Projects
Information Brochure “A Brief Guide to Istanbul’s Feriköy Cemetery”
Responsible: Dr. Richard Wittmann
Duration: 2019-2020
Main Cooperation Partner and Co-author: Dr. Brian Johnson (American Research Institute in Turkey)
Other Cooperation Partners: The Feriköy Protestant Cemetery Initiative
An information brochure co-authored with Brian Johnson (ARIT) aims to provide an initial overview of the significance of the cemetery site as a cultural monument and the various social areas in which the Protestant men and women of different nationalities buried there played an important role in the history of the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the information brochure will initially be published in an English-language digital edition by the Feriköy Protestant Cemetery Initiative; a small print edition in Turkish and English is planned for the second half of 2020.
http://www.ferikoycemetery.org/visitor-guide/
Database Project on Protestant Presence in Turkey
Responsible: Dr. Richard Wittmann
Duration: Since 2019
Cooperation Partner: Federal Foreign Office, Berlin
Thanks to funding from the Federal Foreign Office, a special database was developed at the Orient Institute Istanbul in 2019, which for the first time enables the scientific research of previously inaccessible entries in the officially maintained burial registers of Istanbul’s Protestant Central Cemetery. In addition to this core dataset, the user-friendly database, equipped with complex search functions, allows for the future expansion with textual source and archival material, high-resolution images based on drone footage, and detailed maps of the cemetery area with geo-data.
Starting at the end of 2020, the database is expected to be available for scientific research at the library of the Orient Institute Istanbul.
Establishment of the International Research Network “The Feriköy Protestant Cemetery Initiative”
Responsible: Dr. Richard Wittmann
Duration: Since 2018
Cooperation Partners: American Research Institute in Turkey, British Institute at Ankara, Hungarian Cultural Center Istanbul, Netherlands Institute in Turkey, Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul
In early summer 2018, on the initiative of Richard Wittmann, the “Feriköy Protestant Cemetery Initiative” was established together with the American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) and the Netherlands Institute in Turkey (NIT) with the aim of further joint research, documentation, and preservation of the international Protestant cemetery as well as coordinating new projects. By spring 2020, the Swedish Research Institute (SRII), the Hungarian Cultural Center in Istanbul, and the British Institute at Ankara had also joined the research network. Beyond research and conservation concerns, the initiative aims to protect the area as a rare green biotope in the densely built metropolis. The initiative seeks to have the cemetery recognized as a historical cultural monument by the Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe (ASCE).
A dedicated website provides information about the objectives and activities of the six member institutions, www.ferikoycemetery.org.
Digitization of the Burial Registers of the Protestant Central Cemetery
Responsible: Dr. Richard Wittmann
Duration: 2012-16
Cooperation Partner: German Archaeological Institute, Istanbul
In 2012, the international diplomatic administrative community of the Protestant Central Cemetery in the Istanbul district of Feriköy requested the Orient Institute Istanbul to digitize the burial registers, thereby enabling information access beyond the descendants of the deceased for scientific use. The burial register was scanned thanks to technical assistance from the German Archaeological Institute in Istanbul. With the support of scientific interns at the Orient Institute Istanbul, a searchable Excel file was created from the handwritten, trilingual data of the burial books from 2013 to 2016.
