International Conference: Nature – Animals – War. Relations and Interactions from Antiquity to the Present Day
Hosts
- TU Dortmund University, Environmental Sociology with a Focus on Transformation Research
- Bundeswehr Centre of Military History and Social Sciences, Potsdam (ZMSBw)
- Military History Working Group (Arbeitskreis Militärgeschichte, AKM)
- University of Kassel, Social and Cultural History (HAS)
Organisers
- Jannes Bergmann (HU Berlin)
- Dr Friederike C. Hartung (ZMSBw Potsdam)
- Dr Kerrin Langer (TU Dortmund)
- Dr Alexander Reineke (Ruhr University Bochum)
- PD Dr Mieke Roscher (University of Kassel)
Contact
E-Mail: naw-conference2026.us.fk17@tu-dortmund.de
Wars are usually understood as conflicts between people. However, they also alter landscapes, wildlife and ecosystems—at the same time, environmental conditions and animals shape the course of military conflicts. The international conference Nature – Animals – War: Relationships and Interactions from Antiquity to the Present Day is dedicated to these interactions. It will take place from 16 to 18 September 2026 at TU Dortmund University.
War as an entanglement of human and non-human actors
The conference focuses on the question of how natural and animal worlds can be understood in the context of war and violence—not merely, but also as actors with agency, as resonating bodies, and as forms of resistance. The conference therefore focuses on the historical agency of non-human entities—such as landscapes, climate, raw materials, animals, or microorganisms—and on their manifold entanglements with human societies in situations of war.
Starting from a multispecies and environmental-historical perspective that takes both animals and nature into account, the conference seeks to overcome anthropocentric limitations and to redefine narratives of military history. It understands war not solely as a sphere of human action, but as an entanglement of reciprocal effects in which human and non-human bodies are equally vulnerable, exercise violence, and are shaped by it. The focus is on natural forces, animals, vegetation, and microorganisms as actors whose agency unfolds in asymmetrical yet effective relationships.
Thinking Military, Environmental, and Animal History Together
The conference is thus based on a methodological triad: military history provides the analytical framework for examining organization, technology, logistics, and ideology; environmental history examines the circumstances and consequences of military interventions in landscapes, resources, and ecosystems; animal history brings animal bodies into focus as actors that are bred, trained, mobilized, or killed. This triangulation makes it possible to understand war as both a social and political phenomenon and as a nature-cultural one. The conference aims to interweave these approaches not additively, but relationally: How did natural conditions shape military strategies? What role did animals play in logistics, symbolism, and practices of violence? And how did military interventions, in the long term, affect ecosystems, biodiversity, and interspecies coexistence?
The conference has a transdisciplinary and international focus and brings together researchers at all stages of their careers from various disciplines. It provides a forum for the exchange of different research approaches and methods and opens up new perspectives on the relationship between nature, animals, and war. The conference will be complemented by a small exhibition of historical photographs and paintings that visually explores key themes of the event.
Registration and Practical Information
The conference languages are German and English. In order to reduce language barriers and enable broader international participation, we will use AI-supported simultaneous translation.
Registration for participation in the conference (online or in person) is possible until September 1, 2026 via the following link: https://forms.gle/THQXr9gYX8yStkii6. Unfortunately, registrations by email cannot be considered.
Due to a major event taking place at the same time, hotel prices in Dortmund will be exceptionally high during the conference period. We therefore recommend booking accommodation in Bochum. From Bochum Central Station, TU Dortmund University can be reached by S-Bahn in approximately 14 minutes.
Programme
Mittwoch, den 16. Sept. 2026 / Wednesday, September 16, 2026
12:00 – 13:00 Uhr / 12:00 – 1:00 PM
Anmeldung / Registration
13:00 - 13:15 Uhr / 1:00 – 1:15 PM
Begrüßung / Welcome
13:15 - 14:00 Uhr / 1:15 – 2:00 PM
Einführung / Introduction (in English)
Moderation: Alexander Reineke (Ruhr University Bochum)
- Frank Reichherzer (Bundeswehr Centre of Military History and Social Sciences, Potsdam)
- Bernd Sommer (TU Dortmund)
- Mieke Roscher (University of Kassel)
14:00 – 15:45 Uhr / 2:00 – 3:45 PM
Panel 1: Wissen und Wissenspraktiken (in German)
Chair: Marcel Sebastian (TU Dortmund)
Discussant: Mieke Roscher (Universität Kassel)
- Zsuzsanna Ihar (Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin)
Conceptualising Multispecies Militarism (Zur Konzeptualisierung eines Multispezies-Militarismus)
- Ina Heumann (Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, Berlin)
Naturkunde im Schützengraben. Sammlungsgeschichte als Militärgeschichte, 1914-1945
- Frank Reichherzer (Zentrum für Militärgeschichte und Sozialwissenschaften der Bundeswehr, Potsdam)
„Wehrlandschaften“. Terraforming als Bellifizierung des Naturraums in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus
15:45 – 16:15 Uhr / 3:45 – 4:15 PM
Kaffeepause / Coffee Break
16:15 – 18:00 Uhr / 4:15 – 6:00 PM
Panel 2: Horses, Environment and Military Practices (in English)
Chair: Martin Clauss (TU Chemnitz)
Discussant: André Krebber (Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg)
- Hafis Chalthodi (University of Hyderabad)
Horses without Cavalry. The Malabar Coast and the Circulation of Warhorses in Medieval South India
- Oliver Creighton (Exeter University) (online)
Horses, Landscape and Warfare in the Middle Ages. Research Insights from the The Medieval Warhorse Project
- Charlie Molony (Lancaster University)
Horses and Hiwis. Auxiliaries and horse care in the Wehrmacht
18:00 – 18:30 Uhr / 6:00 – 6:30 PM
Kaffeepause / Coffee Break
18:30 – 20:00 Uhr / 6:30 – 8:00 PM
Keynote (in English)
Anna-Katharina Wöbse (Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg)
Picturing Wars. An Entangled Visual History of Animals, Environment, and the Military
Moderation: Christoph Nübel (Bundeswehr Centre of Military History and Social Sciences, Potsdam)
ab 20:00 Uhr / 8:00 PM
Empfang / Reception
Donnerstag, den 17. Sept. 2026 / Thursday, September 17, 2026
9:00 – 10:45 Uhr / 9:00 – 10:45 AM
Panel 3: "Slow Violence” – Ökologische Transformationen durch militärische Gewalt (in German)
Chair: Timm Schönfelder (Leibniz-Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des östlichen Europa, Leipzig)
Discussant: Kerrin Langer (TU Dortmund)
- Franziska Quaas (Philipps-Universität Marburg)
Wenn Natur Krieg führt. Naturzeit und militärische Gewalt in der mittelalterlichen Kriegführung
- Thomas Kieslinger (Diözesanmuseum St. Afra) (online)
„Die Maas wimmelt von Pferdeleichen“. Pferde, Umwelt und militärische Praxis im Deutsch-Französischen Krieg (1870/71)
- Marius Jugel (Universität Passau)
Maritime militärische Altlasten. Multidimensionale Herausforderung für das und im Zusammenhang mit dem Ökosystem Meer
10:45 – 11:15 Uhr / 10:45 – 11:15 AM
Kaffeepause / Coffee Break
11:15 – 13:00 Uhr / 11:15 AM – 1:00 PM
Panel 4: Außergewöhnliche Akteure im Zeitalter der Weltkriege (in German)
Chair: Friederike Hartung (Zentrum für Militärgeschichte und Sozialwissenschaften der Bundeswehr, Potsdam)
Discussant: Marcel Sebastian (TU Dortmund)
- Ulrike Heitholt (Universität Kassel)
Vom Stall an die Heimatfront. Hühner im Ersten Weltkrieg
- Corinna Röver (Linköping University)
Grenzüberschreitende Rentierhaltung in Schweden und Norwegen während des Zweiten Weltkriegs
- Christian Zumbrägel (Universität Bielefeld)
Biopolitik am Karpfenteich. Aquakultur, Autarkie und tierliche Agency im Nationalsozialismus
13:00 – 14:00 Uhr / 1:00 – 2:00 PM
Mittagspause / Lunchbreak
14:00 – 16:00 Uhr / 2:00 – 4:00 PM
Panel 5: Symbols, Power and Representation (in English)
Chair: André Krebber (Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg)
Discussant: Lisa Kolb (University of Konstanz)
- Vid Žepič (University of Ljubljana)
Hippophily as a Military Privilege in the Hittite Laws
- Suzanne Foxley (University of Erfurt)
Prized Beings. Animal captives in early modern British maritime warfare
- Muhammed Junaid (University of Hyderabad)
Animals, Landscapes, and Revolt. Re-reading the Nineteenth-Century Colonial Malabar Uprisings through a Multi-Species Military-Environmental History
- Emily Gioielli (Worcester Polytechnic Institute)
Parasite. A Multispecies and Integrated History of the Holocaust and Second World War in Central Europe
16:00 – 16:30 Uhr / 4:00 – 4:30 PM
Kaffeepause / Coffee Break
16:30 – 17:00 Uhr / 4:30 – 5:00 PM
Fotoausstellung “Natur – Tiere – Krieg" / Presentation of the Photo Exhibition ‘Nature – Animals – War’
Moderation: Jannes Bergmann (HU Berlin)
- Jan-Martin Zollitsch (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Der „Mord an der Natur“ (Edmond de Goncourt) und weitere tier- und umwelthistorische Perspektiven auf den Deutsch-Französischen Krieg
- Alexander Bonk (Universität Gießen)
Vom ,Niemandsland’ in die Naturlandschaft. Die Ostfront des Ersten Weltkriegs in den Fotoalben deutscher Soldaten, 1914-1918
17:00 – 18:00 Uhr / 5:00 – 6:00 PM
Neues aus dem AKM und Verleihung des Wilhelm-Deist-Preises für Militärgeschichte / Awarding of the Wilhelm Deist Prize (in German)
ab 19:00 Uhr / 7:00 PM
Gemeinsames Abendessen (Selbstzahler) / Conference Dinner (self-paid)
Brauhaus Rietkötter
Große Beckstraße 7
44787 Bochum
www.brauhaus-rietkoetter.de
Freitag, den 18. Sept. 2026 / Friday, September 18, 2026
9:00 – 10:45 Uhr / 9:00 – 10:45 AM
Panel 6: Animals versus technology? (in English)
Chair: Mieke Roscher (University of Kassel)
Discussant: Anna-Katharina Wöbse (Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg)
- Andrea Gutiérrez (The University of Texas Austin)
South Asia’s Captive Elephants at War. Evidence across Archives
- Nicole Karafyllis (TU Braunschweig)
When Military Pigeons Have Served Their Time. On Animal Assistance Systems During and After the War from a Philosophy of Technology Point of View
- Anne Runhaar (University Leiden)
War as an Interspecies Practice. Marine Mammals Between Cold War Military Programs and Contemporary Warfare?
10:45 – 11:15 Uhr / 10:45 – 11:15 AM
Kaffeepause / Coffee Break
11:15 – 13:00 Uhr / 11:15 AM – 1:00 PM
Panel 7: Eastern European Landscapes from Past to Present (in German/English)
Chair: Jannes Bergmann (HU Berlin)
Discussant: Timm Schönfelder (Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe, Leipzig)
- Christoph Nübel (Bundeswehr Centre of Military History and Social Sciences, Potsdam)
Space as a Resource. Geopolitical Visions of the Baltic Region during the Long First World War
- Yuliya Yurchuk (Södertörn University)
Lives Under Fire. Animals, Interconnectedness, and More-Than-Human Narratives in Ukraine
- Linas Svolkinas (Conflict and Environment Observatory)
Russian War and Cetacean.: Mapping Military Activity Harm on Black Sea Cetaceans and Their Habitats
13:00 – 13:30 Uhr / 1:00 – 1:30 PM
Schlusskommentar & Abschlussdiskussion / Closing Remarks & Final Discussion
Moderation: Alexander Reineke (Ruhr University Bochum)
- Frank Reichherzer (Bundeswehr Centre of Military History and Social Sciences, Potsdam)
- Timm Schönfelder (Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe, Leipzig)
- Mieke Roscher (University of Kassel)