Humboldt Forum

What the Humboldt Brothers have to do with the Humboldt Forum.

Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt are the namesakes of the Humboldt Forum. Their biographies, works, points of view, as well as the circumstances in which they lived build a compelling relationship with the Humboldt Forum – starting with the brothers’ early lives, growing up near the palace and the royal family. Their later travels, Alexander’s nature studies, and Wilhelm’s language studies not only illuminate the “interconnected system of nature and culture”, they often prove to be astonishingly relevant: What does language mean for living together in a society? In what ways do we acquire knowledge and what responsibilities come with this knowledge? How do we address the colonial contexts of the past as well as of the present?

The Humboldt brothers’ insights about the interconnected world, the spirit of their research, their curiosity and their cosmopolitanism inspire the Humboldt Forum’s artistic and scientific programme. This book connects the works of the brothers with the cultural institution named after them – and dares to take a new look at these two famous scholars’ wide-ranging cosmos of ideas through text and image.