Digital Edition and Annotation of the Diary of Prince Christian II of Anhalt-Bernburg (1599-1656)

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The diary which Prince Christian II of Anhalt-Bernburg (1599-1656) kept between 1621 and 1656 does not only illustrate as a key document the history of the Thirty Years’ War and its aftermath, it is for other reasons as well one of the most valuable personal testimonies of this troubled period of history in comparison with other autobiographical writings. The vast range of subjects addressed, the sophisticated language and rhetoric, but also the author’s attempt to analyse and lay open his innermost thoughts and emotions clearly distinguish it from similar sources. It provides us with an enormous amount of multifaceted information and source materials that will certainly inspire further and deeper research on this period when the diary becomes more accessible. It is important for the history of the self and subjectivity, the political and military history of the period but also of social change and ordinary life. Other areas of research which can benefit from the diary are the history of the nobility as a class, the history of language and literature and culture in general, religious history and that of confessional identities, and finally the history of emotions and of dreams. It has for a long time been recognized that it is highly desirable to publish the diary. The technical tools which are now available in the form of a digital edition, finally give us a chance to publish the diary at an affordable price and in a form which nevertheless meets all the academic standards andwhich will provide the reader with a wealth of information and material in the form of – inter alia – facsimile scans in colour, critical comments including explanatory notes for events, place names etc. and maps. Such an edition will ensure that the historian but also a wider public interested in the 17th century will gain access to autobiographical material on a much wider scale than so far, comparable to what is already available for other European countries (in particular for France). An important gap in the available range of sources will thus be closed.