While my practical experience has been gained mainly in the field of sociolinguistics, colonial linguistics played the main role in my theses.
Colonial linguistics is a more recent field of research that addresses a variety of disciplines. One aspect is colonial toponymy. It includes research areas that deal with toponyms in colonial and postcolonial contexts, thus contributing to the reappraisal and reflection of colonial past.
The researches carried out deal with toponyms in colonized areas as well as with those in the colonizers' home countries. The present thesis mainly covers the period of German colonialism from 1884 to 1919, i.e. from the official foundation of the first German colony to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles and the resulting cession of the German colonial territories. The investigation focuses on the street names of the Hanseatic city of Bremen. The aim of the work is to make colonial traces in Bremen visible on the level of microtoponymy, to illustrate the power of naming on the basis of street names and to identify prototypical and non-prototypical construction patterns of street names in general and of colonial street names in particular. In order to allow for a comparison, the colonial street names of Hamburg, which have already been worked on by major projects, will be included. Interdisciplinary approaches are pursued in order to illustrate the complexity of street names and the associated responsibility in the allocation and conservation of names.
