Heinrich von Eicken

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Heinrich von Eicken (born September 4, 1846 in Ruhrort , † November 22, 1890 in Aurich ) was a German historian and Prussian state archivist.

Live and act

After attending grammar school in Gütersloh , von Eicken first studied law, then history in Berlin, Heidelberg and Leipzig. After completing his doctorate at the University of Zurich (1875), he initially worked as an archivist at the Prussian State Archives in Koblenz from 1876 to 1878 before moving to the State Archives in Düsseldorf . There he worked from 1878 to 1885. After a brief employment at the Hanover State Archives (1885), he was appointed head of the Aurich State Archives, founded in 1872 , which he held until his untimely death in 1890.

The very learned work "History and System of the Medieval World View", published in 1887, is of scientific historical importance. Based on the history of the church and theology, Eicken draws - from a critical perspective - a concise overall picture of all phases of medieval history and all areas of life in the medieval world. He derives the striving of the Catholic Church for world domination and thus the basic political conflict of the Middle Ages (relationship between church and state ) from the "ascetic-supersensible idea" and the corresponding world negation of medieval Catholicism. In this respect, the struggle for dominance over secular authority appears as a practical implementation of the theological-religious doctrine of the worthlessness of all earthly goods.

aftermath

A literary aftermath of Eicken's book can be found in Thomas Mann's novel Der Zauberberg (1924). Mann made frequent use of it, especially in the elaboration of the figure of Leo Naphta, a communist Jesuit.

For Johan Huizinga's epochal work "The Autumn of the Middle Ages" (1919) the study is an important point of reference and connection.

Works

  • The struggle of the Visigoths and Romans under Alarich , Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot , 1876.
  • The Imperial Army in the Seven Years' War depicted on the Electorate of Trier regiment. In: Prussian year books. Vol. 41, 1878, pp. 1-14, 113-135, 248-267.
  • The legend of the expectation of the end of the world and the return of Christ in the year 1000. In: Forschungsungen zur deutschen Geschichte 23, 1883, pp. 302-318.
  • History and system of the medieval worldview , Stuttgart, JG Cotta , 1887.
    • History and system of the medieval worldview . 2nd edition: Stuttgart: Cotta, 1913 [Anastatic reprint].
    • History and system of the medieval worldview . 3rd edition: Stuttgart: Cotta, 1917.
    • History and system of the medieval worldview . 4th edition. With register from Hugo Preller , Stuttgart: Cotta, 1923.
    • History and system of the medieval worldview . Reprint of the Stuttgart 1923 edition, Aalen: Scientia Verlag, 1964.

literature

  • Wolfgang Leesch : The German archivists 1500–1945. Volume 2: Biographical Lexicon. Saur, Munich a. a. 1992, ISBN 3-598-10605-X , pp. 136-137.
  • Georg Winter: A work on the philosophy of history about the Middle Ages [Review of: History and System of the Medieval World View (1887)], in: Journal for History and Politics, Volume 1888 / Issue 2, pp. 131–148.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eicken was also involved in the planning for the construction of the archive building from 1888 to 1890. Cf. Katja Leiskau: Architecture and History of the State Archive Purpose Buildings in Germany 1871-1945. Diss. Marburg, Marburg 2008, p. 114f.
  2. ^ History and system of the medieval worldview, Stuttgart 1923, p. 720.
  3. ↑ Cf. Michael Neumann: Commentary on: Thomas Mann: Der Zauberberg (Large commented Frankfurter Edition. Volume 5.2), Frankfurt am Main 2002, p. 92f. and esp. pp. 268-297.
  4. ^ Christoph Strupp : Johan Huizinga. History as a cultural history. Göttingen 2000, p. 145.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Eicken, Heinrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian and archivist
DATE OF BIRTH September 4, 1846
PLACE OF BIRTH Ruhrort
DATE OF DEATH November 22, 1890
Place of death Aurich