Hermann Strasburger

Hermann Strasburger (born June 21, 1909 in Bonn , † April 4, 1985 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) was a German ancient historian .

Life

Hermann Strasburger was the son of the internist Julius Strasburger and the grandson of the botanist Eduard Strasburger . He moved with his family to Frankfurt am Main in 1913 , where he began studying history after graduating from school. He later moved to the Universities of Innsbruck and Munich . In 1931 he was awarded the Concordia Ordinum with a dissertation . A study on the politics of Cicero received his doctorate and went in 1932 with a teaching position at the University of Freiburg . Because of the lack of Aryan proof , he was banned from working in 1934 - like his father Julius and his older brother Eduard Strasburger (zoologist; 1907–1945) - and he was denied his habilitation .

Until the outbreak of war, Strasburger worked privately in the field of ancient history. He was only able to continue his academic career after the end of the Nazi era . In 1946 he completed his habilitation in Heidelberg for ancient history; In 1947/1948 he represented Ancient History at the University of Munich for two semesters. In 1948 he went to the University of Frankfurt am Main as a private lecturer , where he was appointed adjunct professor in 1949. After a stay at the University of Chicago , Strasburger received the Chair of Ancient History in Frankfurt in 1955 (as the successor to his teacher Matthias Gelzer ). After moving to Freiburg in 1963, Franz Georg Maier was his successor (until 1967), Jochen Bleicken after him . Strasburger held the chair for ancient history in Freiburg until his retirement in 1977.

Strasburger was a member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences from 1964 and was appointed to the British Academy in 1969 .

Strasburger became known to a broader public primarily because of his sharp criticism of the idealization of Julius Caesar ( Caesar in the judgment of contemporaries , 1953), which had been common in Germany since Theodor Mommsen and which led to discussions about whether the Roman's writings could still be used under these circumstances may use as school reading. From 1962 to 1964, Strasburger edited Matthias Gelzers Kleine Schriften together with Christian Meier .

Strasburger was married to the classical philologist Gisela Strasburger (* 1929, † 2014).

Fonts (selection)

• Concordia Ordinum. An investigation into the politics of Cicero . Borna-Leipzig 1931 (dissertation, Frankfurt am Main). Reprinted Amsterdam 1956
• Ptolemy and Alexander . Leipzig 1934. Reprint Ann Arbor 1980
• Caesar's entry into history . Munich 1938. Reprint Darmstadt 1966
• Caesar in the judgment of contemporaries . In: Historical magazine . Volume 175 (1953), pp. 225-264. 2nd, revised and supplemented edition Darmstadt 1968
• The essence of history through ancient historiography . Wiesbaden 1966. 2nd edition 1968. 3rd edition 1975
• On the legend of the founding of Rome . Heidelberg 1968
• Homer and History . Heidelberg 1972
• To the ancient ideal of society . Heidelberg 1976
• with Jochen Bleicken and Christian Meier : Matthias Gelzer and Roman History . Kallmünz 1977
• Cicero's late philosophical work as an appeal against Caesar's rule . Published by Gisela Strasburger, Hildesheim / New York 1990 ( Spudasmata 45). 2nd, unchanged edition 1999
• Studies of Ancient History . Edited by Walter Schmitthenner , Renate Zoepffel and Gisela Strasburger. 3 volumes, Hildesheim / New York 1982–1990 ( Collectanea 42)

literature

• Frank Bernstein , Hartmut Leppin (ed.): A new beginning and disillusionment in the post-war period. To the ancient historian Hermann Strasburger in memoriam. Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-8353-1126-8 ( table of contents ).
• Jochen Bleicken : Obituary for Hermann Strasburger. In: Wilhelm Krücke ao: Obituaries for Hubert Harbauer , Heinz Sauermann , Gottfried Weber , Guido Sartori , August Oswalt , Oscar Gans , Adolf Wacker , Hermann Hartmann , Hermann Strasburger (= meeting reports of the Scientific Society at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. Volume 23, No. 2). Steiner, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-515-04825-1 , pp. 42-52.
• Walther Killy : Strasburger, Hermann. In: German Biographical Encyclopedia (DBE). Volume 9, p. 567.
• Christian Meier : memorial speech for Hermann Strasburger. In: Chiron . Volume 16, 1986, pp. 171-197.
• Walter Schmitthenner : Hermann Strasburger †. In: Gnomon . Volume 58, 1986, pp. 187-189.
• Walter Schmitthenner: Biographical preliminary remark. In: Hermann Strasburger: Studies on Ancient History. Volume 1, Olms, Hildesheim / New York 1982.
• Wolfgang Schuller :  Strasburger, Hermann. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 25, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-428-11206-7 , p. 477 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Uwe Walter : Strasburger, Hermann. In: Peter Kuhlmann , Helmuth Schneider (Hrsg.): History of the ancient sciences. Biographical Lexicon (= The New Pauly . Supplements. Volume 6). Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2012, ISBN 978-3-476-02033-8 , Sp. 1197 f.

Web links

• Literature by and about Hermann Strasburger in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jakob Seibert : "From seminar to seminar". In: Derselbe (Ed.): 100 Years of Old History at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich (1901–2001) (= Ludovico Maximilianea. Research and sources. Volume 19). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-428-10875-2 , pp. 23–39, here p. 24.
2. ^ Walter Schmitthenner : Hermann Strasburger †. In: Gnomon . 58: 187-189 (1986).