27 October 2026, Entangled Worlds: Central Europe and North America in the Long Eighteenth Century

Book presentation: Verflochtene Welten. Mitteleuropa und Nordamerika im langen 18. Jahrhundert

Mark Häberlein (University of Bamberg) in conversation with Magnus Ressel (Heidelberg University)

How closely were Central Europe and North America tied together before 1800, and where did those ties hold, shift or break? Mark Häberlein’s new book follows the migrants, networks and mutual perceptions that linked the German-speaking lands with North America across the long eighteenth century. He wrote the book during his 2024/25 fellowship at the Historisches Kolleg and at the Käte Hamburger Research Centre global dis:connect.

By 1800, around 100,000 people from the German-speaking regions and Switzerland had crossed the Atlantic, and some 30,000 German soldiers had fought in the American War of Independence. In Central Europe, statesmen, merchants, scholars and writers followed the rise of the United States closely. They did so from a distance and often through delayed or selective information.

Häberlein combines social, economic, intellectual, political and religious history to trace these entanglements. He looks at how migration shaped merchant and religious networks, and at how a distinct German-American culture took shape, especially in Pennsylvania. The book also shows how migration helped create pluralist societies in Britain’s North American colonies.

Mark Häberlein will discuss the book with Magnus Ressel. Roland Wenzlhuemer (LMU Munich, global dis:connect) and Nicole Bayer (Consul for Public Diplomacy) will open the evening with brief welcoming remarks.

Venue: Historisches Kolleg, Kaulbachstraße 15, 80539 Munich

Date: 27 October 2026, 19:00-20:30

Doors open at 6:30 pm, and admission is possible until the event begins. Seating is limited.
The event will be documented by photo and video. By attending, you consent to the recording and to its use in the Historisches Kolleg’s public relations work.