Alfred von Reumont

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Alfred von Reumont

Alfred von Reumont (born August 15, 1808 in Aachen , † April 27, 1887 in Burtscheid ) was a German statesman and historian .

Life

Reumont came from an originally in Liege resident, Roman Catholic family. After graduating from high school, he began - contrary to his inclination, but in accordance with the wishes of his father Gerhard Reumont - to study medicine in Bonn and Heidelberg . He gave up this study after the death of his father. After a short time as private tutor in Florence, Reumont had been the private secretary of the Prussian ambassador in Florence Friedrich von Martens since 1830 . He followed this to Constantinople in 1832 . He had also gone public with numerous works on the history of the city of Aachen. In 1833, however, he received a doctorate cumulative Doctor of Philosophy in Erlangen . He later worked as a diplomat at the Foreign Office in Berlin (1835–1836), as Secretary of the Legation in Florence and in Rome (1836–43) and as Secretary in the Foreign Office (1843–1847), where he was also the private secretary of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV served. The trust of his king in Reumont led to his finally raising him to the nobility in 1846. His numerous diplomatic missions enabled him to gain an in-depth picture of Italy. Other diplomatic missions in Prussian services took him to Rome as well as Florence as Prussian Chargé d'Affaires with responsibility for Parma and Modena from 1851 and as Chargé d'affaires in Florence and five years later as Minister-Resident at the Grand Ducal Court. In 1852 he became a member of the Accademia della Crusca . The revolutionary events in Italy put an end to his activity in the diplomatic service in Italy. In Prussia, too, he was no longer used in civil service. His Catholic denomination may also have been a certain obstacle.

From the 1850s onwards he devoted himself almost exclusively to his literary studies, which also took him to numerous libraries and archives. These began first in Rome, followed by his hometown Aachen, from 1868 on in Bonn, where he began his studies, and finally returned to Aachen in 1878. In 1853 he became a corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences , in 1858 a foreign member. The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin had accepted him in 1854 as a corresponding member. Despite serious health problems, he, meanwhile promoted to chamberlain in 1855, always kept his scientific work. His most important works are those created since 1860. He also maintained a lively personal and correspondence with respected colleagues in history and political figures in Germany and Italy. Among the correspondents were personalities such as his former colleague Hermann von Thile , with whom he had the closest friendship, Marchese Gino Capponi , the famous Italian literary historian, Leopold von Ranke , the most important German historian, whom he attacked in 1830 and who ultimately fell victim to his historiography But it became of decisive importance, and some members of the Prussian royal house, especially Queen Elisabeth and Kaiser Wilhelm I. His diverse correspondence finally culminated in a collection under the title Roman Letters from a Florentine . This not only speaks of contemporary politics and private affairs in the narrower sense, but also of impressions of the Italian landscapes, architecture and art, etc.

Reumont monument by sculptor Franz Linden next to the Ponttor in Aachen

In addition, Alfred von Reumont was one of the founding members of the Aachen History Society in 1879 and was its first chairman until 1886 after he had been promoted to the Real Council a year earlier . After his death, Reumont bequeathed his extensive collection of works and literature, including his Dante collection, to the Aachen City Library . This in turn is one of the most valuable holdings in this library. In 1883 Reumont was made an honorary citizen of Aachen . He also received honorary citizenship of the Italian cities of Rome and Florence. Furthermore, a street and later a school in Aachen were named after him.

In connection with the dispute over the authenticity of the Dino Compagni's chronicle , he exchanged views with the leading historian Karl Hegel in the 1870s and 1880s .

Alfred von Reumont found his final resting place in Aachen's Ostfriedhof .

plant

Reumont was an extremely prolific writer mainly engaged in literary history. It was his concern to seek communication with German readers and to promote a deeper understanding of Italian art and history. In this way he wanted to prepare a spiritual connection between Germany and Italy. In a way, he had such a large part in the German perception of Italy during the Risorgimento . Reumont's works on Italy in the Renaissance , along with those by Ludwig von Pastor , Georg Voigt , Jacob Burckhardt, and Ferdinand Gregorovius, are considered to be the most important of 19th-century German history. They are still essentially part of the standard literature today. This is especially true of his three-volume history of the city of Rome. The importance of his work was never really questioned, not even by his contemporaries. Some books, including the biography of Lorenzo de 'Medici , have been translated into other languages.

In contrast to Voigt and, to a certain extent, Burckhardt, his oeuvre spans the entire Renaissance period. Like Gregorovius, he described the city of Rome from its beginnings to the end of the 16th century. The work on the city of Rome should not only be the most extensive, but also the most important by Reumont for the Italian Renaissance. His descriptions are not only interesting for the history of literature, but also, as with the painter Andrea del Sarto , for the history of art and epigraphy . Just like Ranke, Voigt and Gregorovius, Reumont could not or only little use the fund of the Secret Vatican Archives for this purpose. That was only in the year 1883 by papal decree of Pope Leo XIII. generally possible. Previously, only Johannes Voigt and Ludwig von Pastor were able to make more extensive use of these holdings.

His work was also valued in research on the history of the Reformation. This concerns the pre-Reformation period, the time during and after Charles V's moves to Rome in 1519 and also the Sacco di Roma , the sack of Rome in 1527. There is hardly a larger Reformation history that lacks references to his work when it comes to political events in Rome itself. His biography of Lorenzo de 'Medici was also popular at the time.

Reumont worked for the renowned Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung from the 1840s . The editorial copy of the newspaper preserved in the German Literature Archive in Marbach am Neckar , as well as the newspaper's fee book, lists around 1,500 articles. He wrote on political subjects as well as all areas of Italian culture.

Fonts (selection)

  • Andrea Del Sarto. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1835.
  • Travel descriptions and outlines from southern regions (= travel and country descriptions of the older and more recent times . Volume 5, ZDB -ID 1026888-1 ). Cotta, Stuttgart et al. 1835.
  • Rhineland's sagas, stories and legends. Ludwig Kohnen, Cologne / Aachen 1837 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  • Ruins of the Rhine, their times and traditions. Edited by Charles White. Kohnen, Aix-La Chapelle et al. 1838 ( digitized version of the University and State Library in Düsseldorf ).
  • Sagas legends des bords du Rhin. Orné de 8 gravures sur acier. Kohnen, Aix-La Chapelle et al. 1838 ( digitized version of the University and State Library in Düsseldorf ).
  • as editor: Italia. 2 volumes. Duncker, Berlin 1838-1840, ZDB ID 525272-6 .
  • (New) Roman letters from a Florentine 1837–1838. 4 volumes. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1840-1844 (Volume 3–4 also under the title: New Roman letters from a Florentine. Part 1–2).
  • The Carafa of Maddaloni. Naples under Spanish rule. 2 volumes. Decker, Berlin 1851.
  • Contributions to Italian history. 6 volumes. Decker, Berlin 1853–1857.
  • History of the city of Rome. 3 volumes (in 4). Decker, Berlin 1867-1870.
    • Volume 1: From the founding of the city to the end of the western empire. 1867.
    • Volume 2: From the rule of the Germanic peoples to the end of the great schism. 1867 ( digitized in the Google book search).
    • Volume 3: From the Relocation of the Holy See to the Present. Department 1: The Restoration. 1868.
    • Volume 3: From the Relocation of the Holy See to the Present. Department 2: Modern Rome. 1870.
  • Lorenzo de 'Medici il Magnifico. 2 volumes. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1874 (2nd, often changed edition 1883).

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Alfred von Reumont  - Sources and full texts

Remarks

  1. ^ Membership catalog of the Crusca
  2. ↑ See Marion Kreis: Karl Hegel. Historical significance and scientific history location (= series of publications of the Historical Commission at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. Volume 84). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen u. a. 2012, ISBN 978-3-525-36077-4 , especially p. 76 ff. (Cf. e-book and reading sample ).
personal data
SURNAME Reumont, Alfred von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German statesman and historian
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1808
PLACE OF BIRTH Aachen
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1887
Place of death Aachen