Andreas Pietsch

Andreas Pietsch is a researcher specializing in Early Modern History and Religious Studies at the University of Münster. He has held various research positions at the university, including serving as an Interim Junior Professor for Early Modern History. His work is primarily associated with the Department of History within the Faculty of History and Philosophy, and he has been involved in significant research projects such as the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" and the DFG project "Library of Neology".

Dr. Pietsch completed his undergraduate doctorate at the Faculty of Philosophy (Modern and Contemporary History, Catholic Theology) with a project on early modern scholarly culture using the example of the Huguenot Isaac de La Peyrère (1596-1676) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger. He studied Catholic Theology and German Philology in Tübingen, Leiden, and Münster between 1993 and 2000, receiving a doctoral scholarship from the Cusanuswerk from 2001-2005.

Dr. Pietsch's research focuses on the complex religious landscape of Early Modern Europe, particularly examining confessional ambiguity, religious dissent, and the boundaries of orthodoxy. His work explores how individuals and groups navigated religious identity in a period marked by confessionalization and religious conflict. He has made significant contributions to understanding the Radical Reformation, Neology, and the reception history of the Bible. His research often intersects with intellectual history, book history, and the sociology of religious movements, revealing the nuanced ways in which religious identity was constructed and expressed in early modern society. A recurring theme in his work is the examination of how religious minorities maintained their identities while operating within dominant religious frameworks.

His publication record demonstrates a consistent focus on religious deviance, confessional ambiguity, and the intellectual history of early modern Europe. Over the past decade, his work has increasingly examined the material dimensions of religious expression through print culture and typography, while maintaining a strong engagement with theological and ecclesiological questions. His research spans multiple subfields including mysticism, radical religious movements, and the political dimensions of religious conflict, with particular attention to figures like Isaac La Peyrère, Jacob Böhme, and Dirck Coornhert. His work on the Family of Love, early Quakers, and religious dissimulation has significantly advanced our understanding of religious identity formation in contexts of religious plurality.

• Doctoral scholarship from the Cusanuswerk (2001-2005)
• Duke Ernst Scholarship of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation (2015)

Dr. Pietsch has been instrumental in multiple externally funded research projects, most notably as a Research Associate in Project B2-22 of the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" (2012-2018) and in Project C06 of the same cluster (2007-2012). His current work as a research assistant in the DFG project "Library of Neology" continues his engagement with religious history. While the text doesn't explicitly mention graduate students he has advised, his role as an Interim Junior Professor for Early Modern History at WWU Münster (2016-2017) suggests significant teaching and mentoring responsibilities. His Erasmus faculty exchange with Universiteit Leiden in 2011 further demonstrates his international scholarly engagement.

Dr. Pietsch has been a key member of research teams working on the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" at the University of Münster, collaborating with scholars like Prof. Dr. Antje Flüchter, Prof. Dr. Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger, and colleagues such as Christoph Dartmann and Sita Steckel. His work on edited volumes like "Ecclesia disputans" and "Konfessionelle Ambiguität" demonstrates his leadership in organizing scholarly collaborations. His current research on the "Library of Neology" project represents the continuation of his long-standing interest in religious enlightenment movements and their historical contexts.