Between 1750 and 1950, numerous processes of political transformation took place. Furthermore, economic change and upheaval due to industrialization and the mechanization of agriculture as well a general societal change influenced the deployment in town and country. Within this framework, the project deals with country houses as places in which these kinds of changes were negotiated and consummated – be it because of a different material setting after 1806, the growing conflicts between estate owners and communities after 1900 or due to debates about land reform, restitution and monument conservation after 1945 or rather 1990. The transformation of society is an open-ended process which this project intends to study not in urban centres but with special attention to the countryside.

By “country house” we understand a representative complex of buildings at a distance from an urban setting, embedded into local society and economy, often highly visible and not seldom a space for meeting and negotiation.

The project makes use of a broad range of archival material. This includes not only family and estate archives but also municipal and other public records. By drawing together research areas hitherto unconnected in terms of chronology, language and focal points and by relying on dynamic comparisons and transregional network analysis, we want to tell an unusual story of the transformation of landscape, society, economy and the state.

The project is a third-party funded project and is being financed by the Irene and Sigurd Greven Foundation, Cologne.