Karl Gotthard Lamprecht

Karl Gotthard Lamprecht ( born February 25, 1856 in Jessen, † May 10 1915 in Leipzig ) was a German historian. Lamprecht was a professor of history at the University of Leipzig and was especially known for his role in the dispute over methods of historical research.

Life

Lamprecht's father was the chief minister Carl Nathanael Lamprecht ( 1804-1878 ). His older brother, Hugo (* 1845) studied how the father of theology and later became superintendent.

Lamprecht was married to Mathilde Muehl (1860-1920), the couple had children Marianne Lamprecht, married small Walbeck (1888-1946) and Elizabeth Lamprecht, married Rose- Schütz ( 1890-1978 ).

His grave is in the cemetery at the school gate.

Study

After attending schools in Wittenberg and Schulpforta Lamprecht studied from 1874 in Göttingen, Leipzig and Munich history. In Göttingen he became a member of the company founded in 1860 Student Choral Society of the Georgia Augusta - the Blue singer - in the Special Housing Association, in Leipzig he associated with the University of singer shaft to St. Pauli in the German singer shaft, whose honorary member, he was later, and in Munich at the Academic Choral Society in the special Housing Association. In his time in Bonn he later became a member of the singer connection Makaria Bonn in the Special Housing Association. He was also honorary chairman and honorary member of the fraternity Red Lion Leipzig.

Under the influence of the economist Wilhelm Roscher Lamprecht dealt increasingly with the economic history and a doctorate in 1878 at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Leipzig under Wilhelm Roscher and the historian Carl von Noorden with contributions to the history of French economic life in the 11th century.

Since Lamprecht looked after his father's death no chance (further only on the lecture fees dependent ) work without fixed salary as a lecturer, he laid in 1879 the state exam for teachers at secondary schools and graduated from the sample year. In the same year he became tutor to the Cologne banker Deichmann and learned the Rhenish industrialist Gustav von Mevissen know, thanks to his scholarship, he was able to study the Rhenish economic history. In 1881 he founded the Society of Rhenish History class with Mevissen. Together with Felix Hettner, the director of the Trier Provincial Museum, he was the 1881-1891 West German journal for history and art out.

Professional career

1880 Habilitation Lamprecht in Bonn Wilhelm Maurenbrecher about the history of Dietrich Engelhus and became Privatdozent. The work remained unpublished since it was completed only in part. 1888 he was appointed extraordinary professor. In 1890 he was offered a professorship at Marburg in the successor Conrad Varrentrapps. Already in 1891 he took over the Leipzig Department of medieval and modern history in the successor Georg Voigt ( 1827-1891 ) and was second Director of the History Department of the University of Leipzig alongside William Maurenbrecher, which he owed ​​to the enforcement of his call to Leipzig. After the death Moors breaker Lamprecht held the sole management of the seminary until 1915. In 1898 he founded, together with the geographer Friedrich Ratzel, the historical- geographical seminar. In 1910/11 he served as rector of the University of Leipzig in the study reform and anchored among others, the position of the student body in the university constitution.

Lamprecht suggested in 1906 the establishment of the Department of Regional History and settlement of customer that was under the direction of Rudolf Kötzschkes ( 1867-1949 ), and founded in 1909 the Royal Saxon Institute for Cultural and Universal History, the first liberal arts institution in Germany, which is not the University, but was directly under the Ministry. Another ten Institute -ups were planned. His successor as director was Walter Goetz.

In 1896 he founded the Royal Saxon Commission for the History. He was also a member of the Pan-German League and the Society for Higher Education, whose chairman he was 1911.

Close contacts had Lamprecht, among others, to the psychologist Wilhelm Wundt and the chemist Wilhelm Ostwald.

Scientific development

Compared to the academic life dominant at that time in Germany Neo - Rankeanern Lamprecht stressed the importance of the cultural history of the material factors and groups (associations ) in history. The sentence, it did not matter, to show how it actually happened ( Ranke ), but as it had become, summarizes Lamprecht setting along concise. The prevailing individualism, the belief that " great men " make history ( Heinrich von Treitschke ), presented Lamprecht against the importance of the environment and especially of economic development, he also assumed that in the history regularities could discover no reason to deny the freedom of the individual.

Methods dispute the science of history

The dispute over methods from the 1890s did not ignite in connection with Lamprecht's German history, but so much the fact that they primarily carry out cultural and economic history or would operate. Far more important was the question of what kind of history could be the new requirements both from society and from the natural sciences. Lamprecht said that cultural and economic history are primarily and politics and personal history secondary.

The younger Lamprecht, influenced by the German economist Wilhelm Roscher, had turned to economic history questions. The descriptive view of history, as they had represented Leopold von Ranke and all his subsequent schools until then, he opposed the genetic. The states were considered him as secondary phenomena. Lamprecht was not about the state- and event- historical presentation, but this underlying " laws ".

This Lamprecht met with resistance from the German historiography, especially the " Neorankeaner ". Georg von Below, Max Lenz and Felix Rachfahl threw Lamprecht ago unclean citation. Among his other opponents included Hans Delbrück, Friedrich Meinecke, Hermann Oncken, Max Weber and Gustav von Schmoller. Harder still was the accusation of positivism and materialism, which he was exposed, because the first volume of his German history through the social democratic historian Franz Mehring was favorably reviewed.

In Lamprecht's universal conception of history and the underlying theory of the psychogenesis of the influence of folk psychology Wilhelm Wundt is finally recognized. So Lamprecht came to the theory that the historical development of national consciousness can be periodized by " culture ages ." These stages correspond to stages of economic development culture that characterized Lamprecht as follows:

• Symbolism ( to 350 AD, okkupatorische economy )
• Typismus (350-1050, marktgenössische Natural Resources)
• Conventionalism (1050-1450, manorial Natural Resources)
• Individualism (1450-1700, co-operative trading and money management)
• Subjectivism ( from 1700, the money economy, individual trade and industry)

Accordingly, his periodization of German history by " culture ages " occurred.

The German historians refused Lamprecht novel methodological approach from most contemporary historians fine Deten him even why. His German history appeared before it was fully worked through. Georg von Below was one of the fiercest opponents of Lamprecht and wrote, "one has to use the ax " on his scientific work in terms.

In the German historical " guild " Lamprecht was therefore isolated. In France, its culture conception of history was well received and exerted influence on the structural history from Annales school.

German history

• German history. Twelve volumes, and two volumes Incomplete, Berlin 1891-1909.
• German history. Twelve volumes in nineteen books, Berlin: Hermann Heyfelder & Weidmannsche bookstore, 1906-1911 Division One: prehistoric and medieval times. Age of symbolic, typical and conventional mental life. Volume 1 - 4
• Division Two: Newer time. Age of the individual soul life. Vol 5.1. - 7.2.
• Third Division: Latest time. Age of subjective mental life. Vol 8.1 - 11.2.
• Final band ( band 12): Notes, bibliography, index.
• Three supplementary volumes: For recent German past. 1 Band: musical art - arts- poetry - belief.
• Volume 2, 1 half: economic life and social development.
• Volume 2, 2nd half: Inner - Outer politics politics

Other works

• German economic life in the Middle Ages. 3 in 4 volumes. Dürr, Leipzig 1885/1886 ( digitized: Vol I, 1, Vol I, 2, Vol II, Vol III); Reprints: Aalen 1969.
• Old and new directions in the history of science. Gaertner, Leipzig 1896 ( digitized, containing: I. About historical view and historical method II Ranke's theory of ideas and the Jungrankianer. ).
• German history of the recent past and present. 2 vols. Weidmann, Berlin 1912/1913 ( digitized: Vol 1, Vol 2).
• German ascent 1750 - 1914th Perthes, Gotha 1914 ( digitized )