Karl Friedrich Becker
Encyclopedia
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
. His most noted work was World History for Children and Teachers of Children which was widely used and much edited and revised by other noted historians after Becker's death.
Biography
Becker was a native of BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. He studied history and philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at the University of Halle, and after finishing his studies, worked as a tutor in Cottbus
Cottbus
Cottbus is a city in Brandenburg, Germany, situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree. As of , its population was .- History :...
. From 1798 to 1800 he was a schoolteacher in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, but due to poor health had to resign from teaching and devote his time to literary and historical work. Becker died on March 15, 1806 at the age of 29. His grave is preserved in the Protestant Friedhof I der Jerusalems- und Neuen Kirchengemeinde (Cemetery No. I of the congregations of Jerusalem's Church
Jerusalem's Church
Jerusalem's Church is one of the churches of the Evangelical Congregation in the Friedrichstadt , a member of the Protestant umbrella organisation Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia. The present church building is located in Berlin, borough Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, in...
and New Church
Deutscher Dom
Deutscher Dom is the colloquial naming for the New Church located in Berlin on the Gendarmenmarkt across from Französischer Dom . Its parish comprised the northern part of the then new quarter of Friedrichstadt, which until then belonged to the parish of the congregations of Jerusalem's Church...
) in Berlin-Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg, a part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte since 2001, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin...
, south of Hallesches Tor
Hallesches Tor (Berlin U-Bahn)
The underground station Hallesches Tor is part of the Berlin U-Bahn network at the intersection of the east-west bound U1 and the north-south bound U6 in the Kreuzberg district.-Overview:...
.
Works
Becker is remembered today as author of the nine-volume Weltgeschichte für Kinder und Kinderlehrer. This work was published in Berlin between 1801 and 1805, and after his death was continued, edited and revised by numerous authors. Karl Ludwig Woltmann added a tenth volume, and Karl Adolf Menzel two more. Wilhelm Adolf SchmidtWilhelm Adolf Schmidt
Wilhelm Adolf Schmidt was a German historian.- Biography :He studied at Berlin, in 1839 becoming a lecturer there, and in 1845 professor. In 1851, he became professor for history at the University of Zürich; nine years, he went to the University of Jena, where he remained for the rest of his life...
's edition of 1860-67 contains 20 volumes, including Karl Eduard Arnd
Karl Eduard Arnd
Karl Eduard Arnd was a German historian and author who was a native of Wągrowiec.Arnd studied at the Universities of Breslau and Berlin. During his career he lived and worked in Paris and Berlin. He is remembered for his written works on French history...
's Geschichte der letzten vierzig Jahre and its continuations to 1867. The same author's Geschichte der Jahre 1867-1871 (1st vol., 1872) also served as a supplement. Johann Wilhelm Löbell
Johann Wilhelm Löbell
-Biography:Löbell was a native of Berlin. He studied at the Universities of Heidelberg and Berlin under Wolf and Böckh. He had entered the scholarly life against the wishes of his mother who wanted him to go into business. During the War of the Sixth Coalition , he served as a volunteer in a...
was an editor. Though gaining in fullness and accuracy, the revisions lost something of the charm of Becker's original presentation.
Other publications by Becker include:
- Tales from history for young people ' onMouseout='HidePop("96892")' href="/topics/Hermann_Masius">Hermann MasiusHermann MasiusHermann Masius was a German educator who was a native of Trebnitz .He studied theology in Halle, and later was director of a secondary school in Halberstadt...
, 1873) - Poetry from the Viewpoint of the Historian