Revolution ohne Kiel und ohne Revolution – Die quantitativ-theoretische Geographie in Erlangen

• Main Author: K. Paulus
• Format: Article
• Language: deu
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2017-10-01
• Series: Geographica Helvetica
• Online Access: https://www.geogr-helv.net/72/393/2017/gh-72-393-2017.pdf

This article aims at expanding the predominant narrative of a <q>Quantitative Revolution</q> in German-speaking geography, to develop a more complex and multifaceted perspective on this chapter of the discipline's history. For this purpose, I take a closer look at the institute of geography in Erlangen. Eugen Wirth, the long-term chair holder in Erlangen, argued that here, in contrast to the majority of other institutes, the implementation of quantitative methods started in 1932, when Walter Christaller submitted his thesis: <q>Central Places in Southern Germany</q>. According to Wirth a dissertation supervised by him in 1969 was a further step towards the use of quantitative methods. I argue that Wirth made a significant contribution to the debate on quantitative theoretical geography in Germany with his textbook <q>Theoretical Geography</q> published in 1979, although the book was subsequently criticised and strongly rejected by Bartels and others as a <q>conservative embrace</q>. <br><br> By examining this local negotiation process, I develop one of many narratives, that stand opposed to a unified account with which the general assembly of geographers in 1969 and Bartels' <q>Geographie des Menschen</q> uniquely motivated the abandonment of the concept of <q>Länderkunde</q>.