Länderkunde
From Geography
In the history of regional geography, German geography features as one of the major early contributors to the development of the subject (Wardenga, 2006). A lot of German scientiest, such as Carl Ritter, Alexander von Humboldt, Ferdinand von Richthofen, Albrecht Penck, Friedrich Ratzel, Hermann Wagner, Joseph Partsch, Alfred Hettner or Alfred Philippson are involved with the Germen form of regional geography. It is called Länderkunde. Länderkunde is not automatically identical with regional geography. Although both terms have often been treated as synonyms in Germany since the early 20th century, regional geography has always been a more formal concept, less burdened with expectations (Wardemga, 2006).
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Chorolocal geography
An important moment in the history of Landerkunde was the introduction of chorological geography by Alfred Hettner. He claimed that there was no difference between human and physical geography. Variety to space and spatial coherance were important in space. Hettner assumed that the subject of a geography oriented towards Länderkunde was the entire earth as a complex of areas of different size (Wardenga, 2006).
Landschaft
The German Länderskunde gained more attention after the first world war. The focus of the Länderskunde shifted from holistic overview to a approach that was more focused on people’s own environment. The term ‘Landschaft’ (landscape) was born. Landscape became a symbol for the interaction of the most varied geographical factors in a particular place. By using the term ‘landschaft’, researchers could the intersubjectivity of the old way of geography. They also became able to avoid the difficult methodological ideas on the logical ordering of the complex material, created by Hettner.
References
- Wardenga, U., (2006). German geographycal thought and the development of Länderkunde. Inforgeo, 18/19, Lisboa, Edições Colibri, 2006, pp. 127-147
Contributors
- page created by Stef Tomesen--StefTomesen 14:52, 24 October 2012 (UTC)
