Communities Intertwined - Visualising Inscribed Space

The FWF project PREMISES (P 35635) assesses the strategies of (self-)representation of the monastic community of Klosterneuburg Abbey and its inscriptions. Some of them promote the community`s self-image to outsiders whereas others serve the self-representation and memoria of the late, mainly through grave monuments in the monastery; hence, an exchange between "inside" and "outside", monastic community and urban environment, becomes tangible. The TCS programme permits PREMISES to enhance their field of research and explore the epigraphic presence of the abbey in its urban environment as a complementary perspective. Inscriptions found on private property in Klosterneuburg (such as, e.g., texts commemorating the construction of a house) are usually hardly accessible, have not been systematically recorded, and are largely unknown to scholarship. First-hand knowledge about the existence and location of pre-modern inscriptions is, however, to be expected from the inhabitants themselves. By inviting these local experts to actively collaborate with the project team, CIVIS will collect and document the inscriptions of the town of Klosterneuburg up to 1800, and further process them in the context of the inscriptions of the Abbey. The project addresses the following questions: Which inscriptions (types of texts and artefacts) can be found in the town of Klosterneuburg and which forms and functions of monastic representation can be observed in the surrounding urban space? Can either similarities or differentiation of epigraphic habits of the abbey and town-dwellers be ascertained? Can conclusions be drawn about the relations between abbey and city in the period under investigation? Are there specifically monastic or urban features of the inscriptions? Thanks to the already existing cooperation of PREMISES with Klosterneuburg Abbey, numerous individuals and groups (for example school classes, parish councils, etc.) can be encouraged to participate in the project. With citizen scientists communicating relevant finds to the CIVIS staff, a completely new corpus of inscriptions is being created, which gathers previously inaccessible material and both considerably broadens the view of PREMISES and promotes the reflection of historical sources in public space among a wider local public. The academic staff primarily involved in the project alongside the already active PREMISES personnel, a CIVIS-funded PhD student who already has experience with science-to-public events will impart basic epigraphic knowledge in training workshops. As a result of the collaboration, an online directory will be created that documents and processes the collected inscriptions in the urban space and makes them openly accessible. Future studies on the history of the town of Klosterneuburg will extend the expertise of the citizen scientists beyond the project period in a sustainable manner.