Kellner-Heinkele Barbara (Berlin, Germany)

New Routes of Discovery and Research: Railways
(Mid-19th – Early 20th Century)

(57th Annual Meeting of the PIAC Vladivostok, 2014)

The establishment and rapid extension of communication lines in Asia in the course of the 19th century can be understood as instruments of conquest and colonization, but also as means of an increased circulation of people, goods and new ideas. Railways in particular played a major role in this process. This paper addresses the question in which way the new lines of communication influenced the choice of routes travellers and explorers used and how the new possibilities made themselves felt in the logistics, frequency and results of scientific travel.