The 18 authors in this volume, which presents the fruits of a conference of the German Historical Institute in Rome, are specialists in history, archaeology, musicology and art history. Their joint concern is to delineate how Italy was experienced, perceived, presented and evaluated in the German-speaking culture of the 19th century. From the different perspectives of the various disciplines represented, the articles both reflect the biographical constellations and the institutional parameters involved and study the experiences of Italy gathered in the risorgimento period not only by scholars, journalists and artists but also by craftsmen and beggars, examining the preconditions and the effects of those experiences against the backdrop of the history of ideas.

This public lecture is staged annually in memory of the ecclesiastic historian Hans Lietzmann (1875-1942), Adolf von Harnacks's successor as director of the Academy project The Greek Christian Authors of the First Centuries (GDS). The invited speaker is an internationally renowned scholar from the field of archeology, classical studies, history of religion, and patristics. The lectures address central topics of the history of ancient religion that are of relevance to the present day.