The publication presents research results on a multitude of knowledge exchange processes in post-enlightenment Europe. These focus on the question in how far deeply rooted processes of knowledge exchange by transnational intellectual discourses and international expert communities have contributed to a  variety of networks of European intellectual identities and research practices. These practices again constitute a fertile framework for de-territorialised and de-nationalised exchange of knowledge that might contribute to contagious processes of emancipation, cooperation as well as problem solving.