The popular use of the term "humanistic" in everyday language makes it easy to forget that research on historical humanism involving its protagonists, its effect on schools and universities, literature, art, politics and the church had been minimal for a long time in Germany. The National Socialists rigorously stopped the study of humanism, although it was carried on in other countries. Even after the war, it took a very long time before humanism research was resumed. A special initiative emerged in 1997, when the historians Professor Notker Hammerstein, Professor Johannes Helmrath, Professor Dieter Mertens, Professor Ulrich Muhlack, Professor Anton Schindling and Professor Gerrit Walther got together to conduct a large-scale research project. Their aim was to bring the topic back into research discussion and the canon of modern education knowledge.

With the support of the Gerda Henkel Foundation, they made an inventory of existing knowledge in the following years and developed a contemporary definition of humanism based on the latest research. Above all, they promoted future specialists by initiating and supervising numerous dissertations. Regular working meetings for the scholarship holders as well as for foreign guests led to a network of scholars of different generations, research areas and interests. The research group also organized international symposia in 1998, 2001 and 2005 for extensive focus analyses.

We have talked with the former project coordinator, Professor Walther, about the importance of good work relations, the "lifespan" of conference publications and his memories of working together with the Gerda Henkel Foundation.