Gerald Schwedler and Ulrich Müller open the conference
 

The Middle Ages are not only an era of city foundations. Many towns already grew beyond their original boundaries in the late Middle Ages with the construction of new quarters or entire “new towns”. Old cities, gradual city extensions or even “new cities” had to be enabled to functionally interact in light of political, social and economic challenges. Experts from Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic met in Kiel from 9-11 June upon the invitation of the Urban ROOTS subcluster to exchange the latest findings on “Urban expansions and urban dynamics in the Middle Ages”. During the three-day conference, key topics included the material “footprint” of these complex processes, such as walls, streets, and buildings, as well as political and legal issues arising from urban expansions. The conference was successful in combining perspectives on the topography, architecture, constitution, economy and everyday culture of the city expansions in an interdisciplinary way. The contributions will be published in a conference volume.

Experts from Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic met in Kiel. Photo: Pawel Cembrzynski

The participants of the 3-day conference. Photo: Pawel Cembrzynski