Forschungsschwerpunkte und Zukunftsaufgaben der Historischen Geographie: Bevölkerung

Abstract

One of the striking characteristics of historical geography in the German-speaking countries has been the very small proportion of research done in the field of population history. Proceeding from this diagnosis the following paper tries to outline some approaches which appear to be interesting and fruitful for future geographical research. This is done by discussing selected case studies, particularly from the fields of historical demography and social history. Considering the sources and methodological principles a distinction of population studies into micro- and macro regional approaches seems to be appropriate. Among the microregional approaches the ecological explanation developed by D. Gaunt appears to be most promising, whereas among the macroregional studies those of the European Fertility Project offer a great variety of aspects for geographical research. Moreover, the paper discusses some theoretical concepts, e.g. the innovation model and the adjustment concept, as means of explaining population change.