tech
Sixty thousand love letters and counting: volunteers help sift through vast German trove of devotion
Team is working to digitise archive of correspondence donated by public, charting relationships, social history and evolution of language
TL;DR
- The University of Koblenz houses a European archive of over 60,000 love letters, dating back to the 1700s.
- The archive is being digitized with the help of volunteers who transcribe and sort the handwritten letters.
- The letters provide insights into intimate lives, historical eras, and the evolution of language.
- The project originated from linguist Eva Wyss's initiative to broaden academic study beyond idealized male-authored letters.
- The collection includes diverse examples, from letters in communist East Germany to modern techno-age metaphors and a prison inmate's correspondence.
- The digital age has not killed the love letter; email and texting have led to a return to writing about love.
- Citizen science participants offer unique perspectives, enriching the research and opening new avenues of study.