Good Reasons

A key advantage of the master’s degree programme in Historical Geography is that it is part of a strong network within the University of Bamberg, as well as with research institutions in Germany and Europe.

• Within the Faculty of Humanities, you benefit from regular classes and events in cooperation with teaching staff from different disciplines. For example, joint field trips together with students on the Medieval and Post-Medieval Archaeology programme take place and joint seminars with students of Slavic Studies are offered, as well as practical courses together with the Digital History students. This means that you not only gain valuable insights into neighbouring disciplines relevant to the field of historical geography as part of the distribution elective component, but you also learn first hand in classes how to discuss and collaborate in an interdisciplinary context using your historical-geographical competencies.
• Through our close cooperation with the Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde (Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography) in Leipzig, you have direct access to one of the most well-known research institutions in the field of historical geography around the world that is not affiliated to a university. This enables you, for example, to be closely involved in research projects led by their Department of Theory, Methodology and History of Geography as part of an internship. This department is also involved in the Collaborative Research Centre 1199: Processes of Spatialization under the Global Condition, amongst other things. Thanks to the Central Geographical Library in Leipzig, one of the largest specialised geographical libraries in Germany is available to you. The Archive for Geography there gives you the opportunity to take the skills that you have learnt in seminars at the University of Bamberg when dealing with historical-geographical sources and put them into practice on the largest collection of documents from the field of historical geography in the German-speaking world. All of this is possible because Leipzig is only one and a half hours away from Bamberg with the ICE high-speed train. 
• Bamberg’s Historical Geography staff maintain contacts with researchers and teaching staff around the world. This means that you can study Historical Geography at many European and non-European universities as part of a semester abroad and we can support you by putting you in touch with useful contacts at international universities. You can find information about your options for studying abroad as part of the master’s degree programme in Historical Geography under Studying abroad.   

The Historical Geography programme depends on being able to regularly access sources to reconstruct the spatial contexts of past environments. To this end, the city of Bamberg is an excellent starting point where you can work with primary sources and historical-geographical secondary literature on a day-to-day basis as part of your studies without having to make big research trips.

• Bamberg University Library provides all the literature that is important for your studies under one roof in Branch Library 5 (History and Geo Sciences). There, alongside textbooks for historical geography, you can also find current literature on significant specialist issues that are addressed in the classes of the master’s degree programme in Historical Geography.
• Bamberg State Library can be found in the prime location of the New Residence, formerly the seat of the Bamberg prince bishops and a stone’s throw from Bamberg Cathedral. Amongst other things, it has a significant collection of maps, prints and drawings that gives you the opportunity to work intensively with primary sources, particularly in the context of the ‘Maps and Images’ seminar in module 2.
• With the Bamberg State Archive, the Bamberg Municipal Archive and the Archive of the Archdiocese of Bamberg, you also have three important archives on your doorstep whose abundant holdings you can work with in your studies. Depending on the individual topic you choose, this is particularly helpful for the two-semester research seminar in module 5 or for your master’s thesis.

Thanks to the wide range of humanities disciplines offered at the University of Bamberg, you have the opportunity to gain valuable insights into current research and establish important contacts via numerous classes and events during your studies. The following courses are particularly recommended:

• Advanced seminar for degree candidates in Historical Geography
• Geographical Colloquium
• Archaeological Colloquium
• The Ringvorlesung lecture series from the Centre for Medieval Studies

In the Institute for Geography, you have three main opportunities to connect with other students and thereby actively contribute to shaping student life at the University of Bamberg.

• The Historische Geographie Bamberg e.V.society is the central place where current students, graduates of the Historical Geography master’s degree programme and those involved in professional practice come together. This society was founded in 2017 by former students and was recognised as an official geographical society in 2020. Today, its activities are built around three pillars: it allows close networking among current master’s students; as an alumni association, it ensures that graduates also stay in contact once they have left Bamberg; and, as an official geographical society, it can reach members of the public who are interested in historical geography with its exciting range of events. Highlights over the past years have included trips to the German Congress of Geography in Tübingen, to the Central European Conference of Historical Geographers in Prague and to the International Conference of Historical Geographers in Warsaw. The society also participates in the University of Bamberg’s Kleine-Fächer weeks (‘small discipline weeks’), has produced its own podcastand was awarded the Prize for Student Engagement by the University of Bamberg in 2020.
• The Arbeitskreis Geographie (Geography working group) is the central point of contact for students within the Institute for Geography who have questions, problems or ideas. It organises various events several times a semester, including a summer celebration and a Christmas party, a geographical hike at the beginning of every semester and the fortnightly Geo-Stammtisch (a meeting for geographers to discuss interesting topics).
• The European Geography Association (EGEA) is a Europe-wide organisation for students of Geography that has over 90 locations in more than 30 countries. Since the summer semester 2016, the EGEA has also been represented in Bamberg. Amongst other things, the EGEA organises regular exchanges with other locations, seminars and workshops, congresses and many other events.