---
type: source
title: "Research Projects of the Chair of Prof. Dr. Kilian Heck"
tags: [art-history, romanticism, cultural-heritage, research-projects]
related: [kilian-heck, theoria-research-group, herrenhauszentrum-des-ostseeraums]
created: 2026-07-13
updated: 2026-07-13
sources: ["output_cdfi/cdfi_uni_greifswald_de_kunstgeschichte_forschung_forschungsprojekte_lehrstuhl_pr.md"]
---

# Research Projects of the Chair of Prof. Dr. Kilian Heck

This source documents the various research initiatives led by Prof. Dr. Kilian Heck at the Caspar-David-Friedrich-Institut (CDFI), University of Greifswald. The research focuses heavily on Northern European Romanticism, the protection of cultural heritage, and the intersection of art and science in the 19th century.

## Key Research Initiatives

### 1. THEORIA Research Group
A project focusing on the painting of Romanticism in Northern Europe, its transcultural relations, and its reception. It specifically investigates the "Topos of the North" and the development of a specific Northern visual identity.

### 2. Herrenhauszentrum des Ostseeraums (HHZO)
A research center dedicated to the study of post-medieval manor houses (from 1500 onwards) across ten states in the Baltic Sea region. It treats these estates as a shared historical cultural landscape of estate economy.

### 3. Object Biographies of Caspar David Friedrich
A long-term DFG project aimed at documenting the provenance, exhibition history, and research history of all paintings and drawings by Caspar David Friedrich.

### 4. Virtual Reconstruction of Baroque Palaces
A project (approved by the Leibniz-Gemeinschaft in 2013) focused on the computer-aided virtual reconstruction of lost palace complexes in former East Prussia.

## Other Projects
- **18th Century Painting in Mecklenburg and Vorpommern:** A book project researching court artists and transnational identity.
- **Early Modern Burial Monuments:** A German-Polish research group studying sepulchral culture (epitaphs and funeral works) in Mecklenburg and Pomerania.
