El viajero Wilhelm von Humboldt y sus sucesores: caracterización cultural del País Vasco en las descripciones de viaje del siglo XIX

Abstract

[EN] The analysis of travel descriptions is an important research method in order to register the history of intercultural communication between two societies. In the case of the reception of the Basque Country in the German culture, Wilhelm von Humboldt’s research journeys in 1799 and 1801 and his work Die Vasken, are key contributions to the German-Basque intercultural communication. His encyclopedic and still Romantic perception of the Basque culture was the discovery of a very small, enigmatic and unknown people. This article analyses Humboldt’s descriptions and reflections on the Basque language, landscape, people, history and cultural manifestations. Further travellers’ descriptions of the 19th century are also analysed, such as the travellers with political and/or professional aims (Gustav Höfken, August Ludwig von Rochau) and the travellers with religious positions (Franz Lorinser, Franz Rolef), concluding about the relevance of the historical, emotional and aesthetic dimension of travelling in their works.