Johann Gustav Droysen
Gustav Droysen | |
---|---|
University of Kiel University of Jena | |
Thesis | De Lagidarum regno Ptolemaeo IV Philometore rege (1831) |
Main interests | Historical method |
Notable ideas | The erkennen–erklären–verstehen distinction[2] |
Johann Gustav Bernhard Droysen (/ˈdrɔɪzən/; German: [ˈdʁɔʏzn̩]; 6 July 1808 – 19 June 1884) was a German historian. His history of Alexander the Great was the first work representing a new school of German historical thought that idealized power held by so-called "great" men.
Early life and education
Droysen was born at
During these years Droysen studied classical antiquity; he published a translation of
History meets politics
In 1840, Droysen was appointed professor of history at the
Droysen's first major political appearance occurred in 1843, on the one thousand year anniversary of the Verdun agreement between Karl the Bald and Ludwig the German, grandsons of Charlemagne.
Support of Prussian hegemony
In 1848, Droysen was elected a member of the revolutionary
"We cannot conceal the fact that the whole German question is a simple alternative between Prussia and Austria. In these states, German life has its positive and negative poles — in the former, all the interests which are national and reformative, in the latter, all that are dynastic and destructive. The German question is not a constitutional question, but a question of power; and the Prussian monarchy is now wholly German, while that of Austria cannot be."[14]
Droysen was one of the first members to retire from the Frankfurt Parliament after King Frederick William IV of Prussia refused the imperial crown in 1849. In the following two years, Droysen continued to support the cause of the duchies, and in 1850, with Carl Samwer, he published a history of the dealings of Denmark with Schleswig and Holstein, Die Herzogthümer Schleswig-Holstein und das Königreich Dänemark seit dem Jahre 1800 (Hamburg, 1850). A translation was published in London in the same year under the title The Policy of Denmark towards the Duchies of Schleswig-Holstein. The work was one of great political importance and contributed to the formation of German public opinion on the rights of the duchies in their struggle with Denmark.[6][15]
Legacy to Prussian historiography
In his later years, Droysen was almost entirely occupied with Prussian history. After 1851, he was appointed to a professorship at Jena; in 1859, he was called to Berlin, where he remained until his death. In 1851, he brought out a life of Count Yorck von Wartenburg (Berlin, 1851–1852), generally considered one of the best biographies in the German language[16] and then began his great work on the Geschichte der preussischen Politik, or, in English, The History of Prussian Politics (Berlin, 1855–1886). Seven volumes were published, the last posthumously; in total the work consumed 32 volumes. It forms a complete history of the growth of the Prussian monarchy to the year 1756. This, like all Droysen's work, shows a strongly marked individuality, and a penchant of tracing the manner in which important dynamic forces worked themselves out in history.[6][17]
Personal life
Droysen was twice married, and died in Berlin. His eldest son,
See also
Notes
- ^ Colin Cheyne, John Worrall (eds.), Rationality and Reality: Conversations with Alan Musgrave, Springer 2006, p. 266.
- ^ A distinction among the three methodologies of scientific inquiry: recognising (pertaining to philosophical, theological, and speculative research), explaining (pertaining to mathematical and physical research) and understanding (pertaining to historical research); see: Johann Gustav Droysen, Grundriss der Historik, Verlag von Veit & Comp., 1868, p. 11: §14.
- ^ Kiel University – Famous Scholars from Kiel
- ^ a b Beiser (2011), p. 295.
- ^ Werner Jacob Cahnman, Joseph Maier, Judith Marcus and Zoltán Tarr (ed.), Weber & Toennies: Comparative Sociology in Historical Perspective: "Max Weber and the Methodological Controversy in the Social Sciences", Transaction Publishers, 1943, p. 42, note 21.
- ^ a b c d e f g public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Droysen, Johann Gustav". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 596. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ISBN 978-3-406-56937-1, p. 20.
- ^ Nippel (2008), p. 7.
- ^ Nippel (2008), p. 8.
- ISBN 9780199805075.
- ^ Nippel, p.
- ^ "Johann Gustav Droysen." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. Accessed 11 June 2009 [1].
- ^ Nippel (2008), pp. 7–22.
- ^ Droysen, J.G. Modern History Sourcebook: Documents of German Unification, 1848-1871. Found at: [2]. Accessed on 9 April 2009.
- ^ Nippel (2008), pp. 241–245.
- ^ Nippel, Das Leben des Feldmarschalls Grafen York von Wartenburg. Veit u. comp., 1854. [3]
- ^ Nippel (2008), pp. 20–25.
- ^ Gustav Droysen (son), Bernhard von Weimar. Duncker & Humblot, 1885
References
- "Johann Gustav Droysen." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. Accessed 11 June 2009.
- Frederick C. Beiser, The German Historicist Tradition, Oxford University Press, 2011.
- Wilfried Nippel. Johann Gustav Droysen: Ein Leben zwischen Wissenschaft und Politik. C.H. Beck, 2008. ISBN 978-3-406-56937-1.
Further reading
- Assis, Arthur Alfaix. What Is History For? Johan Gustav Droysen and the Functions of Historiography. Berghahn Books, 2014, ISBN 978-1-78238-248-5); focus on his theory of historiography.
- Burger, Thomas. "Droysen's Defense of Historiography: A Note." History and Theory (1977): 16#2 168–173.
- Gilbert, Felix. "The New Edition of Johann Gustav Droysen's Historik." Journal of the History of Ideas (1983): 327-336. online
- Maclean, Michael J. "Johann Gustav Droysen and the Development of Historical Hermeneutics." History and Theory (1982): 347–365.
- Momigliano, Arnaldo. "J.G. Droysen between Greeks and Jews", History and Theory, Vol. 9, No. 2. (1970), pp. 139–153.
- Southard, Robert. Droysen and the Prussian School of History. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1995
- Southard, Robert. "Theology in Droysen's Early Political Historiography: Free Will, Necessity, and the Historian." History and Theory (1979): 378–396.
External links
- Works by Johann Gustav Droysen at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Johann Gustav Droysen at Internet Archive
- Complete German text of Droysen's Geschichte des Hellenismus ("History of Hellenistic civilization"), including the volume on Alexander the Great
- Complete German text of Droysen's Die Herzogthümer Schleswig-holstein und das Königreich Danemark: Aktenmässige Geschichte der dänischen Politik seit dem Jahre 1806. Perthes-Besser und Mauke, 1850, second edition.
- Complete translated text of Droysen's Grundriss der Historik (Outline of the principles of history), translated by Elisha Benjamin Andrews. Ginn & Company, 1897.