Georg Weber (historian)

Georg Weber (historian)

Georg Weber (born February 10, 1808 in Bergzabern , † August 10, 1888 in Heidelberg ) was a German historian and classical philologist . He studied philology and history and then became a high school teacher.

Life

The tomb of Georg Weber, a sandstone stele on the Heidelberg Bergfriedhof in the (Dept. L)

Growing up in Bergzabern, Georg Weber attended high school in Speyer from 1825 to 1828 , where he graduated from high school in 1828. In the summer semester of 1828 he began studying theology at the University of Erlangen , and in the winter semester of 1828/29 he switched to studying history and classical philology. From the summer semester of 1829 to the summer semester of 1832, he continued his studies in Heidelberg , where he passed his teaching examination in 1832 and was awarded a Dr. phil. received his doctorate. Between 1833 and 1835 he traveled through Italy and France. From 1835 to 1838 he was a teacher at the grammar school in Bergzabern (head of the Latin School), from 1839 to 1848 second main teacher (i.e. deputy director) of the secondary school in Heidelberg and from 1848 to 1872 its director. In 1872 he retired, which he spent in Heidelberg.

Marriage into a wealthy family

“In the year he was employed at the higher middle school, the 30-year-old married Ida Becher (1804–1888), who was four years older and came from a wealthy family; she was to bear him a daughter and four sons. Through her he got access to the academic circles of the city. In his 'Heidelberg Memories' (1886) Weber describes the intellectual life of Heidelberg in the mirror of his acquaintances “with almost all scholars of the university of standing. “Two years after his marriage, Weber had the imposing residence built at Neuenheimer Landstrasse 8 in the style of fashionable classicism. He had bought the property from the former mayor Jakob Wilhelm Speyerer . The junior teacher paid the purchase price in cash, which was financed by his wealthy, early widowed mother-in-law Caroline Becher. She lived in her son-in-law's house until her death. "

He was buried in the old cemetery in Heidelberg- Neuenheim , where the grave is no longer preserved. A memorial stele still exists in the Heidelberg Bergfriedhof (Section L).

In 1828, Georg Weber became a member of the corps , the fraternity of Teutonia Erlangen, which soon died out . The fraternity Allemannia Heidelberg awarded him honorary membership on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the university and its 30th anniversary on July 5, 1886. Three of his sons ( Heinrich , 1842–1913; Karl, 1843–1898; Friedrich Percy, 1844–1895) also became members of the Allemannia fraternity in Heidelberg between 1860 and 1862.

plant

Georg Weber was a successful historian in the second half of the 19th century; he did not see himself as a scientist, but rather as a mediator of knowledge, in line with his profession as a teacher.

The book with the greatest circulation was the textbook of world history (1st edition 1847). With this title he became a didactician of history in a broad educational and visual sense. It is precisely this fact that is typical of Georg Weber's life's work: as a pedagogue with a comprehensive historical education, he places the main emphasis on the pedagogically meaningful transfer of knowledge. Even if his main work, the 15-volume Allgemeine Weltgeschichte , no longer has the character of a textbook, the pedagogical purpose is clear from the full title: General world history with special consideration of the intellectual and cultural life of the peoples and with the use of the more recent historical research for processed the estates formed . So he only uses the more recent historical research and processes it for the educated classes. The educational mission could hardly be made clearer. He does not see himself as a scientist and researcher, but as a knowledge broker. The addressee is not specialist historians, but generally the educated classes, i.e. people like the ones he dismisses from his school. Disparaging voices therefore viewed him as a popular historian. But it was precisely the professors at Heidelberg University that paid him tribute in view of his enormous journalistic achievement. An English historian wrote of him: “His work is without a doubt the most complete and comprehensive presentation of world history ever written by a single hand.” He was “the world's most widely read historian”, as stated in a commemorative publication on his 150th birthday stands. His works have been used by teachers throughout the cultivated world. He achieved great international success by avoiding overly one-sided statements. His books were translated into all European cultural languages ​​during his lifetime, and translations into Arabic, Persian, Indian, Japanese and Chinese were even published. His book The world history in a clear presentation reached the 25th edition in 1935. His two educational works are said to have reached over 100,000 copies during their author's lifetime. Weber himself saw his rise from hardship and poverty to civil well-being and his success as a historian as a historical coincidence as a result of personal good conduct and moral righteousness.

Honors

In 1888 he became an honorary citizen of Heidelberg. The city of Heidelberg named Weberstrasse in Neuenheim after him, the Webersbrunnen above the Haarlaß on the extension of the Philosophenweg, and placed a memorial stone for him on the Heidelberg mountain cemetery with his motto, "Being just against all sincere aspirations is true humanity". His place of birth Bad Bergzabern honored him with the erection of a memorial stone, which was renewed on the occasion of his 150th birthday in 1958, and a street in Bad Bergzabern was named after him.

Fonts

• De Gytheo et rebus navalibus Lacedaemoniorum ( About Gytheion and the Spartan maritime system ). Prize paper and dissertation Heidelberg 1833.
• Historical representation of Calvinism in relation to the state , Heidelberg 1836.
• Textbook of World History 1846 , 2 volumes, Heidelberg 1851, 20th edition 1888.
• History of German literature from its beginnings to the present , Leipzig 1850, 11th edition 1880.
• Literary-historical reading book, containing samples from the most important literary works of all peoples and times , 3 volumes, 1851 and 1852.
• World history in a clear presentation , Leipzig 1851, 20th edition 1889.
• History of the Acatholic Churches and Sects in Great Britain , 1845 and 1853, later titled:
• History of the Church Reformation in Great Britain (new edition, Leipzig 1856, 2 volumes).
• The patriotic element in the German school. Four school speeches , 1856.
• Reader on the history of German literature, old and new , Leipzig 1856.
• General world history with special consideration of the intellectual and cultural life of the peoples and with use of the more recent historical research for the educated classes . Leipzig 1857–1880, 15 volumes, 4 register volumes (in 1 volume); 2nd edition: 16 volumes, 1 register volume, Leipzig 1882–1899 (online: Vol. 1 , Vol. 2 , Vol. 3 , Vol. 4 , Vol. 5 , Vol. 6 , Vol. 7 , Vol. 8 , Vol . 9 , Vol. 10 , Vol. 11 , Vol. 12 , Vol. 15 ).
• with Heinrich Holtzmann (his son-in-law :) History of the people of Israel and the emergence of Christianity , 2 volumes, Leipzig 1867.
• On the history of the age of the Reformation , Leipzig 1874.
• Friedrich Christoph Schlosser, the historian. Souvenir sheets from his life and work , Leipzig 1876.
• My life and education . Foreword to the textbook of world history, separate print Leipzig 1883.
• Youth impressions and experiences , Leipzig 1883, 1887.
• Heidelberg memories , Stuttgart 1886.
• Historical images from different countries and ages , Leipzig 1886.
• Numerous articles in the “Heidelberger Jahrbücher” , Raumer's “historical diary” , the “Deutsche Revue” and in the “Allgemeine Zeitung” .

literature

• Karl Lorentzen :  Weber, Georg . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 41, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, pp. 299-302.
• Wolfgang Schlegel: Georg Weber (1808–1888). In: Pfälzer Lebensbilder. Volume 4, Publishing House of the Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science, Speyer 1987, pp. 179-204.
• Wolf-Diedrich Reinbach (ed.): Golden book of the fraternity Allemannia zu Heidelberg. Revised for the 150th Foundation Festival 2006. Heidelberg 2006, pp. 256–258.
• Franz Werner: Georg Weber. Winegrower and forest rascal, school principal and universal historian . In: Yearbook of the Helmholtz-Gymnasium Heidelberg 2013/14 and 2014/15 . Heidelberg 2015, pp. 101–125.

Web links

• Günther Volz: Historical spotlight 2008: Georg Weber. Institute for Palatinate History and Folklore, 2008, archived from the original on June 11, 2010 . 

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Franz Werner: Georg Weber died 125 years ago today. Helmholtz-Gymnasium Heidelberg, August 10, 2013, archived from the original on December 12, 2013 ; accessed on November 21, 2019 .