Prof. Dr. Matthias Wemhoff, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte
Gisela Graichen
Dr. Benedikt Goebel

The authors Gisela Graichen and Matthias Wemhoff will be presenting their joint book "Gründerzeit 1200. Wie das Mittelalter unsere Städte erfand", which will be published by Ullstein Verlag on 31.10.24, at PETRI Berlin, followed by a discussion with the audience. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Benedikt Goebel, who will contribute his expertise as an experienced urban researcher.

About the book:

The year 1200 - the dawn of the modern world

The new, modern age swept through the medieval world like a hurricane. An unprecedented spirit of invention developed in the centers. The massive urban boom ushered in an era of unprecedented boldness and creativity.

A time to which we owe ingenious everyday inventions such as spectacles, compasses and clockwork and breathtaking buildings such as Gothic cathedrals. The bourgeoisie was born with the urban revolution around 1200.

Based on the latest archaeological findings, Gisela Graichen and Matthias Wemhoff paint a previously unknown picture of the founding period of the cities in which we live today - from the first town halls to the secret superpower of the Hanseatic League, from the invention of environmental protection and city management to the upheavals in education and medicine. Above all, however, they tell very closely about the people who once founded the new "age of cities".

Gisela Graichen
is an author and director and is best known for her TV shows "Schliemann's Heirs" and "Terra X".

Matthias Wemhoff
is Director of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History at the Berlin State Museums and also Berlin's state archaeologist.

After the event, the book can be purchased directly on site and signed by the two authors.

Participation free of charge
Registration required at veranstaltungenPETRI@smb.spk-berlin.de