A politikai es társadalmi elit utazásai. 18. századi utazások vizsgálataról németországi kutatások kapcsán
Travels of the political and social elites. On the examination of 18th century voyages from the aspect of German researches

Summary/Abstract: The first part of the paper reviews the German attempts to process the traveloguesof the 18th century. Hitherto, travelogues have been primarily treatedfrom the point of view of the history of literature and the typology of the genrewas created. TheUniversity of Bremen and the research center, Eutiner Forschungsstellezur historischen Reisekultur collets, catalogues and analyzes traveloguespublished in German between the 16th and the 19th centuries. To date, however,researchers have neglected manuscript sources. A project entitled „Europareisender politischen Funktionsträger des alten Reichs (1750–1800)” was launchedto make up for this by the Forschungszentrum Europäische Aufklärung Potsdamfounded in 1996. Rather than focusing on a single type of travelogue, a certaintype of voyage or a given social stratum, this research targeted the elites theycall “social functionaries” (Funktionsträger). Beside the primary travelogues, theyalso collected the sources related to the preparations and results of the voyages(invoices, reports, correspondence). According to their relative purposes, theproject identifi ed fi ve major groups (travels of the ruler - Regentenreise, Fürstenreise;study tours of the nobility - Kavalierstour, Kavaliersreise, diplomatic trips- diplomatische Reise; offi cial trips– Berufsreise; study tours – Studienreise).TheHungarian examples mentioned in the paper are presented on the basisof the German results and according to the German categorization. Thepaperis the fi rst to create such a systematic overview of the travels of the 18th centuryHungary social and political elites through a brief study of the travels ofa number of individuals. Thepaper presents examples of the following types oftravels with the most important sources and the possibilities of further research:Thesources uncovered and the examples shown enable the examination ofthe evolution process of the culture of the Age of Enlightenment (Kulturtransferforschung).Within the framework of Reisefolgenforschung, the sources enableus to analyze the actual impact of travel on the initial culture of the travellers,he knowledge they acquired and the way in which they were able to utilize athome the cultural, economic, technical and organizational innovations acquiredabroad.

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