Between Memory and Image

The year 2023 marked the centenary of the birth of German historian Reinhart Koselleck whose work we wish to celebrate in this special issue. The conference “Uses and Actuality of Reinhart Koselleck's Work,” funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and held that year at the Deutsches Literaturarchiv (German Literature Archive) in Marbach am Neckar, was the starting point for the articles we are publishing here. Research on Koselleck's work has undergone many variations over time, and it became clear at this conference that the emphasis placed on different themes has challenged the monopoly of conceptual history. In the past several years, new publications of great importance to Koselleckian research have appeared, including a compilation of his articles on memory under the title Geronnene Lava. This recent scholarly scenario is supported and spurred on by the establishment not only of literary estates at the Deutsches Literaturarchiv but also by the pictorial estate at the Deutsches Dokumentationszentrum für Kunstgeschichte—Bildarchiv Foto Marburg (German Documentation Center for Art History—Photo Archive Marburg). Both contain extensive materials that open new perspectives: in addition to handwritten works, they include books from Koselleck's personal library and a diverse collection of images, including numerous photographs taken by the historian himself. Inspired by this re-centering of the specialized literature, and from an interdisciplinary point of view, the texts presented in the current issue are conceived under the aegis of memory and image, also including related aspects such as dreams, experience, mass media, and iconology.