of players) (in cooperation with H. Haumann, University of Basel, winter semester 2005/6)

Introductory seminars

• Die Russische Revolution 1917 (The 1917 Russian Revolution) (Kiel University, summer semester 2019)
• Nation ohne Staat. Polen im 19. Jahrhundert (Nation without a state: Poland in the 19th century) (University of Constance, summer semester 2018)
• Polen in der Zwischenkriegszeit (Poland between the world wars) (University of Constance, winter term 2017/18)
• Die Teilungen Polens als transnationale Medienereignisse (The divisions of Poland as transnational media events) (University of Basel, autumn semester 2016)
• Die Eroberung Sibiriens (The conquest of Siberia) (University of Basel, autumn semester 2015)
• Diplomaten-Netzwerke im Moskau der 1920er/30er (Diplomat networks in 1920s/30s Moscow) (University of Basel, autumn semester 2012)
• Rebellische Polen? Die Aufstände von 1830, 1846/48, 1863 (Rebellious Poles? The uprisings of 1830, 1846/48 and 1863) (University of Basel, spring semester 2012)
  Die Anfänge der Rus‘. Osteuropa im 9. und 10. Jahrhundert (The beginnings of the Rus’: Eastern Europe in the 9th and 10th centuries) (University of Basel, autumn semester 2011)
• Von Moskau nach Potsdam. Sowjetische Kriegsdiplomatie zwischen 1939 und 1945 (From Moscow to Potsdam: Soviet war diplomacy between 1939 and 1945) (University of Basel, spring semester 2011)
• Auf der Jagd nach Revolutionären und Terroristen. Geheimdienstler im ausgehenden Zarenreich (On the hunt for revolutionaries and terrorists: Secret service agents in the last days of the Russian Empire) (University of Basel, autumn semester 2008)
  Geschichte der Ukraine – Het’mane, Kosaken, Revolutionäre und Sowjets (History of Ukraine: Hetmans, Cossacks, revolutionaries and Soviets) (University of Basel, autumn semester 2007)
• Das Fremde beschreiben. Westliche Russland-Bilder vom 16. bis zum frühen 18. Jahrhundert (Describing the unfamiliar: Western images of Russia from the 16th to the early 18th century) (University of Basel, summer semester 2006)
• Selbstzeugnisse aus der Stalinzeit. Die Rekonstruktion von Lebenswelten „kleiner Leute“ (Self-testimonials from the Stalin era: The reconstruction of the lifeworlds of “ordinary people”) (Giessen University, summer semester 2006)
• „Wo einmal die russische Flagge weht…“ – Die russische Eroberung Sibiriens und Mittelasiens (Where once the Russian flag flies…”: The Russian conquest of Siberia and Central Asia) (Giessen University, winter semester 2004/5)

Tutorials

• Die Revolution gestalten. Russland 1917 — eine Ausstellungskonzeption (Shaping the revolution: Russia 1917 – An exhibition plan) (Kiel University, summer semester 2019)
• Aufstand und Aufbruch. Der Völkerfrühling in Ostmittel- und Osteuropa 1848/49 (Uprising and upheaval: The springtime of nations in East-Central and Eastern Europe, 1848/49) (University of Constance, winter semester 2017/18)
  Völkerfrühling? Das Jahr 1848 in Ost- und Ostmitteleuropa? (Springtime of nations? The year 1848 in East and East-Central Europe) (Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, winter semester 2013/14)
• Die Sprache der Diplomaten. Ein Lektürekurs zur Kulturgeschichte des Politischen (The language of diplomats: A reading course on the cultural history of the political) (University of Basel, spring semester 2012)
• Kartiert Polen! Wie Karten Geschichte(n) erzählen (Putting Poland on a map: What maps can tell us (about history)) (University of Basel, autumn semester 2010)
  In Hassliebe verbunden: russisch-tatarische Beziehungen, 1000-2005 – ein Quellenlektürekurs (United in love and hate: Russian-Tatarian relations, 1000-2005 – A source reading course) (University of Basel, spring semester 2009)
• Grundbegriffe der Geschichte Polens: Erstellen eines Glossars (Fundamental terms relating to the history of Poland: Compiling a glossary) (University of Basel, spring semester 2008)
• Marco Polo, ein Reisebericht (Marco Polo: A travel report) (Giessen University, winter semester 2005/6)

Introductory courses

• Russland im Ersten Weltkrieg (Russia in the First World War) (University of Basel, autumn semester 2014)
• Alltag im Stalinismus (Everyday life under Stalinism) (University of Basel, autumn semester 2009)
• Vom Riesenreich zur Nation ohne Staat: Polen im 18./19. Jahrhundert (From a enormous empire to a nation without a state: Poland in the 18th and 19th centuries) (University of Basel, winter semester 2006/7)
• Die Neue Ökonomische Politik – Geschichte der Sowjetunion von der Oktoberrevolution bis zum Aufstieg Stalins (The New Economic Policy: The history of the Soviet Union from the October Revolution to the rise of Stalin) (Giessen University, summer semester 2005)

Research colloquiums 

• Geschichte Osteuropas (The history of Eastern Europe) (Helmut Schmidt University, autumn trimester 2020)
• Geschichte Osteuropas (The history of Eastern Europe) (University of Constance, summer semester 2018)
• Geschichte Osteuropas (The history of Eastern Europe) (in cooperation with F.B. Schenk, B. Hoenig, S. Mayoraz, University of Basel, autumn semester 2011 to autumn semester 2012; autumn semester 2014 to spring semester 2017)
• Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur jüdischen und osteuropäischen Geschichte und Kultur (Working group on Jewish and Eastern European history and culture) (in cooperation with F.B. Schenk, E. Petry, L. Polexe, T. Lewinsky, University of Basel, autumn semester 2010 to spring semester 2011)
• Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur jüdischen und osteuropäischen Geschichte und Kultur (Working group on Jewish and Eastern European history and culture) (in cooperation with H. Haumann, J. Picard, E. Petry, J. Richers, University of Basel, winter semester 2005/6 to spring semester 2010)

Russia’s Red Revolution: An October with many faces
A (fictitious) exhibition at Kiel University with six promotional films, imaginative explanatory notes of a typical introductory seminar, and many unanswered questions – a plea for more artistic freedom in university history courses
Seminar head: Dr Jörn Happel — Kiel, summer 2019

At the beginning was the revolution: Or was it Marx?
Two courses conducted at Kiel University during the 2019 summer semester which focused on events surrounding the Russian October Revolution of 1917. This introductory seminar addressed textual and photographic sources and analysed events from the perspective of the people who experienced them. The tutorial on extracurricular didactics was faced with the challenge of designing an exhibition on the revolution – and to advertise it. Those were the tasks, and the results are as follows.

The students worked on historical essays. Anything was allowed: writing diary entries of fictitious or real persons at the time of the revolution, scientific considerations, or work on a poetry slam. The important thing was source material. Sources had veto power, sometimes in a broad and sometimes in a narrow sense. The result was a kaleidoscope of creative insights into revolutionary Russia. One question remained unanswered. At the beginning was the Revolution. Or was it Marx? Read for yourself…
Although the tutorial was about designing an exhibition, the focus was not on the exhibition as such but on the best way to advertise such an exhibition. The students developed a programme with the name “Russia’s Red Revolution: An October with Many Faces”. After lengthy discussions and in-depth reading, six faces were found. The next step was to find an advertising medium. As with Lenin and Trotsky, we felt film had the greatest power of agitation. As Lenin once said: “Of all the arts, the most important for … [Russia] is the cinema”. We made short films lasting a maximum of 1:50 minutes, teasers that would have enticed people to come to the exhibition. The range of topics was wide: the early revolutionary activist Vera Figner, the Orthodox patriarch Tichon, a fictitious farmer in search of his place in the new Russia, the revolutionary par excellence Larissa Reissner, the counter-revolutionary Lavr Kornilov, and Two Squares on their Way to Earth (an animated film based on El Lissitzky). Have a look for yourself: Lavr Kornilov / Larissa Reissner / Vera Figner / a farmer / El Lissitzky / Patriarch Tichon.
Students in the introductory seminar: Jonas Burmeister, Henri Giebeler, Felix Grage, Isabelle Heilmann, Merle zu Hoene, Kübra Koyun, Lennart Nagels, Anabel Pospiech, Broder Söhl, Paulina Hermine Stahr, Max Stolte, Roko Strize, Bennet Suttkus, Lena Tetzlaff, Neela Welge, and Yella Susanne Nicklaus as the student tutor.
Students in the tutorial: Jasmin Drogat, Ana Carolina Feijó, Jakob Goebel, Olesya Lemke, Fabian Schmuck, and Leonard Lill as our technical artistic advisor.

Revolutionen! Petrograd 1917, Kiel 1918, Kronštadt 1921 (Revolutions! Petrograd in 1917, Kiel in 1918, Kronštádt in 1921)
As Karl Marx wrote in 1850, revolutions are the locomotives of history. To what extent did revolutions upset history and how were they interpreted at the time and later on? These were questions we asked during the advanced seminar at the University of Constance in the summer semester of 2018. We focussed on three revolutions – Petrograd, Kiel and Kronštadt – each of which was quite different in structural, cultural, economic and national terms. But as the central power faltered, sailors revolted in all three locations.
What happened on the streets, in the shipyards and in the parliaments during the days of upheaval? We wanted to be close to the action. Students thus compiled newspaper reports on the basis of close and in-depth source analysis. Acting as journalists, they took themselves back to Kiel, Petrograd and the sieged fortress of Kronštádt, where they spoke with players and told their readers about incredible events and the sailors’ revolt.
With the help of these reports, we drew up a fictitious history of these revolutions. We took various perspectives, just like the newspapers of the time represented politically different views. We considered every school of political thought, from a national-conservative newspaper to a communist newspaper. As a result, we are also part of media history, one which challenges the role and the influence of newspapers. Read for yourself: How it might have been…

Constance, August 2018, the participants

Die Schönheit des Meeres. Die Erstbeschreibung des Aralsees 1848/49 und das Russländische Imperium (The beauty of the sea: The first description of the Aral Sea in 1848/49 and the Russian empire)

University of Constance, winter semester 2017/18

Captain Butakov and the poet and painter Shevchenko – two different men who shared the same vision: The first sailboat trip on and description of the Aral Sea, which was still almost unknown in 1848/49. Although it is a lake, it is referred to as a sea due to its vast area. The two men came to realise how beautiful the lake was. This can be seen primarily in the Ukrainian’s drawings. It is difficult to imagine the beauty of this now dried out lake.

Based on Butakov’s travel diary, relevant travel literature was compiled during our advanced seminar at the University of Constance in the winter semester of 2017/18. Designed as a writing workshop, carefully prepared and selected texts were compiled as part of lengthy reading and editorial sessions. The style might be different. But we were all excited about the subject. The writing was hard work. There was a lot to read, a lot had to be discarded, and a lot had to be rewritten. But this was the only way to return to 1848/49, to Russian Asia, to the shores of the lake, to the deck of the schooner “Constantine”, next to Shevchenko’s easel… (pdf)

Constance, February 2018, the participants

The divisions of Poland as transnational media events

“Poland is not yet lost” according to Poland’s national anthem from the year 1797. And yet two years previously, the third division of Poland marked the end of an independent empire that had repeatedly had a major influence on European history since the Middle Ages. But Poland was more than just a state – faith in Poland and in its renewed statehood was not lost after 1795 or after the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15, although this objective was not achieved until after the First World War.

From the perspective of the “world press”, these divisions were transnational media events. During this introductory seminar, we analysed contemporary sources from the beginning of the 18th century to the end of the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15. We looked at international coverage in newspapers, pamphlets and cartoons. The participants were to travel back in time and to write journalistic articles on the basis of available sources. The students took an investigative approach. They reported on a walk with Tadeusz Kościuszko through Solothurn, on a lawyer’s perspective of the first division of Poland, on the painting of a failed king, on farmers at the Belarussian border, on the divisions of Poland as a sports event …

At the core of all the articles was the reconstruction of past lifeworlds. Based on available sources, the articles describe life at that time and analyse the downfall of the old aristocratic republic and the role of outside forces.

Have a look for yourself: So könnte es gewesen sein – die Teilungen Polens als transnationales Medienereignis… (How it could have been – The divisions of Poland as a transnational media event…) (pdf)

Diplomat networks in 1920s/30s Moscow

In this introductory seminar on diplomat networks, students produced papers that provide eloquent insights into the everyday life of people in the Russian capital at the time of the New Economic Policy and during an early phase of Stalinism. The seminar focusses on the lifeworlds of diplomats. Have a look for yourself: So könnte es gewesen sein…  (How it could have been…) (pdf).

The participants and tutor wish you enjoyable reading.

The Rus’: Eastern Europe in the 9th and 10th centuries

Who were the Rus’? Where and how did they live in the 9th and 10th centuries? Who wrote about them? With whom did they have contact? What was their work, and what did they eat and drink? And how did they bury their dead?

My introductory seminar entitled “Die Rus`. Osteuropa im 9. und 10. Jahrhundert” (“The Rus’: Eastern Europe in the 9th and 10th centuries”) (autumn semester 2011) focussed on reconstructing past lifeworlds and creating portraits of this time. As a guide, we used the work of Carsten Goehrke (Russischer Alltag (Everyday Russian Life), 3 volumes, Zürich, 2003-2005). Over the course of one semester, we examined sources of and about the Rus’. We used historical works to describe everyday life at this time and place and the dangers and challenges faced by people in the Eastern European Middle Ages. In a nutshell: So könnte es gewesen sein… (How it could have been…) (pdf)