Two Decades of Armenian Studies in Germany

Further achievements include the rich contributions made by the center through its scientific publications, its educational trips to Armenia and six outstanding exhibitions it organized, all with accompanying catalogues. Two remarkable publications van Lint singled out were the Middle Armenian Dictionary and a project for translation of Sharakans or hymns.

The list is indeed impressive. Yet, van Lint singled out one of the official aims of the center which has not yet been realized: the establishment of an official professorial chair for Armenian studies. Speaking from his vantage point as current holder of the only chair for Armenian studies in Great Britain, “and as holder of these all-too-few chairs overall,” van Lint said he could sense “the holes in our research, holes which can be filled only by area specialists whose broad knowledge is combined with a rich orientation in the interdisciplinary sphere.” For this, a proper professorial chair is “indispensable.” He said he “would like to go to bat here for a chair dedicated to the Armenian language, philology, history and culture, so that specialists can be educated who will be able to assume the enormous task of making Armenian culture in the broadest sense accessible to those interested,” whether they be diplomats, politicians or the general public. In this connection, van Lint also made the highly relevant point that in an era of “globalization,” where “area studies,” like “Asian studies,” “Caucasus studies,” etc. abound, it is imperative to make sure that “competence in the individual language and cultures not be lost or watered down.”

The revolutionary developments in Armenia have created a new situation in which these and many other challenges can be met. Voskanyan from the American University of Armenia developed this theme in his keynote address, “Armenia in 2018: Realities and Perspectives,“ which provided the transition from the evening’s relaxed and festive mood to the spirit of scientific research that would dominate the following day’s agenda. As the speaker related his eye-witness account of the “Velvet Revolution,“ images of the historic events took shape in the mind of every listener.

Voskanyan described and analyzed single scenes, presented the social mechanisms at work, as well as the political and social structures shaping the revolution, and located them in their historical context, and in this way identified the grounds for such radical change in the country. Voskanyan offered a glimpse of Armenia’s future political course in light of various expectations and hopes, while never losing sight of the possible dangers.

A Scholarship Can Change a Life

How better to portray the hopes for the future than to share the experience of a young student of that generation preparing to contribute to the new Armenia? Gohar Khachatryan-Sargsyan is the first alumna of a special scholarship program for students from Armenia, which is offered in the context of the agreement between Saxony-Anhalt and Armenia. In her moving “thank-you” speech, she recalled the difficulties the country endured after independence and the Karabakh war, particularly the toll taken on education. When she found out she was the recipient of the first scholarship to study in Germany (1999-2000), she considered it nothing short of a miracle. “From the first day in Halle,” she said, “I felt as though I were in wonderland.” Everything she encountered seemed magical, the lectures were lively and her professors were eager to help. “I was finally satisfied with my studies, and I learned how to study, something I consider very important.” In addition to classroom work, she was able to take part in excursions and museum visits. One of them turned out to be decisive. In the Dresden Picture Gallery when she saw Raphael’s “Sistine Madonna,” she “was struck as if by lightening.” Although she had seen reproductions of Raphael’s works as a child, she had never imagined what the impact of the original would be. “Then I understood,” she said, “that I wanted to be an artist, not an art historian, because only an artist can produce something that moving even today.”

The young scholar (who is the daughter of a famous artist) emphasized the value of friendships she made during that year as well. She has begun artistic collaboration with one such new friend, the writer Daniela Danz, and the two are going to work on a literary film project, sponsored by the Goethe Institute in Gyumri, which will deal with the Armenian poet Sajat Nova. As a gesture of gratitude, she concluded by presenting the Martin Luther University with a painting of hers, titled “The Grandmother,” a portrait of “an elderly and wise Armenian woman.”

After the audience had returned to silence, a concert of German-Armenian music filled the air. Participants listened with rapt attention to the performance by singer Anahit Abgarjans (a sister of Drost-Abgarjan), Duduk player Araik Bartikians and organist Helene von Rechenbergs, who, in addition to a work by Johann Sebastian Bach, offered Armenian spiritual songs, hymns and folk songs. The wonderful music captivated the souls of those present, transporting them to distant fields, and filling them with optimism in the future. The evening ended with a reception, with fine cuisine and engaged discussions, all in anticipation of the working sessions planned for the second day.

Scholars in Dialogue

On October 19, educators and researchers from both countries engaged in a full day of scientific discussion and exchange. The conference panels illustrated the nature, vast range and high quality of the intellectual collaboration that has grown over the past two decades in Halle. Under the direction of Drost-Abgarjan, the first session heard presentations by Cornelia Horn (Halle) on “Armenian Studies in Germany,” Vahan Ter-Ghevondian (Yerevan) on “Non-Armenian Documents of Matenadaran” and Annegret Plantke-Lüning (Jena) on “The Role of German Scholars in Research on Armenia’s Material Cultural Heritage.”

In the afternoon session, chaired by Professor van Lint, Hacik Gazer (Erlangen-Nürnberg) spoke on “Germany as an Educational Center for Armenian Students in the 19th/20th Century,” Axel Meissner (Halle) on “Dr. Johannes Lepsius and the First Magazine of the German-Armenian Society Mesrop (1914)” and Ashot Galstyan (Yerevan) on “Armenian-German Relations in the First World War and 100 Years of the First Armenian Republic (1918-2018).” Professor Gazer led the final session, which heard papers by Franziska Knoll (Halle) on “The Highlands of Syunik – Petroglyphs and Summer Pastures over Millennia, by Meliné Pehlivanian (Berlin) on “Armenian Press History as Reflected in the State Library in Berlin” and by Thomas Buchholz (Halle) on “Komitas’s Compositional Work from the Perspective of His Music Studies in Germany.”

In her concluding remarks, Drost-Abjarjan cast her gaze to the future and the perspectives for Armenian studies in Germany.

The festivities and scholarly exchange in the historical setting had provided ample food for thought regarding precisely the future perspectives for this unique center of learning. Dr. André Höhn, a lecturer at the university, paused to reflect on a Greek script that decorates the ceiling of the university hall, a saying about life, which is all too brief, and art, which is eternal. Rendering the notion in a brighter light, he expressed his hope that the Mesrop Center would be granted both a long life and lasting impact.

(Muriel Mirak-Weissbach thanks Dr. André Höhn for having made his report on the two-day proceedings available for publication in this article. Höhn is a Lecturer at the seminar on the Christian Orient and Byzantium, of the Department of Oriental Studies, Mesrop Center.)