Ansgar Schanbacher

PD Dr. Ansgar Schanbacher serves as a Research Fellow at the Institute for Regional Historical Research, University of Göttingen, specializing in environmental and urban history of Early Modern Central Europe and the Netherlands. His work examines resource management and hazard responses in cities like Braunschweig, Würzburg, and Utrecht through interdisciplinary environmental history frameworks.

His academic formation includes a Dr. phil. from Göttingen University (2011-2015) on Potato Blight and Famine in Northwestern Germany (1845-1848), completed within the Research Training Group Interdisciplinary Environmental History. Earlier, he earned an M.A. in History, Economy, and Polish Language/Literature from Leipzig University and Lublin's Catholic University (2003-2010), followed by freelance translation work (2009-2011).

Schanbacher's research centers on Environmental History, Urban History (17th-19th centuries), History of Science, and Eastern European History. His scholarship reveals how early modern cities navigated ecological challenges through municipal policies, technological adaptations, and social coping mechanisms, with particular attention to waste management, fire prevention, food crises, and horticulture across German and Dutch urban contexts.

His 15 most recent publications demonstrate consistent focus on urban environmental resilience, showing evolution from specific hazard case studies (fires, earthquakes) toward broader sustainability frameworks. Key trends include comparative analysis of municipal responses, interdisciplinary methodology bridging history and environmental science, and contextualization of historical practices within modern sustainability discourse.

His scientific recognition includes:

• Prize of the Historical Commission for Lower Saxony and Bremen (2016)
• DFG Scholarship at Göttingen University (2011-2014)
• DAAD Scholarship for Poznań/Kraków (2008)

Grant leadership includes Scientific Coordination of 'Sustainability as Argument' (2016-2020) and a 2016 Graduate School of Humanities research grant. He actively disseminates research through the 'Stadtgeschichten' urban history blog (co-editor), 'Epidemien in der frühneuzeitlichen Stadt' podcast series, and public lectures on Central European urban environments. Current affiliations include the European Society for Environmental History and European Association for Urban History, with contributions to the Portal zur Geschichte and Frauenstift Gandersheim projects.

Based at Göttingen University's Heinrich-Düker-Weg campus, he maintains active scholarly engagement through editorial work, conference presentations, and interdisciplinary collaborations exploring historical dimensions of urban sustainability.