Dorothee Brantz to Deliver 11th Gerda Henkel Lecture Tour
September 11, 2025
The Pacific Office of the German Historical Institute Washington is pleased to announce the 11th Gerda Henkel Lecture Tour, organized in partnership with the Gerda Henkel Foundation. Since 2018, this distinguished lecture series has brought German historians to the West Coast of North America, fostering dialogue and exchange with colleagues and audiences in the United States and Canada.
This year’s lecture tour features Dorothee Brantz, an urban environmental historian and director of the Center for Metropolitan Studies at the Technische Universität Berlin. She will speak at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver), the University of Alberta (Edmonton), and the University of Victoria.
Brantz’s lecture, Urban Seasonalities: Time, Culture, and the Environment in Summer Resorts and Winter Cities around 1900 and Today, asks timely and thought-provoking questions: Climate change is one of the greatest challenges cities face worldwide—but is this phenomenon, and its impact on urban life, as recent as it seems? How are climate, weather, and the seasons related, and how have they shaped the urban experience in the past compared to today?
Drawing on her expertise in urban environmental history, Brantz will explore the seasonal rhythms of cities, from Canadian winter metropolises to Central European summer resorts (Sommerfrische). Through this comparative lens, she will also reflect on the broader relationship between time and urban history.
About the Speaker
Dorothee Brantz received her Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago in 2003. Her research focuses on transatlantic urban history, human-animal relations, and the social theory of time in urban studies. She is currently completing a book project on the seasons in the city around 1900 and 2000. Her most recent publication on this subject is “Why Study the Seasons?” (Journal of Urban History 51, January 2025, 81–91).
About the Gerda Henkel Lecture Series
The Gerda Henkel Lecture Series was established in 2018 by the Pacific Office of the German Historical Institute Washington in cooperation with the Gerda Henkel Foundation. Each year, the series brings leading German historians to the West Coast to present their latest research and to engage in conversations with diverse academic and public audiences across North America.
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
October 21 | 12:30 PM – 1:50 PM PT | Buchanan Tower 1112 & Zoom
University of Alberta, Edmonton
October 24 | 2 – 3:30 PM PT | JCSU Theatre
October 29 | 1:30 – 2:50 PM PT | Clearihue B215
Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
October 30 | 10:30 AM PT
