{"id":22453,"date":"2024-10-01T15:11:21","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T13:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/?page_id=22453"},"modified":"2026-04-21T11:59:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T09:59:18","slug":"institute","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/en\/institute\/","title":{"rendered":"Institute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/jgu-base-pageheader>\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-anchornavigation>\n\n\n
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Among the approximately 30 university collections at JGU Mainz<\/a>, three archives or collections are affiliated with the ifeas: the African Music Archives (AMA), the Jahn Library for African Literatures and the Ethnographic Collection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, ifeas houses several smaller archives: the Leo Stappers Archive, which includes the research library of the former Professor of African Philology Leo Stappers (*June 6, 1919 – \u2020April 18, 1977); an Image Archive on African independence celebrations, and an archive on West African settlement history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller Foundation supports projects of the African Music Archives, the Ethnographic Collection, and the Jahn Library for African Literatures at the ifeas, JGU Mainz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller established the foundation in his will of 15 November, 2013. His final wish was to support the three respective collections. <\/p>\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordionitem>\n\n\n \n\n

Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller (1925-2013) was closely associated to the Johannes Gutenberg University for many years, first as a student, doctoral candidate, and research assistant (1948-1958), and later, until his retirement, as a Professor of Anthropology (1969-1986) with a strong commitment regarding higher education policy. As head of the Department of Anthropology and African Studies, he was a driving force behind the establishment of the Jahn Library for African Literatures, and the African Music Archives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After beginning his studies in Munich, Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller transferred to the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz for the winter semester of 1948\/49, where he studied Anthropology and African Studies. From 1949 to 1951, he held a position as the first student assistant at the Department of Anthropology. In 1951, M\u00fcller was accepted into the German National Academic Foundation. As a student and later as a doctoral candidate, he took part in field research among the Ekonda and Bolia in what was then the Belgian Congo between 1951 and 1954. The so-called Mainz Congo Expedition, one of the first major German field research trips in the immediate post-war period, was led by Erika Sulzmann. The more than 500 objects collected during this expedition formed the foundation of today’s Ethnographic Collection. Due to serious illnesses suffered during the expedition, this would remain the only field research trip of M\u00fcller\u2019s academic career. During the expedition, he was presented with the dignitary staff (ensina<\/em>) pictured on the left. Among the Ekonda, such dignitary staffs were mainly used by older men. The fact that Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller received one despite his young age at the time was considered a particular honour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1955, M\u00fcller completed his doctoral dissertation, titled “Das F\u00fcrstentum bei den S\u00fcdwest-Mongo (Belgisch Kongo)” under the supervision of the cultural morphologist Adolf Friedrich, who was then the director of the institute. In 1956 and again in 1958, he worked as a research assistant at the Department of Anthropology in Mainz. In 1960, he joined Wilhelm E. M\u00fchlmann as a research assistant at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Heidelberg, where he remained until 1967 and completed his habilitation with a thesis entitled (“Der Begriff der Verwandtschaft in der modernen Ethnosoziologie”). In 1969, he was appointed Professor of Anthropology at JGU Mainz and became director of the institute. He became emeritus professor in 1986. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her obituary, the Mainz-based anthropologist Carola Lentz described Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller as an “important pioneer of a modern, social science-oriented, and interdisciplinarily open anthropology grounded in solid empirical fieldwork.” Ute Luig, who was Professor of Anthropology in Berlin until her retirement, likewise noted that with the death of Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller, “German Anthropology lost one of its most significant modernisers of the post-war period.” For M\u00fcller, Anthropology was the comparative humanities discipline par excellence<\/em>. This understanding of the field underpinned his consistently interdisciplinary approach, which he implemented at ifeas in exemplary fashion. He actively sought collaboration with other disciplines, such as literary studies, economics, and history, and placed particular emphasis on the connection between Anthropology and Sociology. <\/p>\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordionitem>\n\n\n \n\n

01\/2025
AMA Concert by the Malagasy Bands Erick Manana and Jenny Fuhr feat. Solofo \/\/ Ralah’ Trio at the Institut fran\u00e7ais, Mainz <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

12\/2024
Public screening of the film “A Childhood in Nigeria: Wole Soyinka. A Film by Vera Botterbusch with and about Wole Soyinka” (BR 2000) in the presence of the filmmaker, followed by a discussion<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

06\/2024
AMA concert by the Malagasy Band Ralah’ Trio at Kulturclub schon sch\u00f6n, Mainz <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

10\/2022 – 03\/2023
Digitisation of objects from Colonial Contexts in the Ethnographic Collection at JGU Mainz (renewal proposal)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

01\/2022 – 10\/2022
Digitisation of objects from Colonial Contexts in the Ethnographic Collection at JGU Mainz (renewal proposal)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

09\/2022
Research on stoneware jugs from the Westerwald Region (ca. 18th century) in West and West Central Africa <\/strong>(invitation of guest researchers)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

09\/2022
Funding for the participation of a guest researcher in the conference “Copyright CARE and African Music Archives”<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

07\/2022
“AMA Opening”: Artists in Residence at the AMA – Opening ceremony<\/a> <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

07\/2022
Support of the special issue “Musikethnologie” of Cargo – Journal for Cultural Anthropology<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

04\/2022
Provenance research on the Cameroon collection of the Ethnographic Collection of JGU Mainz (invitation of a guest researcher)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

04\/2022 – 05\/2022
“African Cassettes”: Creation of an online cassettography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

11\/2021 – 03\/2023
African writers and musicians of the 20th century in original sound: Digitisation of historical audio tapes by the German Africa journalist Gerd Meuer (1941-2017)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

06\/2021 – 12\/2021
Digitisation of objects from the Ethnographic Collection of JGU Mainz from colonial contexts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordionitem>\n\n\n \n\n \n<\/jgu-base-buttonitem>\n\n<\/jgu-base-button>\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-buttonitem>\n\n<\/jgu-base-button>\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-buttonitem>\n\n<\/jgu-base-button>\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-buttonitem>\n\n<\/jgu-base-button>\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordionitem>\n\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n<\/jgu-base-listitem>\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-listitem>\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-listitem>\n\n<\/jgu-base-contactcard>\n\n\n \n\n \n<\/jgu-base-listitem>\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-listitem>\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-listitem>\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-listitem>\n\n<\/jgu-base-contactcard>\n\n\n \n\n \n<\/jgu-base-listitem>\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-listitem>\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-listitem>\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-listitem>\n\n<\/jgu-base-contactcard>\n\n<\/jgu-base-slider>\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordionitem>\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordion>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sulzmann Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded by Dr. Erika Sulzmann, Irma Sulzmann, and Roselore Sulzmann, the Sulzmann Foundation promotes field research by young scientists in Africa; it assists in the analysis of the results of field research and supports training in the aforementioned areas. In addition, it presents awards for outstanding theses in relevant fields of research.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/jgu-base-section>\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-heading>\n\n\n\n

The ifeas is cooperating internationally on many different levels, not only in research: alongside its research projects<\/a>, the institute regularly hosts international visiting scholars, colloquia, conferences, and other events (See current events<\/a>) at the institute and its collections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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News \/\/ Events<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-imagegallery>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/jgu-base-section>\n\n\n

\n

Annual reports <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 1997, the Department of Anthropology and African Studies has published annual reports, since 2008 also in English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reports provide information about the institute and its individual employees, the various institutions, degree programmes, funded research projects, doctorates and habilitations, events and conferences, publications and lectures, cooperations, scholarship students and international guests, courses, completed B.A., M.A. and Magister theses as well as current student numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Managing editors: Matthias Krings, Konstanze N’Guessan and Christine Weil (2025); Bianca Baumann and Christine Weil (2024); Nico Nassenstein, Franziska Reiffen and Christine Weil (2023); Franziska Reiffen (2022); Hauke Dorsch (2021); Nico Nassenstein, Friederike Vigeland and Christine Weil (2020); Tom Simmert and Christine Weil (2019); Karla D\u00fcmmler and Eva Riedke (2018); Franziska Reiffen (2017); Afra Schmitz (2016); Konstanze N’Guessan (2014-2015); Anja Oed (2002-2013)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-imagegallery>\n\n\n\n \n\n \n\n

Jahresbericht 2019 \/ Annual Report for 2019<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2018 \/ Annual Report for 2018<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2017 \/ Annual Report for 2017<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2016 \/ Annual Report for 2016<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2015 \/ Annual Report for 2015<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2014 \/ Annual Report for 2014<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2013 \/ Annual Report for 2013<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2012 \/ Annual Report for 2012<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2011 \/ Annual Report for 2011<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2010 \/ Annual Report for 2010<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordionitem>\n\n\n \n\n
Jahresbericht 2009 \/ Annual Report for 2009<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2008 \/ Annual Report for 2008<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2007<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2006<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2005<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2004<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht<\/a> 2003<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordionitem>\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordion>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/jgu-base-section>\n\n\n
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The institute was founded in 1946 as the Department of Anthropology (Institute f\u00fcr Ethnologie) when the Johannes Gutenberg University was re-established . From 1947 to 1956, it was headed by Adolf Friedrich<\/a>; his assistant was Erika Sulzmann<\/a>. Between 1951 and 1954, Sulzmann conducted one of the first German ethnographic research trips after the Second World War, carrying out fieldwork among the Ekonda and Bolia in the Belgian Congo (today Dem. Rep. Congo). She developed both the library and the ethnographic collection and ensured the continuity in African research at the institute during the many personnel changes in the following years. After Friedrich’s death in 1956, Wilhelm Emil M\u00fchlmann<\/a>, who had held an adjunct professorship (“Di\u00e4tendozentur”) for Sociology and Ethnic Psychology at the Institute since 1950, took over the management of the institute in 1957. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

M\u00fchlmann left the institute in 1960 to take up a professorship in Heidelberg. His was succeeded by Karl Jettmar<\/a>, whose regional focus was on Asia. Only three years later, in 1964, Jettmar followed M\u00fchlmann to Heidelberg. It was only after this that African Studies developed into a key focus in Mainz. Eike Haberlandinitially initially became head of<\/a>the institute, but in 1968 he accepted a professorship in cultural and ethnological studies at the University of Frankfurt am Main, along with the directorship of the Frobenius Institute. In 1969, Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller<\/a>, who had participated as a student in Erika Sulzmann\u2019s Congo expedition and later completed his habilitation with M\u00fchlmann in Heidelberg, was appointed to a professorship in Mainz and became head of the institute. In the same year, the \u201cChair of Comparative Cultural Studies\u201d at Johannes Gutenberg University was converted into a \u201cProfessorship for Culture and Society in Africa\u201d and integrated into the Department of Anthropology. From 1974, this professorship was held by sociologist Gerhard Grohs<\/a>, who further developed the sociological orientation initiated by M\u00fchlmann. After Grohs retired, Thomas Bierschenk<\/a> was appointed to the professorship in 1997, now renamed \u201cProfessorship for Cultures and Societies in Africa.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following M\u00fcller’s appointment, the institute was named the “lnstitut f\u00fcr Ethnologie”. In 1975, it was renamed the “Institut f\u00fcr Ethnologie und Afrikastudien” (Department of Anthropology and African Studies) to reflect the presence of a second discipline at the institute: African Languages and Linguistics (formerly African Philology). In 1984, the institute was expanded once more with the addition of a new professorship, to which Ivo Strecker<\/a> was appointed. In 1987 Karl-Heinz Kohl<\/a> succeeded M\u00fcller. When Kohl transferred in 1996 to the Institute of Historical Ethnology and the Frobenius Institute in Frankfurt, the position was temporarily filled until Carola Lentz<\/a> was appointed as his successor in 2002. She held the professorship in Anthropology until her retirement in 2019. The position was then converted into a junior professorship in Anthropology with a focus on Political Anthropology (tenure track), to which Franziska Fay<\/a> was appointed in 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The position held by Ivo Strecker was converted into a professorship in “Anthropology and African Popular Culture”, after his retirement, and has been held by Matthias Krings<\/a> since 2005. In 2016, Heike Drotbohm<\/a> was appointed to a Heisenberg Professorship in Anthropology with a focus on “African Diaspora and Transnationalism” and in 2019, following the retirement of Thomas Bierschenk, she succeeded him. The professorship in Anthropology with a focus on \u201cAesthetics,\u201d newly established in 2017, was filled by Markus Verne.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordionitem>\n\n\n \n\n

The teaching of African Languages and Linguistics in Mainz began in 1946 with Eugen Ludwig Rapp, Professor of Christian Oriental Studies at the Protestant Theological Faculty. However, a separate professorship at the Department of Anthropology was only institutionalised after Rapp’s retirement in 1972 – at that time under the name “African Philology”, which was filled by the Bantuist Leo Stappers in 1974. Following his death in 1977, Paul de Wolf (Bantu and Sudanic languages, orature) succeeded him in 1978 and held the position until 1982. His successor, Norbert Cyffer, held the professorship for ten years, from 1984 to 1994, before accepting an appointment in Vienna. From 1996, the position was held by Raimund Kastenholz<\/a> (Mande, Adamawa), who retired in 2018. The renaming of the chair to \u201cAfrican Languages and Linguistics\u201d took place with the appointment of Nico Nassenstein<\/a> (Bantu) in 2017. While Kastenholz focused on typology and functional grammar, Nassenstein primarily works in sociolinguistics, giving African Linguistics in Mainz a new direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the framework of the Rhine-Main Universities Alliance (RMU<\/a>), which includes the African Studies institutes at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and Technical University Darmstadt, Nico Nassenstein, in cooperation with Axel Fleisch, who has held the professorship in African Studies at the Frankfurt institute since 2018, has developed a new B.A. programme in African Languages, Media, and Communication. By combining the courses of the two institutes, it is possible to provide a broader range of African languages and content (sociolinguistics, anthropological linguistics). However, empirical linguistics remains a core competence taught to the students. <\/p>\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordionitem>\n\n\n \n\n

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\n \n <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":852,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22453","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"content_raw":"\n\n\n\n\n
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Among the approximately 30 university collections at JGU Mainz<\/a>, three archives or collections are affiliated with the ifeas: the African Music Archives (AMA), the Jahn Library for African Literatures and the Ethnographic Collection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, ifeas houses several smaller archives: the Leo Stappers Archive, which includes the research library of the former Professor of African Philology Leo Stappers (*June 6, 1919 - \u2020April 18, 1977); an Image Archive on African independence celebrations, and an archive on West African settlement history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller Foundation supports projects of the African Music Archives, the Ethnographic Collection, and the Jahn Library for African Literatures at the ifeas, JGU Mainz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller established the foundation in his will of 15 November, 2013. His final wish was to support the three respective collections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller (1925-2013) was closely associated to the Johannes Gutenberg University for many years, first as a student, doctoral candidate, and research assistant (1948-1958), and later, until his retirement, as a Professor of Anthropology (1969-1986) with a strong commitment regarding higher education policy. As head of the Department of Anthropology and African Studies, he was a driving force behind the establishment of the Jahn Library for African Literatures, and the African Music Archives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After beginning his studies in Munich, Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller transferred to the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz for the winter semester of 1948\/49, where he studied Anthropology and African Studies. From 1949 to 1951, he held a position as the first student assistant at the Department of Anthropology. In 1951, M\u00fcller was accepted into the German National Academic Foundation. As a student and later as a doctoral candidate, he took part in field research among the Ekonda and Bolia in what was then the Belgian Congo between 1951 and 1954. The so-called Mainz Congo Expedition, one of the first major German field research trips in the immediate post-war period, was led by Erika Sulzmann. The more than 500 objects collected during this expedition formed the foundation of today's Ethnographic Collection. Due to serious illnesses suffered during the expedition, this would remain the only field research trip of M\u00fcller\u2019s academic career. During the expedition, he was presented with the dignitary staff (ensina<\/em>) pictured on the left. Among the Ekonda, such dignitary staffs were mainly used by older men. The fact that Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller received one despite his young age at the time was considered a particular honour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1955, M\u00fcller completed his doctoral dissertation, titled \"Das F\u00fcrstentum bei den S\u00fcdwest-Mongo (Belgisch Kongo)\" under the supervision of the cultural morphologist Adolf Friedrich, who was then the director of the institute. In 1956 and again in 1958, he worked as a research assistant at the Department of Anthropology in Mainz. In 1960, he joined Wilhelm E. M\u00fchlmann as a research assistant at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Heidelberg, where he remained until 1967 and completed his habilitation with a thesis entitled (\"Der Begriff der Verwandtschaft in der modernen Ethnosoziologie\"). In 1969, he was appointed Professor of Anthropology at JGU Mainz and became director of the institute. He became emeritus professor in 1986. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her obituary, the Mainz-based anthropologist Carola Lentz described Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller as an \"important pioneer of a modern, social science-oriented, and interdisciplinarily open anthropology grounded in solid empirical fieldwork.\" Ute Luig, who was Professor of Anthropology in Berlin until her retirement, likewise noted that with the death of Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller, \"German Anthropology lost one of its most significant modernisers of the post-war period.\" For M\u00fcller, Anthropology was the comparative humanities discipline par excellence<\/em>. This understanding of the field underpinned his consistently interdisciplinary approach, which he implemented at ifeas in exemplary fashion. He actively sought collaboration with other disciplines, such as literary studies, economics, and history, and placed particular emphasis on the connection between Anthropology and Sociology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

01\/2025
AMA Concert by the Malagasy Bands Erick Manana and Jenny Fuhr feat. Solofo \/\/ Ralah' Trio at the Institut fran\u00e7ais, Mainz <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

12\/2024
Public screening of the film \"A Childhood in Nigeria: Wole Soyinka. A Film by Vera Botterbusch with and about Wole Soyinka\" (BR 2000) in the presence of the filmmaker, followed by a discussion<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

06\/2024
AMA concert by the Malagasy Band Ralah' Trio at Kulturclub schon sch\u00f6n, Mainz <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

10\/2022 - 03\/2023
Digitisation of objects from Colonial Contexts in the Ethnographic Collection at JGU Mainz (renewal proposal)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

01\/2022 - 10\/2022
Digitisation of objects from Colonial Contexts in the Ethnographic Collection at JGU Mainz (renewal proposal)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

09\/2022
Research on stoneware jugs from the Westerwald Region (ca. 18th century) in West and West Central Africa <\/strong>(invitation of guest researchers)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

09\/2022
Funding for the participation of a guest researcher in the conference \"Copyright CARE and African Music Archives\"<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

07\/2022
\"AMA Opening\": Artists in Residence at the AMA - Opening ceremony<\/a> <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

07\/2022
Support of the special issue \"Musikethnologie\" of Cargo - Journal for Cultural Anthropology<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

04\/2022
Provenance research on the Cameroon collection of the Ethnographic Collection of JGU Mainz (invitation of a guest researcher)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

04\/2022 - 05\/2022
\"African Cassettes\": Creation of an online cassettography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

11\/2021 - 03\/2023
African writers and musicians of the 20th century in original sound: Digitisation of historical audio tapes by the German Africa journalist Gerd Meuer (1941-2017)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

06\/2021 - 12\/2021
Digitisation of objects from the Ethnographic Collection of JGU Mainz from colonial contexts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Sulzmann Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded by Dr. Erika Sulzmann, Irma Sulzmann, and Roselore Sulzmann, the Sulzmann Foundation promotes field research by young scientists in Africa; it assists in the analysis of the results of field research and supports training in the aforementioned areas. In addition, it presents awards for outstanding theses in relevant fields of research.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n\n

The ifeas is cooperating internationally on many different levels, not only in research: alongside its research projects<\/a>, the institute regularly hosts international visiting scholars, colloquia, conferences, and other events (See current events<\/a>) at the institute and its collections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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News \/\/ Events<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Annual reports <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 1997, the Department of Anthropology and African Studies has published annual reports, since 2008 also in English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reports provide information about the institute and its individual employees, the various institutions, degree programmes, funded research projects, doctorates and habilitations, events and conferences, publications and lectures, cooperations, scholarship students and international guests, courses, completed B.A., M.A. and Magister theses as well as current student numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Managing editors: Matthias Krings, Konstanze N'Guessan and Christine Weil (2025); Bianca Baumann and Christine Weil (2024); Nico Nassenstein, Franziska Reiffen and Christine Weil (2023); Franziska Reiffen (2022); Hauke Dorsch (2021); Nico Nassenstein, Friederike Vigeland and Christine Weil (2020); Tom Simmert and Christine Weil (2019); Karla D\u00fcmmler and Eva Riedke (2018); Franziska Reiffen (2017); Afra Schmitz (2016); Konstanze N'Guessan (2014-2015); Anja Oed (2002-2013)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Jahresbericht 2019 \/ Annual Report for 2019<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2018 \/ Annual Report for 2018<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2017 \/ Annual Report for 2017<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2016 \/ Annual Report for 2016<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2015 \/ Annual Report for 2015<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2014 \/ Annual Report for 2014<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2013 \/ Annual Report for 2013<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2012 \/ Annual Report for 2012<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2011 \/ Annual Report for 2011<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2010 \/ Annual Report for 2010<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Jahresbericht 2009 \/ Annual Report for 2009<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2008 \/ Annual Report for 2008<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2007<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2006<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2005<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Jahresbericht 2004<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
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The institute was founded in 1946 as the Department of Anthropology (Institute f\u00fcr Ethnologie) when the Johannes Gutenberg University was re-established . From 1947 to 1956, it was headed by Adolf Friedrich<\/a>; his assistant was Erika Sulzmann<\/a>. Between 1951 and 1954, Sulzmann conducted one of the first German ethnographic research trips after the Second World War, carrying out fieldwork among the Ekonda and Bolia in the Belgian Congo (today Dem. Rep. Congo). She developed both the library and the ethnographic collection and ensured the continuity in African research at the institute during the many personnel changes in the following years. After Friedrich's death in 1956, Wilhelm Emil M\u00fchlmann<\/a>, who had held an adjunct professorship (\"Di\u00e4tendozentur\") for Sociology and Ethnic Psychology at the Institute since 1950, took over the management of the institute in 1957. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

M\u00fchlmann left the institute in 1960 to take up a professorship in Heidelberg. His was succeeded by Karl Jettmar<\/a>, whose regional focus was on Asia. Only three years later, in 1964, Jettmar followed M\u00fchlmann to Heidelberg. It was only after this that African Studies developed into a key focus in Mainz. Eike Haberlandinitially initially became head of<\/a>the institute, but in 1968 he accepted a professorship in cultural and ethnological studies at the University of Frankfurt am Main, along with the directorship of the Frobenius Institute. In 1969, Ernst Wilhelm M\u00fcller<\/a>, who had participated as a student in Erika Sulzmann\u2019s Congo expedition and later completed his habilitation with M\u00fchlmann in Heidelberg, was appointed to a professorship in Mainz and became head of the institute. In the same year, the \u201cChair of Comparative Cultural Studies\u201d at Johannes Gutenberg University was converted into a \u201cProfessorship for Culture and Society in Africa\u201d and integrated into the Department of Anthropology. From 1974, this professorship was held by sociologist Gerhard Grohs<\/a>, who further developed the sociological orientation initiated by M\u00fchlmann. After Grohs retired, Thomas Bierschenk<\/a> was appointed to the professorship in 1997, now renamed \u201cProfessorship for Cultures and Societies in Africa.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following M\u00fcller's appointment, the institute was named the \"lnstitut f\u00fcr Ethnologie\". In 1975, it was renamed the \"Institut f\u00fcr Ethnologie und Afrikastudien\" (Department of Anthropology and African Studies) to reflect the presence of a second discipline at the institute: African Languages and Linguistics (formerly African Philology). In 1984, the institute was expanded once more with the addition of a new professorship, to which Ivo Strecker<\/a> was appointed. In 1987 Karl-Heinz Kohl<\/a> succeeded M\u00fcller. When Kohl transferred in 1996 to the Institute of Historical Ethnology and the Frobenius Institute in Frankfurt, the position was temporarily filled until Carola Lentz<\/a> was appointed as his successor in 2002. She held the professorship in Anthropology until her retirement in 2019. The position was then converted into a junior professorship in Anthropology with a focus on Political Anthropology (tenure track), to which Franziska Fay<\/a> was appointed in 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The position held by Ivo Strecker was converted into a professorship in \"Anthropology and African Popular Culture\", after his retirement, and has been held by Matthias Krings<\/a> since 2005. In 2016, Heike Drotbohm<\/a> was appointed to a Heisenberg Professorship in Anthropology with a focus on \"African Diaspora and Transnationalism\" and in 2019, following the retirement of Thomas Bierschenk, she succeeded him. The professorship in Anthropology with a focus on \u201cAesthetics,\u201d newly established in 2017, was filled by Markus Verne.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The teaching of African Languages and Linguistics in Mainz began in 1946 with Eugen Ludwig Rapp, Professor of Christian Oriental Studies at the Protestant Theological Faculty. However, a separate professorship at the Department of Anthropology was only institutionalised after Rapp's retirement in 1972 - at that time under the name \"African Philology\", which was filled by the Bantuist Leo Stappers in 1974. Following his death in 1977, Paul de Wolf (Bantu and Sudanic languages, orature) succeeded him in 1978 and held the position until 1982. His successor, Norbert Cyffer, held the professorship for ten years, from 1984 to 1994, before accepting an appointment in Vienna. From 1996, the position was held by Raimund Kastenholz<\/a> (Mande, Adamawa), who retired in 2018. The renaming of the chair to \u201cAfrican Languages and Linguistics\u201d took place with the appointment of Nico Nassenstein<\/a> (Bantu) in 2017. While Kastenholz focused on typology and functional grammar, Nassenstein primarily works in sociolinguistics, giving African Linguistics in Mainz a new direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the framework of the Rhine-Main Universities Alliance (RMU<\/a>), which includes the African Studies institutes at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and Technical University Darmstadt, Nico Nassenstein, in cooperation with Axel Fleisch, who has held the professorship in African Studies at the Frankfurt institute since 2018, has developed a new B.A. programme in African Languages, Media, and Communication. By combining the courses of the two institutes, it is possible to provide a broader range of African languages and content (sociolinguistics, anthropological linguistics). However, empirical linguistics remains a core competence taught to the students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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