Otto Hintze
Encyclopedia
Otto Hintze was a German
historian
of public administration
. He was Professor of a Political, Constitutional, Administrative and Economic History at the University of Berlin.
Hintze was born in the small town of Pyritz (Pyrzyce
) in the Province of Pomerania, the son of a civil servant. From 1878 to 1879, Hintze studied history, philosophy and philology in Greifswald
. Here he joined the fraternity Germania.
Hintze came to Berlin
in 1880, and soon obtained a doctorate under Julius Weizsäcker
with a dissertation on Medieval History in 1884. He joined the project on the ‘Acta Borussica’, an editing project of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
under the directorship of Gustav Schmoller dealing with the Prussian administrative files of the 18th century. Seven volumes of sources on the economics and administrative organisation in Prussia, with detailed historical commentaries, were published by 1910. In 1895, his post-doctoral thesis to become a lecturer was accepted by Treitschke and Schmoller; in 1902 as Professor of the newly created Department of Political, Constitutional, Administrative and Economic History. In 1912, Hintze married his student Hedwig Guggenheimer. One of his key works, Die Hohenzollern und ihr Werk (The Hohenzollern and Their Legacy), is considered to be an important and solidly researched piece of scholarship, despite having been commissioned by the Prussian Hohenzollern dynasty for their ruling anniversary in 1915. Hintze was prematurely retired from the university in 1920 due to health reasons.
Hintze ceased publishing after the Nazi Party came to power. In 1938, Hintze resigned from the Prussian Academy of Sciences
, which he had been a member of since 1914. His wife, Hedwig Hintze (born: Hedwig Guggenheimer), who was Germany's first woman to receive a doctorate in History and the University of Berlin's (Friedrich Wilhelm University) first woman History professor, because of her Jewish roots and leftist sympathies soon lost her position as lecturer at the Friedrich Wilhelm University, and eventually had to flee to the Netherlands
in 1939. Otto Hintze only survived this separation for a few months. In 1942, his wife committed suicide rather than undergo deportation to a death camp by the Nazis.
Since the 1960s, there has been deeper research into Hintze's oeuvre, as signified by Gerhard Oestreich’s detailed new work on him. The historians Jürgen Kocka
and Felix Gilbert
agree that, in their opinion, he could possibly be the most significant German historian of the German Empire
and of the Weimar Republic
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
historian
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...
of public administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
. He was Professor of a Political, Constitutional, Administrative and Economic History at the University of Berlin.
Hintze was born in the small town of Pyritz (Pyrzyce
Pyrzyce
Pyrzyce , is a town in Pomerania, north-western Poland, with 13,331 inhabitants Capital of the Pyrzyce County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship , previously in Szczecin Voivodeship .-History:...
) in the Province of Pomerania, the son of a civil servant. From 1878 to 1879, Hintze studied history, philosophy and philology in Greifswald
Greifswald
Greifswald , officially, the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald is a town in northeastern Germany. It is situated in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, at an equal distance of about from Germany's two largest cities, Berlin and Hamburg. The town borders the Baltic Sea, and is crossed...
. Here he joined the fraternity Germania.
Hintze came to 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...
in 1880, and soon obtained a doctorate under Julius Weizsäcker
Julius Weizsäcker
Julius Ludwig Friedrich Weizsäcker was a German historian. He was specialized on medieval history and early modern history. A member of the noble Weizsäcker family, his brother was the Protestant theologian Karl Heinrich Weizsäcker....
with a dissertation on Medieval History in 1884. He joined the project on the ‘Acta Borussica’, an editing project of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
Prussian Academy of Sciences
The Prussian Academy of Sciences was an academy established in Berlin on 11 July 1700, four years after the Akademie der Künste or "Arts Academy", to which "Berlin Academy" may also refer.-Origins:...
under the directorship of Gustav Schmoller dealing with the Prussian administrative files of the 18th century. Seven volumes of sources on the economics and administrative organisation in Prussia, with detailed historical commentaries, were published by 1910. In 1895, his post-doctoral thesis to become a lecturer was accepted by Treitschke and Schmoller; in 1902 as Professor of the newly created Department of Political, Constitutional, Administrative and Economic History. In 1912, Hintze married his student Hedwig Guggenheimer. One of his key works, Die Hohenzollern und ihr Werk (The Hohenzollern and Their Legacy), is considered to be an important and solidly researched piece of scholarship, despite having been commissioned by the Prussian Hohenzollern dynasty for their ruling anniversary in 1915. Hintze was prematurely retired from the university in 1920 due to health reasons.
Hintze ceased publishing after the Nazi Party came to power. In 1938, Hintze resigned from the Prussian Academy of Sciences
Prussian Academy of Sciences
The Prussian Academy of Sciences was an academy established in Berlin on 11 July 1700, four years after the Akademie der Künste or "Arts Academy", to which "Berlin Academy" may also refer.-Origins:...
, which he had been a member of since 1914. His wife, Hedwig Hintze (born: Hedwig Guggenheimer), who was Germany's first woman to receive a doctorate in History and the University of Berlin's (Friedrich Wilhelm University) first woman History professor, because of her Jewish roots and leftist sympathies soon lost her position as lecturer at the Friedrich Wilhelm University, and eventually had to flee to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in 1939. Otto Hintze only survived this separation for a few months. In 1942, his wife committed suicide rather than undergo deportation to a death camp by the Nazis.
Since the 1960s, there has been deeper research into Hintze's oeuvre, as signified by Gerhard Oestreich’s detailed new work on him. The historians Jürgen Kocka
Jürgen Kocka
Jürgen Kocka is a German historian.A university professor and former president of the Social Science Research Center Berlin , Kocka is a major figure in the new Social History, especially as represented by the Bielefeld School...
and Felix Gilbert
Felix Gilbert
Felix Gilbert was a German-born American historian of early modern and modern Europe. Gilbert was born in Baden-Baden, Germany to a middle-class Jewish family, and part of the Mendelssohn Bartholdy clan. In the latter half of the 1920s, Gilbert studied under Friedrich Meinecke at the University of...
agree that, in their opinion, he could possibly be the most significant German historian of the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
and of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
.
Works
- Das Königtums Wilhelms von Holland, Leipzig 1885
- Die Preußische Seidenindustrie im 18. Jahrhundert und ihre Begründung durch Friedrich den Großen, 3 Volumes, Berlin 1892
- Einleitende Darstellung der Behördenorganisation und allgemeinen Verwaltung in Preußen beim Regierungsamt Friedrichs II., Berlin 1901
- Staatsverfassung und Heeresverfassung. Vortrag gehalten in der Gehe-Stiftung zu Dresden am 17. Februar 1906, Dresden 1906
- Historische und politische Aufsätze, 10 Volumes, Berlin 1908
- Monarchisches Prinzip und konstitutionelle Verfassung, in: Preußische Jahrbücher, Volume 144 (1911)
- Die englischen Weltherrschaftspläne und der gegenwärtige Krieg, Berlin 1914
- Die Hohenzollern und ihr Werk, Verlag: A. Steiger, SolingenSolingenSolingen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and with a 2009 population of 161,366 is the second largest city in the Bergisches Land...
- Deutschland und der Weltkrieg, 2 Volumes, LeipzigLeipzigLeipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
1916 - Wesen und Verbreitung des Feudalismus, in: Sitzungsberichte der Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (1929)
External links
- SEHEPUNKTE – Ausgabe 8 (2008), Nr. 6 - Rezension von: Preußen
- Hedwig Hintze (1884-1942)
- Biography of Otto Hintze at www.geschichte.hu-berlin.de