Die Wahrnehmung Islands wurde seit jeher von diversen europäischen Wert- und Weltvorstellungen geprägt. Die daraus resultierenden Vorurteile und Stereotypen vermochten sich bis in das 18. Jahrhundert in ganz Europa zu halten.Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit befasst sich mit der Frage, wie die Insel Island und seine Bevölkerung im deutschsprachigen Raum des 18. Jahrhunderts wahrgenommen wurden. Um diese Fragestellung beantworten zu können gliedert sich die Arbeit in zwei Teile. Im ersten Teil soll ein grober Überblick über die geographischen und geschichtlichen Hintergründe der Insel gegeben werden. Des Weiteren sollen die gängigen Stereotypen eines exotischen, gefährlichen Landes und der trinksüchtigen, ungehobelten Bevölkerung aufgezeigt werden. Diese gewonnen Erkenntnisse bilden die Grundlage für die empirische Quellenanalyse im zweiten Teil der Arbeit. Darin werden geographische, geologische, mineralogische und botanische Publikationen namhafter deutscher Wissenschaftler, ebenso wie Lexika- und Enzyklopädieeinträge, Artikel der Wiener Zeitung und Kinder- und Jugendliteratur untersucht. Die Analyse der Quellen zeigt deutlich, dass sich das vorhandene Islandbild im Laufe des 18. Jahrhunderts deutlich veränderte. Durch den Geist der Aufklärung und den Rationalismus wurde die Insel Island selbst, zum Forschungsobjekt objektiver Betrachtungen denen rationale Erklärungen folgen sollten. Für die weiterführende Forschung wird es interessant zu untersuchen, inwiefern sich diese Veränderungen der Stereotypen auf die Beziehungen zwischen dem deutschsprachigen Raum und der Nordatlantikinsel ausgewirkten. Für Österreich wären hierbei nicht nur der Reisebericht von Ida Pfeiffer, sondern auch die Arbeiten von Calasanz Poestion, sowie die Gletscherforschungen der 1930-er Jahre und die musikalischen Leistungen von Franz Mixa und Victor Urbantschitsch von Interesse.AbstractThe perception of Iceland has always been shaped by various European values and world views. The resulting prejudices and stereotypes managed to persist throughout Europe until the 18th century. This thesis concentrates on answering the research question on how the island of Iceland and its population were perceived in the German-speaking world of the 18th century. In order to answer this question, the thesis is divided into two major parts. In the first part, a rough overview of the geographical and historical background of the island will be given. Furthermore, the common stereotypes of an exotic, dangerous country and a drinking-addicted, uncouth population will be shown. These insights form the basis for the empirical analysis which builds the second part of the thesis. Geographical, geological, mineralogical and botanical publications by renowned German scientists, as well as encyclopaedia entries, articles in the Wiener Zeitung and children's and youth literature were examined in detail in order to form this second part of the thesis.The analysis of the sources clearly shows that the existing image of Iceland changed significantly in the course of the 18th century. Through the spirit of the enlightenment and rationalism, the island of Iceland itself became the object of research for objective observations to be followed by rational explanations. For further research, it will be interesting to examine to what extent these changes in stereotypes affected relations between the German-speaking world and the North Atlantic island. For Austria, not only Ida Pfeiffer's travelogue, but also the work of Calasanz Poestion, as well as the glacier research of the 1930s and the musical achievements of Franz Mixa and Victor Urbantschitsch could be of interest to elaborate further on the topic.

The perception of Iceland has always been shaped by various European values and world views. The resulting prejudices and stereotypes managed to persist throughout Europe until the 18th century.This thesis concentrates on answering the research question on how the island of Iceland and its population were perceived in the German-speaking world of the 18th century. In order to answer this question, the thesis is divided into two major parts. In the first part, a rough overview of the geographical and historical background of the island will be given. Furthermore, the common stereotypes of an exotic, dangerous country and a drinking-addicted, uncouth population will be shown. These insights form the basis for the empirical analysis which builds the second part of the thesis. Geographical, geological, mineralogical and botanical publications by renowned German scientists, as well as encyclopaedia entries, articles in the Wiener Zeitung and children's and youth literature were examined in detail in order to form this second part of the thesis.The analysis of the sources clearly shows that the existing image of Iceland changed significantly in the course of the 18th century. Through the spirit of the enlightenment and rationalism, the island of Iceland itself became the object of research for objective observations to be followed by rational explanations. For further research, it will be interesting to examine to what extent these changes in stereotypes affected relations between the German-speaking world and the North Atlantic island. For Austria, not only Ida Pfeiffer's travelogue, but also the work of Calasanz Poestion, as well as the glacier research of the 1930s and the musical achievements of Franz Mixa and Victor Urbantschitsch could be of interest to elaborate further on the topic.