Announcement of the Ernst Waldschmidt Prize
Press release from 07/18/2008
The Ernst Waldschmidt Prize has been awarded by the Ernst Waldschmidt Foundation at the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation since 1988 for scientifically valuable achievements in the field of Indology, particularly in Waldschmidt's areas of specialisation (Buddhism, Indian and Central Asian archaeology and art). It serves in particular to promote young academics in the field of Indology in Germany. The prize is endowed with 5,000 euros and can be awarded every five years. The decision to award the prize is made by the Executive Board on the recommendation of the Ernst Waldschmidt Foundation's Board of Trustees. Nominations are open to all Indology specialists in a leading position; self-nominations are also possible.
Applications must be accompanied by
Academic curriculum vitae
List of publications
Selected publications
Applications should be sent by 31 October 2008 at the latest to:
Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz
The President
Von-der-Heydt-Str. 16-18
D-10785 Berlin
If you have any questions, please contact the Press Office of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.
The Ernst Waldschmidt Foundation
The foundation was established in 1968 to "promote public education by exhibiting objects of Indian art and to support German research on India by distributing funds, especially in so far as it is located in the Museum of Indian Art at the National Museums in Berlin (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation)." It owns 26 artefacts kept in the National Museums in Berlin and finances the irregularly published "Monographs on Indian Archaeology, Philology and Art".
Ernst Waldschmidt (1897-1985)
After studying Indology, Tibetology and Sinology and completing his doctorate in Berlin in 1924, Ernst Waldschmidt worked as Albert von Le Coq's assistant on the manuscripts and artefacts of the so-called "Turfan Expeditions" (1902-14) at the Berlin Museum of Ethnology. From 1929, he was in charge of the Indian Department as curator and successor to Le Coq and Heinrich Stönner. In 1930, Waldschmidt habilitated at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin. On his trip to India and Sri Lanka (1932-34), financed by the Baessler Foundation, he acquired numerous exhibits for the museum (Waldschmidt Collection). In November 1934, he was appointed director and professor at the Museum of Ethnology. From 1936 until his retirement in 1965, Ernst Waldschmidt taught as a full professor of Indology at the University of Göttingen. His academic oeuvre includes numerous works on Indian and Central Asian art history and Buddhist studies.
After Waldschmidt had already donated his house and his extensive Indological library to Göttingen University in 1957, ten years later he designated the legacy of his uncle Dr Ernst Goormann as the Ernst Waldschmidt Foundation.