Erdkunde (DE)

[ˈeːɐtkʊndə]

Related terms: Bodenlos (German), Earthling, Ghost Acreage, Heimat (German), Ruin, Terrestrial, Terrestrial Time

In education, Erdkunde is used in German as the translation of the word »geography«, which describes the study of the physical properties and contours of the Earth, including the atmosphere, human activity within the confines of said properties, including the distribution of populations and demographics, renewable and non-renewable resources, the allocation of land use, and industries across the Earth. However, a direct translation of Erdkunde comes out more poetically: »Earth-tidings«, those messages brought to us by the Earth; the self-expression of the Earth.

       In the Romantic period, Erdkunde had a mystical meaning, in opposition to the quantifying sciences of the Enlightenment. The concept conveyed the process of listening to these tidings from the Earth, in a very specific moment and place. The word emphasizes the local: every bit of the world has its own specific tiding to communicate. These tidings inform us about who we are, where we come from, and where we are headed.

       »‘Whither are we going?’ ‘Ever homewards.«[*]

[*] Novalis, Henry of Ofterdingen (Cambridge, UK: John Owen, 1842), 203.