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Atmosphere (sensu Gernot Böhme)

Gernot Böhme

This article deals with what today can be called the theory of the atmosphere. The focus is on the
concept of atmosphere, which Gernot Böhme (1993; 1995; 2006; 2017) developed as the fundamental
concept and central object of his “new aesthetics”, following on from his “ecological aesthetics” (1989).
In it he defines atmospheres as a typical intermediate phenomenon. In the following descriptions of
the concept of atmosphere, reference is made from the outset to its potential application – in two
main fields, namely aesthetics and art appreciation on the one hand and aesthetics of nature or
environmental aesthetics on the other.

Citation and license notice:

Böhme, Gernot (2021): Atmosphere (sensu Gernot Böhme). In: Kirchhoff, Thomas (ed.): Online Encyclopedia
Philosophy of Nature / Online Lexikon Naturphilosophie. ISSN 2629-8821. doi: 10.11588/oepn.2021.1.80607
This work is published under the Creative Commons License 4.0 (CC BY-ND 4.0).

The concept of atmosphere has been used as a schol- contrast, are more a characteristic of human inward-
arly term outside the natural sciences for about half a ness. In a certain sense, however, the concept of
century. However, the term has been present in the mood is broader. We can very well speak of a mood
general and poetic language of almost every European that prevails in a ballroom or the mood of forest soli-
language since the 18th century, as a metaphor tude. But in this case, more than with the concept of
originating from the field of meteorology. There, it atmosphere, what we call a mood (Stimmung) that is
continues to refer to the upper air level of the earth. in the air is so characterised because it has the tendency
The word “atmosphere” derives from the ancient to attune (stimmen) the mind in a certain way.
Greek words ἀτμός (atmós), which can be translated As a technical term to designate spatially extended
as steam, haze or breath, and σφαῖρα (sfaira): sphere. feelings, the term atmosphere – as already mentioned –
As a metaphor, the expression was then used more has only been used since about 1950. Notabene:
and more to describe moods that were in the air. The a number of other, related terms historically precede
link that mediates the use of the term atmosphere in this usage, such as Dunstkreis, or aura in Walter
these senses is the experience of weather. It must be Benjamin’s work or Geist in the sense of spiritus (see
emphasised that this is not a matter of the weather Hisayama 2010).
conditions determined by natural science, but of In the so-called New Phenomenology, atmospheres
weather as a subjective fact. As such, weather is were subjected to extensive analysis by Hermann
always associated with a mood or a tendency to attune Schmitz (born 1928). The New Phenomenology sets
the mind in a certain way. A thunderstorm is threat- itself the task of making human thought capable to
ening and frightening, stormy weather by the sea is conceive of involuntary life experience, i.e. that which
refreshing, spring weather is cheerful. perceptibly happens to the individual without them
Against this background, we can state: atmos- having deliberately planned it (Schmitz 2012: 39;
pheres are in every case something spatial. Thus they cf. Schmitz et al. 2011). Schmitz thereby defines the
can also be described as mood-defining spaces or, concept of atmosphere as “indeterminate powers of
conversely, as spatially extended moods. Apart from feeling poured out into the expanse” (Schmitz [1969]
this characteristic, namely that atmospheres are 1988; cf. Schmitz et al. 2011: 243–245). Thus spatiality
always something spatial, the relationship to moods is of feelings is key for Schmitz, because he deplores
already evident in the definition. Both terms have a feelings’ introjection, namely their being located as
close relationship, which, however, finds its limit determinations of the mind, an idea which can already
precisely in the spatiality of atmospheres: moods, by be found in Democritus and Plato and is particularly
Online Encyclopedia Philosophy of Nature | Online Lexikon Naturphilosophie
Gernot Böhme | Atmosphere | 2021 | doi: 10.11588/oepn.2021.1.80607

consistently elaborated in Kant, for whom feelings of Hirschfeld, the natural scenes of the English Garden
pleasure and displeasure do not denote anything at all should be designed specifically in this sense, since
about the object (Schmitz 2000: 44 f.; cf. Schmitz et al. they are not primarily sights but rather atmospheric
2011: 247 f.). Schmitz calls this one of the great failures spaces.
of the European spirit. In this, he is very much influ- Hirschfeld already establishes a relationship to
enced by the investigations of Rudolf Otto (1869–1937) theatre with his use of the notion of scene. This continues
into the numinous, the central concept of Otto’s when he defines the what-ness of atmospheres in
theory of religion (Otto [1917] 1923/2014). From this, terms of characters. The character of a natural scene
Hermann Schmitz explains that his first broad application is designated according to the direction in which it
of the concept of atmosphere consists in an interpreta- steers the mood of a spectator: a serene scene puts
tion of the Greek world of the gods, specifically as the visitor in a cheerful mood, a gentle melancholic
captivating powers (Schmitz [1966] 1987), and it one puts him or her in a melancholic mood. With the
explains a certain resistance on his part to the idea concept of the character of atmospheres, Hirschfeld
that atmospheres could not only be experienced, but has provided an important term for describing or
also made or produced. classifying atmospheres, which should make it clear that
A second source of the concept of atmosphere, in they are not something purely subjective, projected
the technical sense given it by Gernot Böhme, can be by the spectator onto nature (e.g. the English Garden),
found in the work of Hubert Tellenbach (1914–1994) but something objective that is able to influence the
– namely in the field of psychiatry. For Tellenbach spectator – precisely to set the mood. In addition,
(1968), the primordial phenomenon of atmosphere is Hirschfeld is significant as a historical source for the
the smell of the nest, that is, the smell that tells theory of atmospheres because of his turn to the
animals where they are at home and where they may practical. Although his book is called Theorie der
feel secure. This second source is extraordinarily Gartenkunst (Theory of Garden Art), he is essentially
important because it addresses, as it were, a natural concerned with how a garden or park should be designed
basis of atmospheric experiences or makes it clear so as to create the desired atmospheric scenes of nature.
that these are by no means limited to the human In doing so, he goes into great detail, e.g. indicating
realm. From a phenomenological point of view, it is what kind of trees should be chosen for a particular
only natural to regard atmospheres as phenomena of natural scene, how the paths should be laid out, how
consciousness. According to Tellenbach, by contrast, attention should be paid to prospects, the distribution
atmospheres are a thoroughly sensual phenomenon, of light and dark, the role of ponds or watercourses
not to say a physiological fact. For Tellenbach, para- and their sounds. He thus introduces a variety of
digmatically, odours that impregnate a room are generative elements with the help of which the garden
atmospheres. artist can create scenes with a certain character
Tellenbach’s concept of atmosphere is situated in (a certain atmosphere). For example, Hirschfeld gives
the field of psychiatry, which means that it also finds detailed instructions on how to create a garden scene
its primary fields of application there. It is concerned with a melancholic character: “A gently melancholic
with neuroses related to disorders of the olfactory scenery is formed by the obstruction of all prospects;
region, olfactory idiosyncrasies and disorders in self- by depths and slopes; by thick bushes and copses,
perception insofar as this is mediated by odours often by mere groups of tall, heavily leafed trees
(Böhme 2020). crowded close together, in the tops of which a hollow
A third source of Gernot Böhme’s theory of atmos- sound hovers; by still or dull murmuring waters, the
pheres can be found in Christian Cay Lorenz Hirschfeld’s sight of which is hidden; by foliage of a dark or blackish
(1742–1792) Theorie der Gartenkunst (Hirschfeld green, by low-hanging leaves and shadows spread
1779 ff., Theory of Garden Art, 2001). The term everywhere; by the absence of anything that could
“atmosphere” is not used here, but Hirschfeld speaks announce life and activity. In such a region, sparse lights
of “natural scenes” in the English Garden that put fall through only to protect the influence of darkness
visitors in particular frames of mind. According to from the sad or fearful. Silence and solitude have their

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home here. A bird fluttering about unsociably, an in- – sound and noise
comprehensible buzzing of unknown creatures, a – synaesthesia, i.e. factors, especially surface structures,
wood pigeon singing in the hollow summit of a defoliated that allow synaesthetic qualities such as softness or
oak, or a lost nightingale lamenting its suffering in the warmth to be felt
wasteland – is already enough to set the scene apart” – conventional generators, such as symbols, insignia
(Hirschfeld 1779: 211 f.1). In this way Hirschfeld connects and typical objects that stand for a certain era or style
to the millennia-old art of stage design, to which he has (1920s, cosiness, elegance, etc.).
already implicitly referred through his terminology Here, it must be emphasised that the generators have
(natural scene, characters). a thoroughly material and objective character but are
Looking back on Hirschfeld, Gernot Böhme (born 1937) not the building blocks of atmospheres. Instead they
has described the art of stage design or skenography as are merely conditions under which a subject can have
a paradigm for the study of atmospheres (Böhme 2013: the experience of an atmosphere of a certain character.
101–111). This ancient art, which according to Aristotle’s The atmosphere is, in fact, a typical intermediate
testimony was already practised by Sophocles, deals with phenomenon, a phenomenon that occurs between
how to create a certain atmosphere in the stage space as object and subject. The objective generators are only
a background or sounding board for the performance of the conditions under which a person who is bodily
a drama, by designing or painting the stage – hence the present in a certain space can have the experience of
name skenography. Stage designers today do not use the an atmosphere of a certain character.
term atmosphere but rather climate, an expression that Here, of course, the theory of atmosphere faces the
is closely related to atmosphere as a metaphor. With the problem of its intercultural validity and the question
help of the paradigm of stage design, a second, produc- of whether different people can have different atmos-
tive perspective is developed for the study of atmosphere, pheric experiences in one and the same space, for
in addition to the receptive approach favoured earlier. In example a landscape or a park. These problems will
this perspective, atmospheres are not determined by not be dealt with in detail here. This much can be said,
analysing the experiences they convey but rather by the though: if one states that atmospheres are something
generative factors through which they can be produced. subjective in their character, what is actually much
In this context, however, the term “producing” is to be more impressive is the fact that different subjects
understood in inverted commas, since it is not a matter can perfectly well agree on what atmosphere prevails
of making things but of setting conditions under which a in a space. The art of stage design would be quite
spectator, or more generally a person who is present, pointless if it did not convey the same or at least com-
gets the impression of a mood that prevails in a space. parable experiences to a larger audience – admittedly
The generators are thus quite objective factors, such as of a certain cultural homogeneity. There is obviously
– light and colour a certain enculturation involved in the experience
– spatial structure or objects with a specific suggestion of atmospheres – this is classically referred to as
of movement the formation of taste.

1
The German original reads: „Eine ſanft-melancholiſche deſſen, was Leben und Wirkſamkeit ankuͤndigen kann.
Gegend bildet ſich durch Verſperrung aller Ausſicht; In einer ſolchen Gegend fallen ſparſame Lichter nur
durch Tiefen und Niedrigungen; durch dickes Gebuͤ ſch durch, um den Einfluß der Dunkelheit vor dem Trau-
und Gehoͤ lz, oft ſchon durch bloße Gruppen von rigen oder Fuͤrchterlichen zu beſchuͤtzen. Die Stille und
hohen ſtarkbelaubten nahe an einander gedraͤngten die Einſamkeit haben hier ihre Heimath. Ein Vogel,
Baͤ umen, in deren Gipfel ein hohles Geraͤ uſch der ungeſellig umherflattert, ein unverſtaͤ ndliches
ſchwebt; durch ſtillſtehendes oder dumpfmurmeln- Geſchwirre unbekannter Geſchoͤ pfe, eine Holztaube,
des Gewaͤ ſſer, deſſen Anblick verſteckt iſt; durch die in dem hohlen Gipfel einer entlaubten Eiche
Laubwerk von einem dunkeln oder ſchwaͤrzlichen girrt, oder eine verirrte Nachtigall, die ihre Leiden der
Gruͤn, durch tiefherabhaͤngende Blaͤtter und uͤberall Einoͤ de klagt — iſt zur Ausſtaffirung der Scene ſchon
verbreitete Schatten; durch die Abweſenheit alles hinreichend“.

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In the theory of atmosphere, then, there are two der Gefühle“/“Weather in the Language of Feelings”
approaches, one reception-aesthetical, the other and “Umweltästhetik“/“Environmental Aesthetics”).
production-aesthetical. The first approach, pursued In the end, one wonders why it was necessary to
by Hermann Schmitz, analyses the experiences that categorise the concept of atmosphere under the
a person physically present in a certain space can heading of a New Aesthetics. At that time, i.e. in the
have, i.e. his or her bodily sensing of emotional late 1980s, aesthetics was still essentially shaped by
impressions. The other approach analyses the creation the ideas of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), that is, it
of an atmosphere from the standpoint of objective amounted to an aesthetics of judgement, specifically
factors and their constellation, which are regarded as a theory of the judgement of taste. Although the term
the conditions of these subjective experiences. In aesthetics goes back to Alexander Gottlieb Baum-
each case, the reality of atmospheres presupposes a garten’s Aesthetica (Baumgarten [1750/1758] 2009;
bodily present human being who senses in his or her see Gregor 1983), aesthetics had never really been, as
state of mind what kind of space he or she is in Baumgarten intended, a theory of sensual cognition.
(Böhme [1989] 1999). “Atmosphere is the common With the concept of atmosphere, the fundamental
reality of the perceiver and the perceived. It is the object of sensual cognition was finally identified:
reality of the perceived as the sphere of its presence atmosphere is that which is primarily given to the
and the reality of the perceiver insofar as he, sensing senses (see Böhme 2001).
the atmosphere, is bodily present in a certain way”
(Böhme 1995: 34).
Basic literature
From this arises the field of application of the
theory of atmosphere for the development of an Böhme, Gernot [1989] 1999: Für eine ökologische
aesthetics of nature or environmental aesthetics. Naturästhetik. [Towards an Ecological Aesthetics].
This was Böhme’s original motive for developing the 3. Auflage. Frankfurt/M., Suhrkamp.
concept of atmosphere in aesthetics. Böhme, Gernot 1993: Atmosphere as the fundamental
Since the term atmosphere originated in meteorology, concept of a new aesthetics. In: Thesis Eleven
it is particularly suited to capturing the subjective, 36 (1): 113–126. https://journals.sagepub.com/
i.e. aesthetic, experiences of our environment: doi/abs/10.1177/072551369303600107.
weather – a natural phenomenon – can be characterised Böhme, Gernot [1995] 2013: Atmosphäre. Essays zur
by atmospheres insofar as it is subjectively experienced: neuen Ästhetik. 7., erweiterte und überarbeitete
as thundery, as autumn weather, as cheerful or Auflage. Frankfurt/M., Suhrkamp.
depressing weather. This is why the concept of atmos- Böhme, Gernot 2017: The Aesthetics of Atmosphere.
phere is the central concept of an aesthetics of nature Edited by Jean-Paul Thibaud. London/New York,
and the environment. It is particularly suitable for Routledge.
determining environmental experiences. The envi-
ronment is not an object, let alone a mental image,
Literature
but the nature or the built environment in which one
is. Thus landscape as a topos of aesthetics of nature Baumgarten, Alexander Gottlieb 1750: Aesthetica.
and environmental aesthetics denotes neither a sight Latin. Frankfurt/Oder, Kleyb.
nor an image: it is the subjectively experienced envi- Baumgarten, Alexander Gottlieb 1758: Aestheticorum
ronment, given by the affective character it conveys pars alterea. Frankfurt/Oder, Kleyb.
to the environment’s inhabitant. Accordingly, a valley, Baumgarten, Alexander Gottlieb [1750/1758] 2009:
for example, is not called serene because it resembles Ästhetik. Lateinisch-deutsch. Übersetzt, mit einer Ein-
a serene person in some way, but because the führung, Anmerkungen und Registern herausgegeben
atmosphere that the valley radiates is serene and this von Dagmar Mirbach. 2 Bände. Hamburg, Meiner.
can put a bodily sentient person in a serene mood Böhme, Gernot [1989] 1999: Für eine ökologische
(Böhme 1995: 34). (For more detail, see Böhme [1996] Naturästhetik. [Towards an Ecological Aesthetics].
2019, especially the chapters “Das Wetter in der Sprache 3. Auflage. Frankfurt/M., Suhrkamp.

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Gernot Böhme | Atmosphere | 2021 | doi: 10.11588/oepn.2021.1.80607

Böhme, Gernot 1993: Atmosphere as the fundamental japanische Alltagswort “ki”. In: Ogawa, Akio/
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36 (1): 113–126. https://journals.sagepub.com/ sich zum Ganzen webt. Festschrift für Yoshito
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