Economic history

The economic history examines the development and organization of economies, industries and companies in historical perspective. It is therefore a bridge discipline between the economics and the science of history. Depending on the approach, the economics and business administration as well as the historiography of economic history can serve as auxiliary sciences. Or the economic history is the auxiliary science of the former subjects, for example, to study the epoch cross- validity of theories.

Since the late 1950s, the economic history was the basis of the Anglo-Saxon countries renewed by the Cliometrie. This branch uses for analysis, especially in economics and statistical methods such as regression analysis. In Germany, more and more researchers use this approach, so that the German economic history has become an international connection back capable.

At the universities professorships are settled for economic history usually either historical science or economics faculties. Often the subject is thereby coupled with related disciplines such as agriculture or social history.

• 6.1 Chairs
• 6.2 Working Groups
• 6.3 Hanseatic research 6.3.1 Publication Series
• 6.3.2 Focus
• 6.3.3 representations

• 6.4.1 Working groups, institutes, research questions

• 9.1 Methodological Introductions
• 9.2 Thematic introductions
• 9.3 Regional treatises, in particular Germany
• 9.4 Important Magazines

Sources of Economic History

Source of economic history can be any type of tradition, reveals the information on economic circumstances and events in the past.

• Published and archival, serial written sources (for example, historical balance sheets, course notes, Preiscouranten, invoices and account books, wills, statistical publications, such as customs register)
• Sources for economic constitution and economic practices (for example, protocols, contracts, letter copying books, laws, guilds, etc.)
• Archaeological sources (eg, coins, furniture, tools, factories, workshops, market places, trade routes )
• Geographical findings, maps, etc.
• So-called Metaquellen who designed the economic historian himself from found sources, such as genealogical databases, historical data collections (for example, price series, reconstructed national product invoices, etc.)

Methods of Economic History

As a bridge discipline is the economic history between the methodological approaches of history and economics.

On the one hand there is the more inductive historical method (eg Hermeneutics ), stand on the other the more deductive, mathematical and analytical oriented theories and methods of economics. In a way, this reflects the dispute over methods of political economy, which was held at the turn of the 20th century between the Historical school of economics and the neoclassical Austrian school of economics, especially in the German-speaking world, resist. In the UK and the U.S., the neoclassical -oriented New Economic History dominates the economic history research, while in others, especially European countries, a variety of, often highly geared to the social history approaches (for example Annales school ) is important.

The methods used by various researchers differ, therefore, in accordance with their approach and their issue. Often a question of adapted methods pluralism is to be found.

Disciplines and research directions

Disciplines and fields of research in economic history are often closely related and overlap in other disciplines. Some important fields are:

• Agricultural History
• Cliometrie
• Craft history
• Trading History
• Company History
• History of Money
• Banking history
• History of economic policy
• History of the world economy and globalization and history of international economic relations
• History of development ( Kondratieff cycles, Rostow's theory of stages of economic growth, economic research style )
• Historical Demography
• History of Migration
• Philately and postal history

Adjacent compartments

Economic History and Genealogy

Changes in the frequencies of occupations and employment sectors, as can be proved from all the genealogy work, are the most important encounter field between the disciplines of economic history and genealogy for the vorstatistische time before 1850.

Another encounter field is the company's history, for it applies to brighten as the personality of the founder and his sources of money, often stemming from blood relationship with merchant families or a monetary marriage, (see also the founding family, marriage county, social mobility).

A deeper understanding of craftsmanship traditions is inconceivable without genealogy.

Traffic History and Postal History

Communication was at all times a prerequisite for the functioning of economic processes, so the postal history - the post was a long time almost the sole mediator of messages - indispensable. Instead of as formerly understood as institutional history Postal history can contribute to the understanding of the commercial decisions. Especially because of the complex shipping conditions, the merchants had to spend a lot of time and money in the 18th and 19th century to sell their messages quickly and safely. The same applies to the traffic and the recent communication history.

Economic history by country

• Economic history of Chile
• Economic History of the People's Republic of China
• Economic History of Canada
• Economy history of Austria
• Economy in the Roman Empire

Economic History of the Middle Ages in Germany

Chairs

Chairs and Professorships with the label " economic history of the Middle Ages ", there are at German universities and polytechnics only in Leipzig ( the Department of Social and Economic History by Markus A. Denzel ) in Greifswald ( of Medieval History / Hanseatic history of Horst Wernicke ) and in Kiel ( Economic and social History of Gerhard Fouquet ). Was deleted at the Free University of Berlin, others were graded as in Bamberg, or they were set to the 19th and 20th centuries, as in Cologne, Bonn and Nuremberg.

Most were settled in the faculties or departments of Economic and Social Sciences. Only Wolfgang von Stromer († 1999, FU Berlin, Economic and Social History of the Middle Ages ), in Bamberg are for economic, social and technological history, in Nuremberg -Erlangen for Economic and Social History and Gerhard Fouquet or were chair as Professor of Economic - and social history. Rarely are also successful candidates with appropriate research focus, as Klaus van Eickels in Bamberg.

Working groups

The situation is similar in the study groups. In this example, the range of topics of the Working Group for Economic and Social History of Schleswig-Holstein has grown far beyond the economic history. Only occasionally medieval themes are touched. The same applies to the working group on agricultural history and the Working Group on Economic and Social History of the Historical Commission of Lower Saxony and Bremen.

Hansa research

A special role is played by the study of the Hanseatic League, as the main one the chairs in Greifswald, then Jürgen Sarnowsky in Hamburg, Rolf Hammel - Kiesow ( Research Centre for the History of the Hanseatic League and the Baltic Sea Region, Archives of the Hanseatic city of Lübeck), the Chair of Rudolf Holbach and Kiel Gerhard Fouquet may apply.

Publication Series

Most important journals are the Hanseatic history leaves ( since 1871), sources and illustrations for Hanseatic history. NF, the Hanseatic studies from the GDR and the Hanseatic Umschau.

Economic-Historic Publication organs tend to use until the 19th century. Nevertheless, the quarterly magazine for social and economic history occasionally, albeit with decreasing frequency medieval contributions to, as well as the Journal of Agricultural History and Rural Sociology. The Yearbook of Economic History, a GDR's founding, has rarely posts on the Middle Ages.

Focus

In the area of trade and crafts in the early Middle Ages, an intensive co-operation with archeology and linguistics has developed. Mention may be made by the Commission for Archaeology of Central and Northern Europe, the Göttingen Academy of Sciences, since 1975. Thereby, the late antique and early medieval economic history of Central Europe are processed as well.

The Hanseatic research has been driven by early source editions. Significantly has been published since 1875 series Hansische historical sources and from 1908 the treatises on trade and maritime history

Especially quantitative sources, such as the Hamburg pound inch books of 1369, 1389/1400 and 1418, the Lübeck pounds inch Books from 1492 to 1496, the Hanseatic pounds inches lists from 1368, the Hamburg- book- 1288, but also the Revaler combing books from 1432 to 1507, the Sundzollrechnungen, to sources of business accounting, accounting for the trading companies and communication structures facilitated the research immensely. The outstanding figures in this case Dietrich Schaefer, Fritz Rörig, Wilhelm Koppe, Ahasuerus by Brandt, Heinrich Sproemberg apply.

In the GDR, was based in Greifswald Hansische Association of Historians Society of the GDR, which brought out the essays on trade and social history ( 1958 ), Hansische studies (from 1961), then New Hanseatic studies ( 1970-1989 ). Since 2001, they re-appear independently as Hansische studies.

Representations

The standard work is still Philippe Dollinger's " The Hanseatic League", is that brought out the Strasbourg in French in 1964. Since there are shorter representations before, but controversial, such as the Heinz Stoob.

In-depth studies, such as by Stuart Jenks on England, the Hanseatic League and Prussia. Trade and Diplomacy 1377-1474, Hanseatic trade routes by Friedrich Bruns and Hugo Weczerka, Detlev Ellmers Early medieval merchant shipping in central and northern Europe, led to a substantial appreciation of the achievements of the Hanseatic trade, but also to earlier evidence for the publishing system; they disproved the thesis of innovative total residue of the Hanseatic League, as well as the hostility of the credit ( Stuart Jenks and Michael North ).

City Economy: Trade and Crafts

First, the focus of the city economic research were rather on the constitutional and legal history, the social and the cultural and everyday history.

Edith Ennen standard work The European city of the Middle Ages and German city economy from the Middle Ages to 1350 joined Eberhard Isenmanns The German city added in the Late Middle Ages 1250-1500. Worked best are the cities of Cologne and Nuremberg, where as a first summary Hektor Ammann's contributions to the economic history of Nuremberg of 1967 applies, above all, the economic position of the city of Nuremberg in the late Middle Ages. Basic work provided here Götz Freiherr von Pölnitz and Wolfgang von Stromer, who was able to show how early and comprehensive merchants and bankers lending - mostly to finance military and territorial political things - began, in order to influence politics and society in their own economic interest.

Similarly well handled is the economic history of Augsburg, the Fugger and Welser 1500 were primarily in the commercial, not relevant in industry or in the power of innovation. A city's history gave Wolfgang anger with Augsburg. Story of a German city.

For Strasbourg is again Dollinger call, Trier Michael Matheus.

As productive for decades proved to be the Ammann- concept research on " economic units " and the centrality approach of Walter Christaller.

Working groups, institutes, research questions

Play an important role in working groups, such as the West German working group on urban history research, the Austrian Working Group for cities historical research, the working group Lower Rhine municipal archivists and institutes such as the Institute for Comparative Urban History in Münster, but the turning to relatively late economic history topics.

Many local studies are faced with few cross-cutting issues, such as Rolf Sprandels The iron trade in the Middle Ages (1968), by Stromers The establishment of the cotton industry in Central Europe ( 1978), Ammann The beginnings of the linen industry of the Lake Constance region (1953) and Germany and the cloth industry of northwestern Europe in the Middle Ages. ( Century 13 - 16th ) Back to the publishing system as an organizational form of early capitalism in the textile industry ( 1927) by Rudolf Holbach early forms of publishing and wholesale operation in commercial production (1996 ): In contrast, the publishing industry has long been well researched and the work ranges from Fridolin Furger. Journeymen, apprentices and wage workers worked mainly Wilfried Reininghausstraße and Knut Schulz, the building trade Ulf Dirlmeier, followed by Gerhard Fouquet, technical innovations rather of electricity ( mill machinery, paper making, printing ).

Markets, fairs, long-distance trade

While the Beforschung the urban market played a role from the beginning, the periodic markets have long been considered the domain Hektor Ammann. The fair anniversaries, like that of Frankfurt (1990/ 91) and Leipzig gave rise to survey works. There were meetings, as of 1990-1995 the Commission Internationale pour l' Histoire des Villes. The Institute for Comparative Urban History chose 1991 European Fairs and markets systems in the Middle Ages and modern times as the conference theme, followed in 2000, the Italian Istituto di storia economica " Francesco Datini " in Prato (see Francesco Datini ) and the Hanseatic Historical Society, 2001.

" Continuity gap was filled by the interpretation of early medieval merchant offices in North Sea and Baltic Sea as fair places that were filled only at fixed times with dealers between the early Mass of St. Denis and the first safe fairs of the 10th century" ( Irsigler ). In addition, the systemic nature of regional trade fair locations in Flanders, South East England, let comprise the Lower Rhine region, in the Middle Rhine area and in southern Italy along the lines of Champagnemessen, a system, which led to a fair typology and hierarchy, albeit in the Hanseatic space existed only the Scanian fair, the large exhibition spaces were from the beginning the most important financial and credit markets, and fairs as an art markets were researched.

Biographies

Biographies are an important foundation for the tradition and the presentation. Outstanding are the work and resources to Hildebrand Veckinchusen from Lübeck, Regensburg Runtingern, the Fugger and Welser, the Dortmund Tidemann Lviv, the Lübeck Hinrich Castorp or active in Szczecin, Gdansk and Lüneburg Loitz. Surprisingly early won merchants great influence, as already in the 12th century the rich Cologne businessman Gerhard Unmaze. Strongly influenced by Italy was the research on professional awareness of remote merchants. Here, the type of the great South German businessman - entrepreneur emerged clearly that settled on the mass of the Hanseatic merchants, who were in turn integrated into a quite strong network of family companies. In addition, they preferred other forms of credit protection as the Upper German.

Nevertheless, an overall view of the medieval merchants and their performance is still pending.

Money and currency

Regional studies come from Niklot Klüßendorf (Niederrhein, Aachen ), Gerald Stefke (Hamburg), Reiner Cunz (Northwest Germany ), Klaus Petry (Upper Lorraine ) and Karl manner Stein ( Trier). The Rheinlande are therefore best explored. There are also works to Westphalia by Peter Berghaus and Peter Ilisch, Lower Saxony ( Rainer Metz), Franconia (Hans Heiner Eichhorn ), the narrower Hanseatic space ( Michael North, who has also written a historical encyclopedia of money and a brief history of money ).

The Münzvereinen exist to work Rappenmünzbund ( southwest), the Rhenish and the Wendish coinage.

Conjecture of Wolfgang von Stromer on the modalities of transfer of funds, the exchange and the function of the money changers and the early existence of Upper German merchant - bankers were relativized by Arnold Esch.

The continuation of the history of prices and wages Wilhelm Abel with their vast collections of data could be secured by the move from Goettingen to Leipzig.

Mining and metallurgy, energy

Often have work, like that of Hermann trowel Benz: iron, copper and precious metals, their focus is on fundamental rather in the period after 1500 here Ekkehard Westermann. Copper, lead and silver mining, Saigerhütten, but also works that originated at the University of Bremen like that of Dieter Hägermann and Karl- Heinz Ludwig ( salt mines in Lorraine, Lüneburg, Trent mining law, precious metal mining in the Alps, edition of the mining law of Massa Marittima). About the Erzgebirge worked most notably Adolf Laube and Uwe Schirmer, on the Upper Palatinate iron station Wolfgang von Stromer.

With the issue of energy supply and extraction Dietrich Lohrmann involved (Aachen) and his students, especially with the fitting of large rooms with water and wind mills or the Rhine in Cologne mills. Lohrmann and Stromer konstatierten an "energy crisis of the Middle Ages ", which was, however, offset by non- problem of trade -rich regions. For coal mining is J. Wiesmann ( coal mining in the territories to Aachen from 1334 to 1794, 1995) and H. Kranz ( to Liege, 2000, 2002 ) to name, to the resin Karl Heinrich Kaufhold and Christoph Bartels. A monograph on the history of mining is still pending.

Viticulture and trade

The basic works of Günther Franz ( ed.): German agricultural history in 6 volumes by 12 authors barely mentioned the wine. The overarching literature is outdated.

Impetus came here Hektor Ammann, but also by Raymond van Uytven who compared the Cologne wine market with that of Bordeaux. The importance of the urban households, the compression of the Roman viticulture on the Mosel, the high degree of continuity in the Carolingian period, for example in the organization of work ( Centena ) and the layers becomes apparent only in the recent research. The best of the Mosel area, the middle Rhine and the Palatinate, but also Thuringia, England ( Kurt -Ulrich Jaeschke ) is explored. The wine cellar in northern Germany edited Postel, Sander. Again, there is still no overarching representation.

See Historic wine cultivation and trade in Cologne

Desiderata

Numerous serial sources have not yet been edited, such as the Electoral Cologne Rhine duties, numerous account books. It lacks economic histories of the major regions, although some manuals provide a certain entry, such as to Franconia and Lower Saxony.

The manuals for the economic and social history, like that of Aubin and anger are out of date.

Major economic historian

International:

• Fernand Braudel (1902-1985)
• Marc Bloch (1886-1944), co-founder of the Annales school
• Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. (1918-2007)
• Carlo Maria Cipolla (1922-2000)
• Georges Duby (1919-1996)
• Barry Eichengreen ( born 1952 )
• Gerald Feldman (1937-2007)
• Niall Ferguson ( b. 1964 )
• Robert W. Fogel (1926-2013), Nobel Prize for Economics in 1993
• Milton Friedman (1912-2006)
• Alexander Gerschenkron (1904-1978)
• Eli Filip Heckscher (1879-1952)
• Fritz M. Heichelheim (1901-1968)
• Eric Hobsbawm (1917-2012)
• Harold Innis (1894-1952)
• January Jörnmark (* 1959)
• Charles P. Kindleberger (1910-2003)
• Gino Luzzatto (1878-1964)
• Deirdre N. McCloskey ( b. 1942 )
• Douglass North (* 1920), Nobel Prize in Economics in 1993.
• Karl Polanyi (1886-1964)
• Emma Rothschild ( b. 1948 )
• Immanuel Wallerstein ( b. 1930 )
• John Komlos (1944 )
• Jeffrey G. Williamson ( b. 1935 )
• Joel Mokyr ( b. 1946 )

In Germany:

• Wilhelm Abel (1904-1985)
• Werner Abelshauser ( b. 1944 )
• Jörg Baten ( b. 1965 )
• Jochen Streb ( b. 1966 )
• Georg von Below (1858-1927)
• Hartmut Berghoff ( b. 1960 )
• Knut Borchardt (* 1929)
• Christoph Buchheim (1954-2009)
• Alfred Doren (1869-1934)
• Richard Ehrenberg (1857-1921)
• Wilhelm Heyd (1823-1906)
• Carl -Ludwig Holtfrerich ( b. 1942 )
• Hermann trowel Benz (1913-1990)
• Jürgen Kuczynski (1904-1997)
• Bruno Kuske (1876-1964)
• Michael North ( b. 1954 )
• Thomas Pekáry (1929-2010)
• Toni Pierenkemper ( b. 1944 )
• Clumsy Werner (* 1954)
• Albrecht Ritschl (* 1959)
• Gustav von Schmoller (1838-1917)
• Aloys Schulte (1857-1941)
• Günther Schulz ( b. 1950 )
• Wolfgang Stromer von Reichenbach (1922-1999)
• Richard Tilly ( b. 1932 )
• Rolf Walter ( * 1953 )