Cornelia Ortlieb

Prof. Cornelia Ortlieb is a W3 Professor for Modern German Literature with a focus on Classical Modern at the Free University of Berlin. She serves as Deputy Managing Director of the Institute for German and Dutch Philology and leads PR efforts for the Cluster of Excellence Temporal Communities. Her academic journey includes professorships at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, LMU Munich, and TU Berlin.

• Education: Magister Artium in Modern German Philology, Comparative Literature, and Philosophy (TU/FU Berlin); Habilitation at TU Berlin on Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi; Doctorate on Baudelaire to Trakl at TU Berlin

Research Interests: Specializing in materiality studies within literature and arts, her work spans 18th-21st century European literature with emphasis on Classical Modern (1880-1930), literary multilingualism, translation practices, and avant-garde material culture. She explores intersections between textuality and physical artifacts, focusing on Goethe's collections, Mallarmé's paper works, and 1900s cultural theories.

Literary Output: Recent publications examine paper's four dimensions in Albers' art, Kafka's Berlin exile, and interwar film credits. Her 2024 monograph Gefaltete Verse, Blumenkomplimente und Stein-Gaben analyzes Mallarmé's occasional poetry, while 2023's Weiß auf Weiß investigates his ephemeral writings. She contributes to debates about digital authorship, collective writing, and postcolonial translation ethics.

Academic Leadership: Currently directs research projects on Berliner Moderne and A Dialogue from Time to Time (2021-). She co-organized 13 Translation Talks audio series and leads the Temporal Communities research area on literary currencies. Previous projects include Artefakte der Avantgarden (DFG-funded 2019-2023), Die Sprache der Objekte (BMBF 2015-2018), and Mallarmés Papierarbeiten (2011-2014).

Collaborative Work: Collaborated with institutions like Klassik Stiftung Weimar, Seoul National University, and Daegu University. Co-edited Grüner Apfel... (2025) with Katharina Mevissen and Felicitas Pfuhl. Maintains research teams with Sophie König (research assistant) and Vera Vogel (student assistant).