Baltic | From Empire to Minority: Baltic Germans from Late Nineteenth Century to the 1930s
The Baltic Germans, their history and culture, have been studied extensively over the past century and more. Few topics in Baltic history over the longue durée can be written without including the Baltic Germans. Yet research on many topics involving them seems to be waning. Even definitions of Baltic Germanness remain varied. Although the term Deutschbalten itself came into wide use only in the latter decades of the nineteenth century, and we know that they defined themselves differently in different settings, these days their history is addressed primarily through contemporary Estonian, Latvian or German national perspectives.
While the narratives of nationalism, Balticness, and Russification are among the most studied topics in Baltic history and historiography, narratives of Germanness are less so. This conference seeks to draw attention to the most recent research on these issues and to put the arising questions in a new light. We seek to look anew at the position of the Baltic Germans between the Russian and German empires from the late nineteenth century until the late interwar period, when these former imperial elites had turned into mere minority groups in independent Estonia and Latvia.
In-betweenness was characteristic of the Baltic Germans in geographical, religious, political as well as ethnic terms. This is also compounded by the dichotomies of professional and popular scholarship, and of the Baltic Germans’ disciplinary and political ambitions. We are especially interested in new research on the “Baltic propaganda” of the early twentieth century promulgated by the Baltic Germans about this region elsewhere in Europe, including in Russia, which often disregarded the majority populations of the Baltic lands.
This an in-person event. In-Person Registration is Closed.
Call for Papers - CLOSED
Sponsors
Estonian Academy of Arts
University of Latvia
Yale University
Conference Organizing Team
Bradley Woodworth (Professor, University of New Haven; Baltic Studies Program Manager, Yale University)
Kristina Jõekalda (Associate Professor, Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn)
Gustavs Strenga (Associate Professor, Latvian Academy of Culture, Riga)
Ginta Ieva Bikše (Research Assistant, University of Latvia, Riga)
Carly Koebel (Senior Program Manager, Yale University, New Haven)
Conference Schedule
Friday, January 23, 2026
| 9:00am |
Welcome: Toms Ķencis, Vice-Dean for Research, Faculty of Humanities (University of Latvia)
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| 9:10am |
Introduction: Bradley Woodworth (University of New Haven; Yale University) Imperial Paragons to National Minority: Baltic Germans and the Challenges of Political Modernity |
| 9:30am |
Panel 1 Chair: Kristina Jõekalda (Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn) Kadi Kähär-Peterson (University of Tartu) The Never-born Baltia? Baltic German Responses to Harry Jannsen’s Call for Shared Baltic Identity Ivars Ijabs (University of Latvia) From Minority to Empire(s): Julius von Eckardt and the Baltic Perspectives on Imperial Geopolitics in the Late Nineteenth Century |
| 10:40am | Coffee Break |
| 10:55am |
Panel 2 Chair: Gustavs Strenga (Latvian Academy of Culture, Riga) Andris Levāns (University of Latvia) Medieval Livonia and Baltic German Self-Image: The Case of Historian Johannes Haller in the 1920s Mārtiņš Mintaurs (National Library of Latvia, Riga) A Colonial Self-Reflection? Baltic German Scholars and Discussions on the Architectural Heritage in Latvia (1908–1938) Helen Bome (independent scholar, Tallinn) The Demolition of the Wrangellsche Haus in Reval: The Changing Status and Coping Strategies of Baltic Germans |
| 12:40pm | Midday Break |
| 1:40pm |
Panel 3 Chair: Ginta Ieva Bikše (University of Latvia) Denis Smetanin (University of Hamburg; Nordost-Institut, Lüneburg) Between Tradition and Modernity? Uncertainty, Baltic Germans and the Municipal Reform in Riga, 1877 Olev Liivik (University of Tartu; Estonian Institute of Historical Memory, Tallinn) The Volhynian Germans in Interwar Estonia: A Marginal “Non-Community” among the Baltic Germans Rūdolfs Rubenis (University of Latvia; University of Latvia Museum) The Status of Baltic German Student Fraternities within the System of the University of Latvia (1920–1932): A National Issue |
| 3:25pm | Coffee Break |
| 3:40pm |
Panel 4 Chair: Baiba Vanaga (Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga) Ugis Sildegs (Luther Academy, Riga) Adolf von Harnack: A Baltic German Theologian Navigating Empire and Minority Identity, 1870s–1930s Kārlis Sils (Södertörn University, Stockholm) Contesting Baltic German Exceptionalism: Nationalization Policies in Authoritarian Latvia, 1934–1938 Rasa Pārpuce-Blauma (Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation) Strengthening Germanness through Historical Sources: The Influence of Nazi Germany on Latvian Museums and Archives in the 1930s Raivis Bičevskis (University of Latvia; Latvian Academy of Sciences) Erika Sehl at the Herder Institute in Riga and Beyond: The Fate of a Baltic German Philosopher in Interwar Latvia and Postwar Germany |
| 6:00pm | End of the Day |
Saturday, January 24, 2026
| 9:00am |
Panel 5 Chair: Gustavs Strenga (Latvian Academy of Culture) Kristiāna Ābele (Art Academy of Latvia, Riga; Latvian Academy of Sciences) Antagonistic Heralds of a Baltic Art Spring: Roderich von Engelhardt and Wilhelm Sawitzky as Art Critics at the Turn of the Twentieth Century Māra Grudule (University of Latvia; Latvian Academy of Sciences) Kurt von Löwenstern: A Baltic German Voice of Loss and Change |
| 10:10am | Coffee Break |
|
Panel 6 Chair: Kristina Jõekalda (Estonian Academy of Arts) Maris Saagpakk (Tallinn University) Reflections on the Estonian Emancipation Process in Baltic German Newspapers and Literary Texts in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century Marika Selga (University of Latvia; National Library of Latvia) Witnessing Radical Change: American Correspondents Reporting on Baltic Germans in 1914–1923 Iveta Leitane (Tallinn University) Alfons Heyking on Minority Politics in the Baltics |
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| 12:15pm | Midday Break |
| 1:15pm |
Panel 7 Chair: Bradley Woodworth (University of New Haven; Yale University) Nuppu Koivisto-Kaasik (University of Helsinki) Gender, Politics and Cultural Propaganda: Three Baltic German Women Composers in Interwar Germany Anja Wilhelmi (Nordost-Institut, Lüneburg) How to Find and Defend Germanness in Italy? Travel Experiences and National-cultural Self-identification of Baltic Germans on Their Travels to Italy, 1880–1940 |
| 2:25pm | Closing Discussion |
| 3:00pm | End of Conference |
- Humanity