Professor Beat Kümin is a leading scholar in early modern European history at the Department of History, University of Warwick, where he also serves as Director of Postgraduate Research. His work bridges social, cultural, and religious history with a focus on local communities in German-speaking Europe and England (c.1400–1800). He has held visiting positions at Bielefeld, Greifswald, Konstanz, McGill, Brussels, and Frankfurt, and is deeply engaged in interdisciplinary collaboration. University of Bern (History and English) Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (PhD) Habilitation, University of Bern (2005) His research explores parish communities , food and drink cultures , public houses , and local memory practices , notably through the innovative Tower Capsules project, which examines the deposition of chronicles and objects in building structures. He investigates rural self-government in the Holy Roman Empire, particularly in imperial villages like Gersau, and the cultural dimensions of taverns and communal life. The 15 most recent publications reflect a sustained engagement with themes of local governance , memory , alcohol , migration , and religious practice . His work spans monographs, edited collections, and journal articles, often combining archival depth with broad cultural analysis. Scientific honors include: Fellow of the Royal Historical Society Fellow of the Higher Education Academy Member of the conseil scientifique, European Institute for the History and Cultures of Food Gerda Henkel Foundation funding Swiss National Science Foundation fellowship Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg fellowship Kümin has supervised numerous PhD and MA students on topics ranging from almshouses to witchcraft and the cultural history of the tomato. He has been involved in major research grants and collaborative projects, including ERC-funded initiatives and international summer schools. He co-edits the Bloomsbury series Cultures of Early Modern Europe and serves on the editorial boards of Food & History , Brewery History , and Food and Drink in History . He is a key figure in the Drinking Studies Network and the Warwick Network for Parish Research , and has directed Warwick’s Food & Drink Cultures research strand (2020–2023) and the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance (2014). His lab-like structures include the My-Parish digital platform, the annual Warwick Symposium on Parish Research, and the Summer Universities in Tours on food and drink history. He is also involved in the HOLYLAB and ALPINNKONNECT ERC projects, and the PASSION workshop series.











