Crime Scene: Archive
If you want to research the past, you have to rely on historical documents, images, and artifacts. These days, many of these resources are stored in archives.
When it comes to historical research, searching through the archives is like checking for traces at a crime scene – complete with all the surprises, discoveries, and uncertainties that solving a criminal case brings with it.
TATORT ARCHIV (Crime Scene: Archive) picks up the traces left behind by Zürich-based general Johann Rudolf Werdmüller, who was accused of uttering blasphemous speech and committing treason back in the 17th century. What can we learn in the archives about blaspemy in the early modern era? How does a historical investigation take form? In what ways is the study of history also the study of the present?
The film offers an introduction to techniques used in conducting historical research. It uses court records, petitions, images, and letters to explain how to deal with handwritten materials.
Credits
Screenplay: Francisca Loetz, with input from Siegfried Bodenmann, Rolf Frey and Eva Seemann
Script Consultant: Wolfram Schneider-Lastin
Narrator: Maja Hermann
Narrator: Marco Caduff
Cinematography & Editing: Rolf Frey
Sound Mixing: Azmi Baumann, MELS/University of Zurich
Drawing of the Seal of UZH: Tom Reed
Producer: art-tv, Zurich
With Thanks To:
The department of Digital Teaching and Research in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Zurich
The Schloss Au Convention Center
The State Archives of the Canton of Zurich
The Zurich Central Library
Leuchtturm Filmbeleuchtung AG
Prof. Dr. Francisca Loetz is chair of the department of General History of the Modern Era at the Historical Institute at the University of Zurich. More
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