What the Humboldt Brothers have to do with the Humboldt Forum. Alexander and Wilhelm von
Humboldt are the namesakes of the Humboldt Forum. Their biographies works points of view as
well as the circumstances in which they lived build a compelling relationship with the Humboldt
Forum - starting with the brothers' early lives growing up near the palace and the royal
family. Their later travels Alexander's nature studies and Wilhelm's language studies not
only illuminate the interconnected system of nature and culture they often prove to be
astonishingly relevant: What does language mean for living together in a society? In what ways
do we acquire knowledge and what responsibilities come with this knowledge? How do we address
the colonial contexts of the past as well as of the present? The Humboldt brothers' insights
about the interconnected world the spirit of their research their curiosity and their
cosmopolitanism inspire the Humboldt Forum's artistic and scientific programme. This book
connects the works of the brothers with the cultural institution named after them - and dares
to take a new look at these two famous scholars' wide-ranging cosmos of ideas through text and
image.