Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger
Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger is a German historian born in 1955 in Bergisch Gladbach. She specializes in the early modern period and led the chair of Early Modern History at the University of Münster. She is known for her work on the constitutional history of the Holy Roman Empire, explored through rituals and symbolic communication that shaped power in that era.
She studied German language and literature, history, and art history at the University of Cologne, earning her PhD in 1985 and completing her habilitation in 1994. After teaching at Cologne, she moved to Münster in 1997, where she has held the chair of Early Modern History. Since 2018 she has been rector of the Berlin Institute for Advanced Study. Her research focuses on political and cultural changes in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, including the Enlightenment.
In December 2020, Stollberg-Rilinger helped launch the Initiative GG 5.3 Open-mindedness, a group of institutions and individuals advocating for open discussion and the protection of freedom of expression in debates around BDS and related policies.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:42 (CET).