06.02.2024

History for Today

Participants researched church history, family and mission history, each according to their interest. Photo by: Julia Besten, AMS der VEM

This was the theme of the kick-off event for the Mission History Workshop in November. It was organised by the Archive and Museum Foundation of the UEM (AMS of the UEM) in cooperation with the German region of the UEM

A group of 14 interested people came together at the Museum auf der Hardt to learn and experience what all needs to be done in an archive and what sources lie in the mission archive for research.

In addition to an introduction by the staff of the AMS of the UEM, the participants learnt about the very practical handling of research material from Ms Giulia Speciale. Ms Speciale is a doctoral student at the University of Wuppertal and is researching the topic "The Borneo Mission in the UEM Archive and Museum Foundation and its editorial significance".

The participants worked with great concentration on various topics that they had previously researched themselves using the finding aids. Original sources were used to answer some questions, discover new things and learn a lot.

It was particularly important for some participants to trace their own family history using the sources: "For me, it meant going back to my roots in Namibia".

A second Mission history workshop is planned for 2024.