The Department of Church History deals with the question of how Christian ecclesiastical and spiritual life has been understood, experienced and developed since its emergence.

The Chair of Church and Theological History in Basel strives to understand with the history of Christian institutions, the history of theological thought, and expressions of historical Christianity across global cultural contexts. This also includes examining the role of the history of gender, piety, art and music in the history of Christianity.

Christian life – not independently of the social, political and cultural developments of the last 2000 years, but as an expression of them! – is at the heart of our teaching and research endeavors.

Theology students in Basel deal with six eras in the history of the Church/Christianity during their studies:

• Antiquity
• Late antiquity and early Middle Ages
• High and late Middle Ages
• Reformation period
• Early modern period
• Modern era

They study the most important events and figures of these eras in general lectures and in the intro course to Church History. In the proseminar and in Bachelor's and Master's seminars, they learn to critically assess historical sources and to classify them in terms of the intellectual, cultural and social history.

The Department of Church History, from left to right: Prof. Dr. Michael Bangert, Romana Giossi, Prof. Dr. Andrea Hofmann, Dr. Delphine Conzelmann und PD Dr. Hans-Georg Ulrichs
Picture: Andreas Schwald

Full-time Professor

Prof. Dr. Andrea Gabriele Hofmann

Lecturer and Titular Professor

Prof. Dr. Michael Bangert

Private Lecturer

PD Dr. Hans-Georg Ulrichs

Post-Doc Assistant

Dr. Delphine Conzelmann

Tutorial Assistant

Romana Giossi

Emeritus Professors
Prof. Dr. Rudolf Brändle
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ulrich Gäbler