The study of baryon resonances via meson photoproduction reactions on the f
ree proton, nucleons bound in light nuclei and in the nuclear medium is dis
cussed. Special emphasis is laid on the production of neutral mesons which
due to the suppression of non-resonant backgrounds are particularly well su
ited for the study of excited states of the nucleon. Experiments carried ou
t during the last ten years with the TAPS-detector at the Mainz MAMI accele
rator have contributed very significantly to the detailed investigation of
the four lowest lying baryon resonances the P-33(1232), the P-11(1440), the
D-13(1520) and the S-11(1535). Future experiments with TAPS at the ELSA ac
celerator have a large potential for the investigation of higher lying reso
nances via many different decay channels.