Recent years have seen an increase in research from various fields that look into the mountains as places of entanglements, sites of symbolism, and subjects of visual practices but also zones of conflict. The two-day workshop “Mountains dis:connect” investigated the connecting and disruptive role of mountains in the global context of the 19th and 20th century, dwelling on case studies around colonialism, science, tourism, environmental and visual history. The workshop aimed to examine the dynamics of connectivity and disconnectivity in the premises of global mountain history, through interdisciplinary fields of study. The workshop placed greater emphasis on the global aspect of the mountains, inviting academics from different regions while the contributions had a transnational geographical focus, covering mostly the 19th and 20th century. The event had an interdisciplinary approach, with speakers coming from the fields of global history, European history, visual history, history of art and history of science.
In his introduction, MARTIN KNOLL (Salzburg) highlighted the importance of the mountains for the region of Salzburg, as a factor of connectivity but also disconnectivity and the relation between regional and global history. EVA-MARIA TROELENBERG (Düsseldorf) underlined the connection between visual history and geography and indicated the global dimension of transcultural constellations which include mountains as connected or disconnected spaces. ROLAND WENZLHUEMER (München) elaborated on the significance of the concept of dis:connectivity, arguing that all connecting processes come with disconnective elements and that the mountains serve as a paradigmatic site for such processes.
On the first day of the workshop, the first panel focused on the invention and imaginary aspect of mountains. BENJAMIN COWAN (San Diego) examined the origins and development of Brazilian Mountaineering in the early 20th century, from a European and Brazilian perspective, through organisations such as the “Centro Excursionista Brasileiro”. He argued that Brazilian mountaineering was linked to topographic nationalism which was shown in press, publications and art of the period. In comparison to European mountaineering in Brazil, which was considered a sport, mountaineering for Brazilians was seen as an act of patriotism through rediscovering their land.
FYNN HOLM (Tübingen) explored the British invention of the Japanese Alps and the issue of Alpine Orientalism. Holm analysed how the assumption of Japanese superstition regarding the mountains sparked the interest of British mountaineers, leading people such as Walter Weston to discover a mountainscape which they then labelled as the Japanese Alps. Holm argued that the conquest of the Japanese Alps was an act of vertical colonialism, as British male mountaineers conquered Alpine peaks which were feared by the Japanese to demonstrate their racial superiority.
The last paper of this panel by LAUREN KROIZ (Berkeley) focused on the photographic work of Anne Brigman in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake in the Sierra Mountains. It argued that Brigman’s photography combined nature and the human individual and was inspired by the local landscape which included mystical elements that she drew from the mountains and the local tribes. Kroiz argued that Brigman considered the Sierra as a retreat for human inspiration and particularly for women and concluded that earthquakes like the 1906 in the Sierra, allowed new interrelations in the perception of landscape between different social groups.
The second panel focused on the visual representation of the mountains. During the first presentation, VIOLAINE GOURBET (Tours) analysed visual representations of stagecoaches across the Alps in the 19th century. In some cases, the road is illustrated as an easy passage, a safe travel as a result of technological development. On the other hand, depictions of snowstorms and accidents but also scenes of interactions with the locals demonstrate the relationship between the environment and the people in the Alps as seen by the artists. In her paper, she argues that the illustrations of stagecoaches embody the imagined landscape and the Alps as frontier and a passage.
TATYANA BAKHMETYEVA (Rochester) and STEWART WEAVER (Rochester) investigated the connection between art and science in the Glaciology field between 1834 and 1934. They examined drawings and maps created by glacier explorers and scientists in this period, such as the works by Reschreiter and Finsterwalder or the Schlagintweit brothers. They argued that early glaciology, despite lacking accuracy, was a combination of science and art, as scientists used scientific and artistic illustrations, such as sketches, cartoons, cartography and paintings in their works.
SIDDHARTH PANDEY (Shimla) examined the visual representations of the Colonial Indian Hill stations, colonial settlements made to represent the homes of the colonizers and inspiration for many European artists. Pandey analysed the use of native figures in colonial paintings and the role of the mountainous landscape. The paper also dealt with issues in the postcolonial era, examining the afterlife of colonial images and artworks in more recent image practices in the Hill stations areas.
In the last presentation of the day, LUCIA LEONI (Fribourg) explored the history and development of Mountain films and Mountain Film Festivals starting from the 20th century. The paper focused mostly on the evolution of Mountain Films from 1969 to 2000 and the history of two cultural institutions, the Banff (Canada) and FIFAD (Switzerland) both locally and internationally. It also analysed the festivals and the content of Mountain Films, in terms of gender representation, type of expeditions, regional representation, transnationality and environmental awareness.
On the second day of the workshop, the first panel dealt with the notions of mountains and knowledge. During the first presentation, the paper by LUCAS MUELLER (Genève) focused on the transnational history of Swiss snow research and avalanche knowledge in the 1940s and 1950s. Mueller presented the case of Swiss snow scientists in North America who shared their knowledge on snow research and avalanche control, such as André Roch’s activity in Aspen. This contribution highlighted the global significance of Swiss snow scientists and the role of the Alps as a point of reference for snow research worldwide.
ALEXANDER JOST (Salzburg) examined the perception and geographical imagination in relation to Polar mountains. He demonstrated that since Poles were very hard to reach and discover, there was a lot of imagination and speculation that could be traced in various cultures around the globe. In different cultures, Poles were imagined as Mountains as depicted in literature and maps of the period. Jost focused particularly on the Chinese imagination; in this context, the polar region was often described as the “country of the extreme north”, as a mountainous area with a pleasant climate and home to a utopian society while in other sources of literature as “the mountain where the sun never sets”.
The fourth panel explored the interconnections between mountains, economy and people. CHRISTOF JEGGLE (Vienna) summarized the most important aspects of an upcoming project, led together by MARGARETH LANZINGER (Vienna) which deals with transalpine traffic and the agents of transit transportation in 18th century Tyrol. Jeggle indicated the strong commercial connections in early modern Tyrol and the role of the Alpine environment as a complex place of multiple commercial networks, including agents, carriers and toll officers. Moreover, he noted the importance of the transalpine trade and traffic for the Mediterranean and the global economy.
The second speaker of the panel, KRISTÝNA KAUCKÁ (Prag) focused on the effects of the bark beetle outbreak in the Region of Böhmerwald in the 1870s. She analysed the historical context of bark beetle outbreaks and how the extreme climate conditions led to the outbreak of the 1870s which affected the local population and led to human interventions from various perspectives, not only the scientific, via entomologists but also after government measures. She argued that new procedures were established to deal with natural disasters, between landowners, the state and scientists and the different handling in the Bayerwald and the Böhmerwald which showcases the central role of politics in the transformation of the landscape.
JUDD KINZLEY (Madison) investigated “Mountain Products” in a global perspective, focusing on the circulation of Chinese mountain products and specifically hog bristles. He discussed the stages of circulation, from the Chinese mountains to urban centers and then abroad, mostly to the US, and demonstrated not only the connection but disconnection of this global circulation, also focusing on the disruption of the production and transportation of bristles outside China during the turbulent period of the 1940s and the effects it had on the Chinese, US and global bristle industry.
The fifth and last panel of the workshop focused on the geopolitical aspect of the mountains. TANJA ZIMMERMANN (Leipzig) examined the history of the Julian Alps as a geopolitical “Third Space” between East and West Europe. She traced the importance of the Julian Alps’ highest peak, the Triglav, for Slovenian identity back to the late 19th century. She argued that the Julian Alps played a central role in the historical developments of the 20th century in both World Wars but also after the independence of Slovenia in 1991, as a symbol of the Slovenian state.
ROBERT OBERMAIR (Salzburg) presented the case of the escape route of Jews from Austria through the Alpine mountains to Italy in 1947 and the contemporary development of this route as a memorial site. First, Obermair analysed the historical context of the passing and the fleeing of thousands of Jews in 1947 from Givat Avoda camp through the Alps over the Krimmler Tauern, reaching Italy and then via ships to Palestine. Based on this, he demonstrated the significance of the mountain passage as a place of commemoration, as nowadays many Jewish descendants and others from all around the world participate every year in the memorial hike, the Alpine Peace Crossing, walking along this very escape route in an act of performative memory.
The workshop ended with informal concluding remarks from the organizers. EVA-MARIA TROELENBERG (Düsseldorf) summarized that important visual material was included in most contributions and highlighted the interrelation between visual material and both topographic and imaginary aspects of the mountains. She also emphasized how the notion of a specific memory culture attached to landscape and environment came to the fore in many aspects of the workshop. She also connected the approach of mountains dis:connect to larger geo-historical networks such as seascapes and waterways. MARTIN KNOLL (Salzburg) put the workshop in context with larger historiographic trends which have focused on interconnections and global history, but also turn more towards notions of disconnectivity and borders. He emphasized that disconnectivity is not about reversing connectivity but rather creating new, more complex perspectives. ROLAND WENZLHUEMER (München) claimed that the workshop included broad topics, with two key common elements: mountains and global connections. He also highlighted the role of the Alps and Switzerland as a standard for snow science and mountain management. He concluded that most of the contributions focused on mountains as connecting elements or interfaces and less as political zones of conflict – an observation that readjusts the perspective in the field of mountain studies.
In the two-day workshop, the wide range of case studies from diverse spatial contexts showcased commonalities and transnational aspects in the history of mountains, introducing new thematics in which it can be studied. The contributions of researchers from interdisciplinary fields created fruitful discussions and demonstrated the space for further conjunctions in global history. It also displayed that connectivity and disconnectivity can result in processes that transcend political and geographical boundaries and lead to alternative historical visions. By having the local characteristics and peculiarities as a starting point, the workshop illustrated the global entanglements between science, culture, humans, and the environment in the context of the mountains of the 19th and 20th century.
Conference overview:
Martin Knoll (Salzburg) / Eva-Maria Troelenberg (Düsseldorf) / Roland Wenzlhuemer (München): Welcome and Introduction
Panel I: Inventions / Imaginaries
Chair: Roland Wenzlhuemer (München)
Benjamin Cowan (San Diego): “Maravilhas do Brasil”: Race, Patriotism, and Topography in Early Imaginaries of Brazilian Mountaineering
Fynn Holm (Tübingen): Alpine Orientalism: The British Invention of the Japanese Alps
Lauren Kroiz (Berkeley): 1906 in the High Sierra, California, USA
Panel II: Visions / Visuality
Chair: Tanja Bührer (Salzburg)
Violaine Gourbet (Tours): “The troubles began with our watching the diligences”: Visual and Literary Representations of Travelling Coaches across the Alps (19th Century)
Tatyana Bakhmetyeva (Rochester) / Stewart Weaver (Rochester): Of Ice and Mountains: The Art and Science of Glaciers, 1834–1934
Siddharth Pandey (Shimla): (In)Compatible Aesthetics?: Embodied Visions and Graded Commensurabilities of the “Global Picturesque” in the Perception of Colonial Indian Hill Stations
Lucia Leoni (Fribourg): The Evolution of Mountain Films and International Mountain Culture Seen Through the Development of the International Alpine Film Festival of Les Diablerets
Panel III: Knowledge
Chair: Martin Knoll (Salzburg)
Lucas Mueller (Genève): The Snow and its Global Metamorphosis, c. 1950
Alexander Jost (Salzburg): Polar Mountains in Global Geographical Imagination
Panel IV: Economy, Society, and Nature
Chair: Matthias Weiß (Salzburg)
Christof Jeggle (Vienna) / Margareth Lanzinger (Vienna): Connecting Agents of Transit Transportation in Eighteenth-Century Tyrol
Kristýna Kaucká (Prag): Bark Beetle at the Peak: Forest Calamities in the Mountainous Region of Böhmerwald in the 1870s
Judd Kinzley (Madison): Mountains, “Mountain Products”, and the Rugged Features of Global Capitalism
Panel V: Geopolitics
Chair: Sebastian Haumann (Salzburg)
Tanja Zimmermann (Leipzig): The Julian Alps as a Stage for European Geopolitics
Robert Obermair (Salzburg): Hope After the Shoah – A Mountain Pass as the Gate to the World
Martin Knoll (Salzburg) / Eva-Maria Troelenberg (Düsseldorf) / Roland Wenzlhuemer (München): Conclusion and Final Discussion