Wikidata:GEPRIS Historisch (DFG)

Deutscher Text unter: Wikidata:GEPRIS Historisch (DFG)/de

Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn in the laboratory, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Chemie; listed on GEPRIS Historisch

To mark the centenary of the founding of the *Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft* – the predecessor organization of the German Research Foundation (DFG) – the DFG launched its new portal GEPRIS Historisch in December 2020. The information system makes nearly 50,000 funding proposals from 1920 to 1945 searchable, including the individuals and institutions from which these proposals originated (cf. GEPRIS (Q48879895), which lists current and completed DFG projects). The data are based on a seven-year research project on the history of the DFG (cf. GEPRIS project entry).

A core feature of GEPRIS Historisch is the extensive linking to external knowledge databases via established identifiers such as GND and Wikidata. Users of the portal thus gain access to personal profiles in the *Gemeinsame Normdatei* (GND) of the German National Library and in the Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB).

Within the Wikimedia ecosystem, GEPRIS Historisch links not only to biographical profiles but also to articles on historical research institutions, their successor organizations, and selected projects (e.g., scientific expeditions). When available, GEPRIS Historisch also links to digitized full texts in Wikisource for periodicals funded by the DFG.

By linking to Wikidata and NDB, users gain access to more than 200 additional sources. Thanks to a data donation to Wikidata and a BEACON file for GND-based data collections, GEPRIS Historisch is itself listed as a source in these systems—becoming part of a global information network on historical research personalities.

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Data Donation of Personal Records (2021)

• In an initial meeting between the DFG team, Jens Ohlig (WMDE) and elya in February 2020, the framework of the project was outlined.
• Of approximately 13,000 processed personal records, **55%** had both a GND and a Wikidata ID, **14%** only a GND, and **1%** only a Wikidata ID.
• Approximately 5,700 records without a Wikidata ID were prepared for potential import into Wikidata, provided that sufficient contextual information (first name, biographical note, birth and death dates) was available.
• A major challenge was institutional reconciliation, particularly when institutions changed affiliation over time—for example institutes of the *Kaiser Wilhelm Society* (Kaiser Wilhelm Society (Q708038)), which after 1945 largely became part of the *Max Planck Society* (Max Planck Society (Q158085)). Nonetheless, Wikidata entries could be assigned to roughly one-third of the approx. 2,800 research institutions recorded in GEPRIS Historisch.
• The DFG uses images available on Wikimedia Commons for its portal and identified over 100 images not yet linked via image (P18) in Wikidata.
• Regular online coordination took place between the GEPRIS Historisch team, Wikimedia Deutschland, and elya.
• **Launch of the portal:** December 2020 → gepris-historisch.dfg.de
• New external identifier for GEPRIS Historisch  Done → see Wikidata:Property proposal/GEPRIS-Historisch ID (Person) / GEPRIS Historisch person ID (P9044)
• Reconciliation & import, part 1: adding the new identifier to 7,575 existing items  Done
• Reconciliation & import, part 2: creation of 3,255 new persons (1,827 with GND) not previously present in Wikidata  Done

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Scientific Analysis Dataset and Data Handbook (since 2025)

• The curated data for the information system are available as a scientific **analysis dataset on Zenodo**.

 → Zenodo: doi:10.5281/zenodo.14849869

• The dataset provides the key data fields underlying GEPRIS Historisch and enables a wide range of quantitative analyses.
• The accompanying **data handbook** documents all variables in detail.
• An additional **R script**, also available on Zenodo, illustrates analyses used in the thematic pages of GEPRIS Historisch.

Recommended Citation (APA style)

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. (2025). GEPRIS Historisch – Scientific Analysis Dataset with Scripts and Data Handbook [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14849869

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SPARQL Queries

Lists of applicants

• List of applicants
• Applicants by birth year
• Map of applicants by place of birth

Images

• Images of applicants

Awards

• List of applicants by scientific award
• Ranking of applicants by number of scientific awards
• Frequency of scientific awards
• Types of awards

Relations

• List of living descendants
• Academic master–apprentice relationships

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Further Reading

• Slides by Jürgen Güdler at Pidapalooza 2020 (Lisbon) on the project GEPRIS Historisch
• Short video introducing the project on DFG bewegt
• Heidler, R. & Güdler, J. (2024). Is It Really Him/Her?: Challenges and Solutions in the Unambiguous Identification of Historical Researchers. National Library of Technology.10.48813/KENR-DE87
• Güdler, J. & Heidler, R. (2025). PIDs – More Than Just Numbers. Paper presented at the Strategic Membership Meeting 2025 – Autumn, İzmir. euroCRIS.
• Heidler, R. & Güdler, J. (forthcoming, 2025). GEPRIS Historisch – A New Portal for Research on Government-Funded Science from the Weimar Republic to the Second World War. In S. Große-Wilde, E. Kölmel & V. Yurdakul (Eds.), Science and the State: Governmental Research in War and Peace during the Twentieth Century. Bielefeld: Transcript / Bielefeld University Press.