The recent resurgence of interest in the history of the phenomenological movement has shown that these women were not marginal figures, but important contributors to the development of phenomenology. Researchers have also unearthed the names of other female students of Husserl, Th. Lipps, and Pfänder, whose relations to phenomenology deserve further consideration. A number of these women stand out, such as Erika Gothe and Margarete Ortmann (who studied in Göttingen), Margarete Calinich and Else Voigtländer (Munich), and Erica Sehl and Amelie Jaegerschmid (Freiburg).
Current research at the Center HWPS focuses on the unpublished writings of Hedwig Conrad-Martius and Gerda Walther. Our aim is to publish new, critical editions of some of their key texts, which will include relevant supplementary materials from their literary estates. We are also attempting to map the early phenomenological movement, looking at the place of women in this intellectual and social network.
The Nachlass (ˈnaːxlas; literary estate) of Hedwig Conrad-Martius is held by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (BSB) in Munich, and catalogued under the signature Conrad-Martiusiana. It is comprised of 47 large and 8 smaller boxes of manuscripts, lecture notes, photographs, correspondence, etc., as well as her personal philosophical library.
A complete description (in German) of Hedwig Conrad-Martius’ literary estate can be found in Eberhard Avé-Lallemant’s Die Nachlässe der Münchener Phänomenologen in der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek (1975), which you can access online here. Or you can browse our online manuscript index (in progress) below.
A. Manuscripts [Manuskripte]
B. Notes and Commentaries [Exzerpte und Literaturangaben]
C. Correspondence [Korrespondenz]
D. Personalia
E. Articles and reviews about Conrad-Martius [Artikel und Rezensionen über Conrad-Martius]
F. Manuscripts by other authors [Fremde Manuskripte]
G. Reprints and newspaper-clippings of other authors [Fremde Sonderdrucke und Zeitungsausschnitte]
H . Personal Library [Bibliothek]
The Nachlass of Gerda Walther is divided between the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (BSB) in Munich (signature Ana 317) and the Institut für Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene (IGPP) in Freiburg. Ana 317 is comprised of 130 large boxes and 20 additional folders. The collection at the IGPP contains a small portion of Walther’s personal correspondence. Below is an overview of the contents of Ana 317.
Table of Contents
A. Manuscripts [Eigenes Werk / Manuskripte]
B. Personalia
C. Correspondence [Briefe]
D. Material on Parapsychology [Material zur Parapsychologie]
E. Philosophy and Science [Archiv zu Philosophie und Wissenschaften]
F. Contemporary History [Archiv zur Zeitgeschichte]
G. Reprints [Sonderdrucke]
H. Personal Library [Bibliothek]
I. Newspapers [Zeitschriften]
The Nachlass of Edith Stein is kept at the Edith-Stein-Archiv, Karmel Maria vom Frieden, in Cologne (ESAK). Between 2005 and 2007, the manuscripts of Stein (approximately 25,000 pages) were digitized, stored on microfilms, and catalogued in an electronic database. Some of the scans can be viewed here.
Prof. Dr. Ronny Miron (Bar-Ilan University)
Prof. Dr. Antonio Calcagno (King’s University College, Western University)
Prof. Dr. Hans Rainer Sepp (Charles University, Prague)
Dr. Mette Lebech (Maynooth University, Dublin)
Dr. Thomas Vongehr (Husserl Archives, KU Leuven)
Dr. Rodney Parker (Dominican University College)
Christian Meineke (Center HWPS, Paderborn University)
Tuesdays 10 am -12 am
Thursdays 10 am -12 am
and by appointment.
These archive materials are available at the Center HWPS.
All interested parties are welcome.
The Center History of Women Philosophers and Scientists (Paderborn University, Germany) in cooperation with the Department of Philosophy (Maynooth University, Ireland) held an international online conference, organised by Mette Lebech and Ruth E. Hagengruber, on Stein’s and Husserl’s Intertwined Itineraries 1916-25 with focus on Ideas II from May 20-21, 2021.
Edith Stein attempted already in her doctorate to complement Husserl’s work on phenomenology by a painstaking analysis of empathy including its indispensable role in the constitution of the psycho-physical individual and the person. As Husserl’s assistant 1916-18, she famously edited in particular his Ideas II, perhaps introducing within it a view of this relationship foreign to Husserl’s. This conference attempts to shed light on this matter by bringing into focus the integrity and coherence of their respective contributions in advance of the appearance of the new and revised edition of Ideas II. The focus of this conference and its theme are on Husserl and Stein’s respective understanding of the constitution of the body, and its importance for intersubjectivity and transcendental phenomenology.
View the conference page.