Christian Meier (historian)

Christian Meier ( born February 16, 1929 in Stolp / Pomerania ) is a German historian and professor emeritus of ancient history at the University of Munich.

Life

The son of a farmer visited high schools in Szczecin, Rostock and Hamburg. In 1948 Meier in Hamburg from his high school and then studied History, Classics and Roman Law. 1956 was followed by the PhD. in Heidelberg with Hans Schaefer and 1963 Habilitation in Frankfurt, he was a pupil of Hermann Strasburger and Matthias Gelzer in Frankfurt. From 1964 he was a lecturer in Freiburg im Breisgau, followed by professorships of Ancient History in Basel (1966 ), Cologne ( 1968), in turn, Basel (1973) and Bochum (1976). In 1981 he became successor Siegfried Lauffer on the chair for " Ancient History, with special emphasis on the social and economic history " in Munich, where he remained until his retirement in 1997. In the academic year 1984/1985 Meier was a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study Berlin

Meier was 1980-1988 Chairman of the Association of Historians of Germany and from 1981 to 1995 curator of the Historical College in Munich. Meier is also co-founder of the Berlin- Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and from 1996 to 2002, President of the German Academy for Language and Literature in Darmstadt. He also is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences.

Christian Meier is married to a German studies.

Work

Meier is one of the best known historians of his generation in Germany, especially as he turned with some of his works to the general public. He has become known far beyond the experts but also by his two books Caesar and Athens. A new start in the world history. The special feature of his approach was the proclaimed already by his academic teacher Hans Schaefer and his school turning away from since the Renaissance largely unreflective occupied classicist and identificational perspective, which for centuries on the notion of an opinion based on essential similarity and unbroken tradition associated immediate accessibility of ancient culture for the people of European Modernism had rested. The Ancient Meier appeared rather as the "next stranger ," draw its understanding from the ground up to be new and to win in a hermeneutic approach. His research interests are the classical Athens and the late Roman Republic, whose time of crisis and decline, he described in his study res publica amissa as a " crisis without alternative ", was thus meant that the actors have no idea of ​​anything other than the existing political order had at their disposal. The result was that they destroyed them, without intending it, and without specifically to work on the establishment of a new political order. Consensus rather have reigned about how to interpret the immense crisis phenomena as decay of the traditional order, which is counter to the goal to produce them again. In this respect, for Meier does not make sense the application of the concept of revolution in terms of a theory of revolution to the late Republic. Logically, Augustus had its reorganization, which resulted in the establishment of a monarchy, just as the restoration of the old order to present ( res publica restituta ). When historians dispute he was ready offensively to take a stand in order to clarify positions.

As a historian, he has the right to operate narrative historiography. Not everything can be told, and often there are more chances than facts (cf. Meier: Athens, paperback edition 1997, pp. 692 f.) Meier looks always outside the box in his field. So he dealt with the modern democracy and the policy of the Federal Republic of Germany ( especially in the wake of reunification ). A passionate advocate and promoter of a trained on Anglo-Saxon history, he combines high academic standards with literary claims.

In 1998 he was awarded for his own eloquence with Cicero orator award. On the subject of spelling reform, Meier expressed commitment of Language and Literature and critical in his role as president of the German Academy. For his dedication to the German language Eberhard Schöck Christian Meier presented the 2003 Jacob Grimm Prize.

In 2004 he received the Ernst Hellmut Vits Prize of the Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster ( Westphalia). On 2 March 2006 Meier received the Austrian Medal for Science and Art was presented by Austrian President Heinz Fischer. 2007 Meier was awarded the prize Reuchlin, 2009 with the Lichtenberg Medal.

Writings

Many works Meiers were translated into other languages ​​and published in several editions. The settler -Verlag has brought out in his honor his Caesar biography and his Athens - book in a new edition. Meier has written numerous encyclopedias and magazine article. He is also the editor of several collections and scientific advisory board of the magazine TIME.

In selection ( otherwise see web link):

• The impotence of the almighty dictator Caesar. Three biographical sketches, Frankfurt am Main 1980.
• Res publica amissa. A study of the constitution and history of the late Roman Republic, Frankfurt 1997. ( First edition Wiesbaden 1966)
• The emergence of the political with the Greeks, Frankfurt 1995. ( Erstaufl. 1980)
• Caesar, Munich 1997. ( Erstaufl. Berlin 1982)
• The political art of Greek tragedy, Munich 1988.
• Together with Paul Veyne: Did the Greeks democracy, Berlin 1988? .
• German unity as a challenge. Which foundations for what a Republic? , Munich 1990.
• The nation that wishes to be no, Munich 1991.
• Athens. A new start of World History, Berlin 1993. Numerous editions.
• The Parliamentary democracy, Munich 1999.
• From Athens to Auschwitz, Munich 2002.
• Language in need? On the situation of present-day German. Edited by Christian Meier on behalf of the German Academy for Language and Literature at Darmstadt, Göttingen 1999, ISBN 3-89244-341-6
• Culture, the sake of liberty: Greek Beginnings - beginning in Europe, Munich 2009 [ forms the first part of Meier's contribution to the history of Europe settlers ].
• To forget the commandment and the irrefutability of remembering: the public dealing with worse past. München 2010, ISBN 978-3-88680-949-3
• The historian and the contemporary. An interim report. Siedler, Munich 2014