Niels Gutschow Ordre des livres

The final chapter is dedicated to stone in modern art. The Surrealists of the 1920s were 'stricken with sculptural fever' when confronted with 'living stones'. André Breton explained his fascination in an essay titled 'The Language of Stone'.

Autor opisuje działalność niemieckich planistów przestrzennych, urbanistów, architektów, projektantów wnętrz i ich „obsesję porządkowania”, mającego służyć całkowitej germanizacji nowo opanowanych terenów. Jako przykłady podaje liczne projekty i realizacje, nieomawiane wcześniej w literaturze przedmiotu. Analizuje moralne aspekty tej pracy oraz aktywne zaangażowanie jej wykonawców w politykę okupacyjną i Zagładę. Śledzi losy konkretnych specjalistów zarówno podczas wojny, jak i po jej zakończeniu. An Order Obsession. German Architects’ Plans in Occupied Poland 1939–1945 The author explores the activities of German spatial and urban planners, architects and interior designers as well as their “order obsession”, which was to be used in the Germanisation of the newly subjugated territories. He provides numerous examples of projects and realisations which have not been discussed before in the subject literature. He analyses the moral aspects of this ordering work and the active engagement in occupation policy and the Holocaust of those implementing it. He follows the fates of particular specialists during and after the war.

The volume investigates the visualization of both ritual and decorative aspects of auspiciousness and protection in the form of celestial characters in art and architecture. In doing so, it covers more than two and a half millennia and a broad geographical area, documenting a practice found in nearly every corner of the world. Its transcultural approach aims at gaining insights into cultural dynamics and consistent networks and defining new historical mindmaps; it examines reciprocal effects and aspects of interwovenness in art and architecture with a view to reconceptualizing their established realms. The collection opens a window on a phenomenon in the history of art and architecture that has never before been considered from this perspective. The book focuses on a transcultural iconography of aerial spirits, goddesses and gods in art history, pursuing a methodologically innovative approach in order to redefine and develop the practice of identification and classification of motifs as a means to understanding meaning, and attempting to challenge the categories defined by academic disciplines.

This volume is the third and final installment examining Hindu and Buddhist life-cycle rituals among the Newars of Bhaktapur, Nepal. It integrates extensive fieldwork with the edition and translation of relevant ritual handbooks. Following the first two volumes, which focused on death and childhood rituals, this work centers on marriage rituals. It begins with an overview of marriage studies in Nepal, outlining key marriage rules for Hindu and Buddhist Newars, social hierarchies, and the challenges of endogamy and exogamy in Bhaktapur. The authors provide a detailed account of the marriage rituals, some of which are documented on an included DVD, and draw conclusions about the significance of these rituals within Newar society and Hinduism. Additionally, the texts utilized by Brahmin and Buddhist priests during these ceremonies are edited and translated. The volume includes comprehensive appendices featuring a list of ritual elements and mantras, along with a mantra and general index for all three volumes. This richly illustrated work has garnered acclaim in the scholarly community for its thorough ethno-indological study of major life-cycle rituals within this specific Hindu and Buddhist community.

The authors – an architectural historian (Niels Gutschow) and an indologist (Axel Michaels) – are presenting the second part of a trilogy of studies of life-cycle rituals in Nepal, carried out under the auspices of the Collaborative Research Centre “Dynamics of Ritual”. The initiation of boys and girls of both Hindus and Buddhists of the ethnic community of Newars in the Kathmandu Valley are documented. The first part of the book presents elements of Newar rituals, the spatial background of Bhaktapur and the hierarchy of ritual specialists – illustrated by 21 maps. The second part documents with detailed descriptions the. rst feeding of solid food, birthday rituals, and pre-puberty rituals like the first shaving of the hair, the boy’s initiation with the loincloth (in Buddhist and Hindu contexts), the girl’s marriage with the bel fruit and the girl’s seclusion. One girl’s marriage (Ihi) and three boy’s initiations (Kaytapuja) are documented on a DVD. The third part presents the textual tradition: local handbooks and manuals used by the Brahmin priest to guide the rituals. Two of these texts are edited and translated to demonstrate the function of such texts in a variety of contexts.

Die Kunst der Chitrakar, der Maler von Bhaktapur, beruht in einzigartiger Weise auf das von den Vätern erlernte Handwerk. In den Museen der Welt sind die charakteristischen newarischen Mandalas aus dem 14. - 19. Jahrhundert erhalten. Im Leben der Stadt haben die Maler ihre wichtige Rolle als Ritualspezialisten in ungebrochener Tradition erhalten können: Im Zeichen der jährlichen Erneuerungsrituale bemalen sie Tempel oder Brunnen und liefern den Haushalten die notwendigen kolorierten Blockdrucke. Sie sind aber auch Heiler, gebieten durch Körperbemalung Hautkrankheiten Einhalt. Schließlich sind sie vertraut mit den Chakren, den Mittelpunkten psychischer Energie im Körper. Das Buch präsentiert einen Überblick über Blockdrucke und Bildwerke der letzten 35 Jahre, Details aus Vorlagebüchern des 19. Jahrhunderts und moderne Versionen von Chakra Darstellungen.

Klappentext: „Achtsamkeit ist der Schlüssel, der zur Erkenntnis, zur Erlösung und letztendlich zur völligen Erleuchtung führt“. Die Lehre des Buddha zeigt den Weg dorthin. Kompetente Autoren breiten die Lehre aus und weisen für Deutschland und Nepal Institutionen und Treffpunkte nach, wo Einführungen und Meditationskurse angeboten werden. – Zudem werden die den Buddha und seine Lehre symbolisierenden Votivbauten im Tal von Kathmandu vorgeführt, Stupas, deren wichtigste Vertreter an Hand eines Lageplans der Stadt Patan aufgesucht werden können.

In a unique collaboration, an architectural historian and an indologist document the death rituals of the Newar community in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. The first section focuses on Bhaktapur, exploring its calendric rituals of death and renewal. It introduces the city’s urban landscape, including cremation sites, death procession routes, and locations of spirits and ancestor deities, accompanied by 28 illustrative maps. The second part details the ritual that unites the deceased with their forefathers, which is also presented on a DVD. Additionally, local handbooks and manuals used by Brahmin priests during this ritual are edited and translated. This ethno-indological approach combines textual and contextual methods to understand the agency in rituals and the role of texts within their contexts. The study reveals that formalized rituals are not rigid or unchanging; rather, they are influenced by the unique characteristics of the participants, locations, and timing. The authors emphasize the significance of naming places and actors and dating events. This exploration of death rituals is the first volume in a trilogy examining life-cycle rituals in Nepal, conducted under the Collaborative Research Centre “Dynamics of Ritual.”

Im nationalsozialistischen Deutschland gehörten nicht nur Techniker, Wissenschaftler, Juristen, Ärzte und Eisenbahner zu den willigen Helfern des Regimes. Auch Architekten und Raumplaner folgten dem »Führer« auf der Spur der Panzer. Niels Gutschow zeigt, dass diese Fachleute dabei mit Menschen umgingen wie mit Sachen. Baueingabepläne, Strukturuntersuchungen, Gutachten - deutsche Architekten planten und entwarfen Rathäuser und Wohnsiedlungen mit derselben Sachlichkeit wie Arbeits- und Vernichtungslager. Auschwitz, Posen und Lodsch sollten zu deutschen Städten für deutsche Menschen werden ... Nach dem Ende solcher Wahnvorstellungen waren es dieselben Architekten und Planer, die die Kontinuität der Funktionseliten sichern halfen - unter ihnen nicht wenige, die sich nach 1945 an prominenter Stelle um den Wiederaufbau in Westdeutschland kümmerten.