Scholarships

Lisbeth and Erich Böckler Grant

The Böckler Mare Balticum Foundation awards the Lisbeth and Erich Böckler Grant annually. The name of the grant commemorates its founders, the architects Dr Erich Böckler and his wife Lisbeth Böckler, who started the foundation in 1977 to support research and science on art culture in the Baltic Sea Region with a focus on the Baltic states and their European connections. The grant is first and foremost for doctoral candidates and postdocs (in the first two years after graduation) from the Baltic States who focus on art history or a related subject. The main purpose of the grant is to improve these young academics’ knowledge of the German language as well as to support them in their research and networking. In accordance with the founders’ intentions, the grant aims to promote academic exchange and research in the field of art and cultural history, focusing on visual aspects related to the Baltic Sea Region. It funds study periods of a maximum of three months; two months are possible under certain circumstances. Recipients are expected to stay in Germany for the duration of the study visit and attend a German course during that period; they should also take advantage of institutes relevant to their research (e.g. museums, research centres, or libraries).

A maximum of €8,500 is awarded per grant. This covers flights to and from Germany, a language course (4–8 weeks), a monthly allowance of €1,200, and a budget of €2,500 for travelling within Germany. The application should include the following documents:

• Curriculum vitae and list of publications

• Short abstract of the research project containing a list of institutions to be visited and people to be contacted (about 1 page)

• Project plan and cost breakdown

• References of representatives of the fields of science and culture in Germany whom the applicant wants to contact during their stay (with a brief explanation of why)

• Letter of recommendation

• If applicable: proof of German language ability

2024

Gabrielė Radzevičiūtė, Vilnius
Lisbeth und Erich Böckler-Stipendium, 01. September - 31. Oktober 2024

Doktorandin der Kunstgeschichte, Vilnius Academy of Arts. Forschungen zu “The Overshadowed Everyday in Lithuanian Art of the Interwar Period” sowie Vorträge: "Art and Politics: The Migration of Images and Ideas between the Weimar Republic and Interwar Lithuania", Internationale Konferenz "Kulturbeziehungen zwischen Deutschland und den baltischen Ländern 1850-1950", Eutiner Landesbibliothek, 10.-13. Okt. 2024 sowie GWZO Leipzig. Gespräche zu eventuell zukünftigen Ausstellungsprojekten, u.a. mit Berlinische Galerie. Archivforschungen im Hygiene Museum Dresden.
4-wöchiger Intensivsprachkurs (A.1 und A.2) am Goethe-Institut Berlin sowie im Anschluss ein 2-wöchiger Onlinekurs (A.3).

“The scholarship of the Böckler-Mare-Balticum Foundation was an excellent opportunity to research the cultural relations between Lithuania and Germany and to get acquainted with the archives of German museums and libraries. It was also an opportunity to establish cultural contacts with German professionals and to learn German, which is important for future projects.”


Alumni 2017–2019

Liisa-Helena Lumberg, Tallinn (Estonia)
Art historian

21 October – 15 December 2019

Doctoral candidate at the Estonian Art Academy (EKA) in Tallinn under Prof. Dr Krista Kodres. Visiting researcher (Böckler Mare Balticum Foundation Fellow) at the Chair of Art History of Eastern Europe / Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte, Humboldt University. After a one-month intensive language course at the Goethe Insitute, she visited Berlin libraries to work on her literature research for her dissertation on Estonian/German Baltic art history in the first half of the 19th century: Kunstwerke als Wissensproduktion – die Rolle und Absicht der Bilder Art works as knowledge production – the role and purpose of images. Subsequently she undertook several short study trips: to Dresden (art collections), Marburg (Herder-Institute, Foto Marburg) and Hamburg (Kunsthalle, etc.).

Kristina Joekalda, Tallinn (Estonia)
Art historian

3 September – 29 November 2018

Visiting researcher (Böckler Mare Balticum Foundation Fellow) at the Chair of Art History of Eastern Europe / Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte, Humboldt University. Research for the dissertation “Local and National in the 19th-century Baltic Heritage Discourse”, and participation in academic events with her own contributions: “Cherishing and Destruction of Monuments: Heritage Preservation in the Baltic Provinces during the Long 19th Century” (Tallinn, 2–7 October 2018, Conference by AK Theorie und Lehre der Denkmalpflege, AKTLD); “Identity Construction through Architectural Monuments: Some Insights into Baltic Heritage Preservation in the 19th Century” (Lüneburg, Nordost-Institut, 20–23 October 2018); “Monuments as a Responsibility: Baltic-German Discussions on Architectural Heritage around 1900” (HU Berlin, 31 October 2018, Fellow Talk). Participant in the 2018 Homburger Gespräch in München. 8-week evening course at the Goethe-Institute in Berlin.

Dr Ula Tornau, Vilnius (Lithuania)
Art historian

27 January – 9 March 2018
28 October – 11 December 2018

Two 4-week intensive language courses at the Goethe Institute in Berlin. Research visits to several institutes on the topic of “Post-socialist Public Spaces”, to institutions including the Institute for Slavic Studies (Humboldt University Berlin), German Institute for Urban Studies (Difu, Berlin), Bauhaus Institute for History and Theory of Architecture and Planning, the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, Research Center East Europe (University Bremen), and the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO), Leipzig. The aim of her research and talks with other researchers at the institutes was to establish a network and to develop a topic for a postdoctoral research project.

Dr art Baiba Vanaga, Riga (Latvia)
Art historian

8-week intensive language course at the Goethe Institute in Berlin in combination with frequent visits to archives, research centres and numerous museums. Further research stays in Lüneburg, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Darmstadt, Frankfurt am Main, Düsseldorf, Münster, Bremen, Worpswede, Odenburg, Dresden, Leipzig, Coburg, and Stuttgart. Final presentation “Diletantinnen oder Pionierinnen? Künstlerinnen in Lettland von der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts bis 1915” Dilettantes or Pioneers? Female Artists in Latvia from the Middle of the 19th Century to 1915 at the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern

Europe (GWZO) at the University Leipzig.

“Im Allgemeinen war mein Aufenthalt in Deutschland ausgezeichnet. Ich konnte innerhalb meines Aufenthaltes von drei Monaten die nützlichen Informationen für meine weiteren Forschungen gewinnen. Ich werde die neu erworbenen Materialien in den kommenden Monaten nutzen, um meine Monographie über die Künstlerinnen Lettlands von der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts bis 1915 zu vervollständigen. Ein ernsthafter Vorteil in Bezug auf Kontakte wurde ebenfalls erreicht – ich bekam die Anfrage von Frau Dr. Wilhelmi einen Beitrag für die Zeitschrift “Nordost-Archiv” für das Jahr 2019 zu schreiben.” (On the whole, my stay in Germany was excellent. During my stay of three months I was able to obtain the necessary information for my further research. I will use this newly found material to complete my monograph on the female artists of Latvia from the middle of the 19th centruy until 1915. I also obtained a real boost in terms of new contacts – I received a request from Dr Wilhelmi to write a contribution to the magazine Nordost-Archiv for the year 2019.)