Imagined Europeans: The scientific construction of the Homo Europaeus

Since when does the Homo Europaeus -- as an ideal type, as an average person, as a general representative -- populate the minds of those who consider themselves to be the inhabitants of a constructed Europe? Which cultural techniques are employed to ascribe a physical and psychological essence to the European, to his/her appearance and his/her character?
‘Die Erfindung des Europäers’ is a publication accompanying an exhibition at the Kreuzberg Museum in 2009. It came out of a project at the Humboldt-University that ‘aspires to identify the conceptions of the European that are commonly held in everyday life, in industrial research and in governmental policy-making’. A main element for our design was the use of basic shapes referring to anthropometry.