Johannes Kunisch
Johannes Kunisch (born January 31, 1937 in Berlin ; † March 2, 2015 in Bonn ) was a German historian . He held chairs for early modern history at the universities of Frankfurt am Main (1972–1976) and Cologne (1976–2002). Through his publications, Kunisch became one of the leading German early modern historians. His highly acclaimed biography of Frederick the Great , published in 2004, gave Prussian research lasting impetus.
Live and act
Johannes Kunisch came from a Prussian educated middle class family. He was the son of the Munich professor of German studies Hermann Kunisch . He passed his Abitur in 1955 at the Wittelsbacher Gymnasium in Munich . Kunisch initially intended to become an art dealer. At the instigation of his father, he did not put this plan into practice. However, he pursued this interest as a collector of modern art throughout his life.
From 1957 to 1963 Kunisch studied history and art and legal history at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and the Free University of Berlin . In Munich he studied with Franz Schnabel , Johannes Spörl and Hans Sedlmayr . In Berlin, Wilhelm Berges , Carl Hinrichs and Hans Kauffmann were his academic teachers. In Munich he received his doctorate in 1963 from Johannes Spörl on a topic on the medieval architectural history of the 12th century. Kunisch was from 1963 to 1968 assistant to Friedrich Hermann Schubert at the University of Kiel and from 1968 to 1972 at the University of Frankfurt am Main . From 1967 to 1969 he received a habilitation grant from the German Research Foundation for a habilitation project on the Austrian field marshal Gideon von Laudon , for which larger archive studies had to be carried out in Vienna. However, the “complete biography” planned for Field Marshal Laudon did not materialize. Kunisch received his habilitation in the summer of 1971 in Frankfurt on the minor war and the army of enlightened absolutism .
Since 1972 he has taught at the University of Frankfurt am Main as an H 2 professor. In 1976 he was appointed full professor for Medieval and Modern History at the University of Cologne . In Cologne he succeeded Ricardo Krebs , where he stayed until his retirement in 2002. He turned down an offer in 1975 at the Philipps University of Marburg as the successor to Gerhard Oestreich , as well as an offer to the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg as the successor to Kurt Kluxen . His academic students include Hans-Wolfgang Bergerhausen , Franz Josef Burghardt , Johannes Burkhardt , Harm Klueting , Helmut Neuhaus , Andreas Pečar , Gorch Pieken , Michael Rohrschneider , Lothar Schilling , Anton Schindling , Michael Sikora , Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger and Aloys Winterling .
In 1992/93 Kunisch was a member of the founding senate of the University of Potsdam , and since 1997 he has been a full member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences . Kunisch was a member of the Association for Constitutional History . Since 1974 he has been co-editor of the newly created journal for historical research and was also the editor for the first 29 volumes. The journal's editorial board relied on a new periodization model. The late Middle Ages were separated from traditional Medieval studies and connected with the early modern period. The magazine should be devoted to "research into the late Middle Ages and early modern times". The journal for historical research developed under his direction into the leading German specialist journal for the late Middle Ages and early modern times. Kunisch was one of the first historians to systematically use the concept of the early modern period. An essay on the epochal character of the early modern period from 1975 is considered to be the stimulus for this newly developing historical sub-discipline. Kunisch and, above all, his pupil Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger as the publisher made it possible for the journal to be consistently opened to cultural-scientific topics. Since 1993 he has been co-editor of the magazine Der Staat and since 1991 editor of the research on Brandenburg and Prussian history . From 1988 to 2005 he was chairman of the Prussian Historical Commission .
His academic focus was the history of absolutism in Germany, the history of Prussia in the 18th century, military history of the early modern period , historical biography and the history of Frederick the Great . The dissertation dealt with the double chapel of Schwarzrheindorf and the influence that Konrad III. and the Archbishop of Cologne, Arnold II von Wied, took responsibility for the construction of the building. Using the example of a chapel house from the Hohenstaufen era, Kunisch attempted “to expand the knowledge of general history from research into an architectural legacy”. His dissertation was unusually interdisciplinary for the time.
One of the main concerns of his research was to "mentally penetrate the state and war". In his habilitation thesis he asked about the connection between state conflicts in the 18th century and the structure of early modern statehood. His habilitation thesis was the starting point for work on the “Little War”, the “ Miracle of the House of Brandenburg ” and the house laws of the dynastic princely states. In 1986 he published a comprehensive account of absolutism . Kunisch presented a multi-volume edition of the writings of Gerhard von Scharnhorst . In November 2000, Kunisch held a conference in Berlin on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the reign of the House of Brandenburg. The articles were published in 2002.
In 2004, Kunisch gained notoriety far beyond the professional world with a comprehensive and repeatedly published biography of the Prussian king. The biography is regarded as the standard work on the Prussian king. In his biography, Kunisch also considered art extensively. Entire chapters deal with the client, the art collector, the writer, and the general patron of the arts and sciences. In doing so, Kunisch always made a connection to the political biography of the Prussian king. The biography is considered to be his most important work. In 2011, Kunisch published a brief introduction about the Prussian ruler Friedrich II.
Kunisch died on March 2nd, 2015 at the age of 78 and was buried in Iffeldorf in Upper Bavaria.
Fonts
A list of publications appeared in: Helmut Neuhaus , Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger (eds.): People and structures in the history of old Europe. Festschrift for Johannes Kunisch on the completion of his 65th year of life, offered by students, friends and colleagues (= historical research. Vol. 73). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin a. a. 2002, ISBN 3-428-10219-3 , pp. 451 ff.
Monographs
- Konrad III., Arnold von Wied and the Kapellenbau von Schwarzrheindorf (= publications of the Historical Association for the Lower Rhine, in particular the Old Archdiocese of Cologne. Vol. 9, ISSN 0931-0096 ). Schwann, Düsseldorf 1966.
- Field Marshal Loudon. Youth and first military service (= Archive for Austrian History . Vol. 128, 3). Böhlau, Vienna et al. 1972, ISBN 3-205-04408-8 .
- The little war. Studies on the army of absolutism (= Frankfurt historical treatises. FHA. Vol. 4, ISSN 0170-3226 ). Steiner, Wiesbaden 1973, (at the same time: Frankfurt am Main, University, habilitation paper, 1971).
- The miracle of the House of Brandenburg. Studies on the relationship between cabinet politics and warfare in the age of the Seven Years' War. Oldenbourg, Munich et al. 1978, ISBN 3-486-48481-8 .
- State constitution and power politics. On the genesis of state conflicts in the age of absolutism (= historical research. Vol. 15). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1979, ISBN 3-428-04526-2 .
- Absolutism. European history from the Peace of Westphalia to the crisis of the Ancien Régime (= UTB , vol. 1426). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1986, ISBN 3-525-03209-9 ; 2nd, revised edition 1999, ISBN 3-8252-1426-5 .
- Prince, society, war. Studies on the bellicose disposition of the absolute princely state. Böhlau, Cologne et al. 1992, ISBN 3-412-03091-0 .
- Loudon's fame. The history of a foundation for meaning (= North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences. Lectures. G, Humanities. Vol. 359). Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen et al. 1999, ISBN 3-531-07359-1 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-322-88515-9 .
- Frederick the Great and the Prussian coronation of 1701 (= North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences. Lectures. G, Humanities. Vol. 381). Schöningh, Paderborn et al. 2002, ISBN 3-506-71480-5 .
- Frederick the Great. The king and his time. CH Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-52209-2 .
- Frederick the Great in his time. Essays. CH Beck, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-406-56282-2 .
Editorships
- The dynastic princely state. On the importance of succession orders for the emergence of the early modern state (= historical research. Vol. 21). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-428-05106-8 .
- Expansion and balance. Studies on the European power politics of the ancien régime (= journal for historical research . Supplement. 2). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1986, ISBN 3-428-06065-2 .
- Prince Eugene of Savoy and his time. A Ploetz biography. Ploetz, Freiburg (Breisgau) et al. 1986, ISBN 3-87640-194-1 .
- State constitution and army constitution in European history in the early modern period (= historical research. Vol. 28). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1986, ISBN 3-428-05964-6 .
- New studies on early modern imperial history (= journal for historical research. Supplement. 3). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-428-06193-4 .
- Analecta Fridericiana (= journal for historical research. Supplement. 4). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-428-06337-6 .
- Personalities in the circle of Frederick the Great (= New Research on Brandenburg-Prussian History. Vol. 9). Böhlau, Cologne et al. 1988, ISBN 3-412-12588-1 .
- Late period. Studies on the problems of a historical concept of epoch (= historical research. Vol. 42). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-428-06905-6 .
- Bismarck and his time (= research on Brandenburg and Prussian history . Supplement. NF vol. 1). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-428-07314-2 .
- Reconnaissance and war experience. Classical contemporary witnesses to the Seven Years' War (= Library of History and Politics. Vol. 9 = Library of German Classics. Vol. 131). Deutscher Klassiker-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1996, ISBN 3-618-66695-0 .
- New studies on early modern imperial history (= journal for historical research. Supplement. 19). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-428-09096-9 .
- with Herfried Münkler : The rebirth of war from the spirit of revolution. Studies on the bellicose discourse of the late 18th and early 19th centuries (= contributions to political science. BPW. Vol. 110). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-09577-4 .
- Three hundred years of the Prussian royal coronation. A conference documentation (= research on Brandenburg and Prussian history. Supplement. NF Vol. 6). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-428-10796-9 .
literature
- Ulrich Muhlack : Johannes Kunisch (1937–2015). In: Historical magazine . 302 (2016), pp. 580-585.
- Helmut Neuhaus, Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger (ed.): People and structures in the history of old Europe. Festschrift for Johannes Kunisch on the completion of his 65th year of life, offered by students, friends and colleagues (= historical research. Vol. 73). Duncker & Humblot, Berlin a. a. 2002, ISBN 3-428-10219-3 .
- Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger: Obituary for Johannes Kunisch. In: Journal for historical research 42 (2015), pp. 187–189.
- Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger: Sovereign Thinker. On the death of the historian Johannes Kunisch. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , March 9, 2015, No. 57, p. 15.
- Konrad Repgen : Laudation for Prof. Dr. Johannes Kunisch in the 411th meeting on June 17, 1998. In: Yearbook North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences (1998), pp. 103-106.
- Gerrit Walther : Obituary for Johannes Kunisch at the meeting of the class for humanities on September 9, 2015. In: Yearbook North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences (2017), pp. 91–94 ( online ).
Web links
- Literature by and about Johannes Kunisch in the catalog of the German National Library
- Johannes Kunisch at the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts
- University of Cologne: On the death of Prof. Dr. Johannes Kunisch (1937-2015)
- Short biography and reviews of works by Johannes Kunisch at perlentaucher.de
Remarks
- ↑ Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger: Sovereign Thinker. On the death of the historian Johannes Kunisch. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , March 9, 2015, No. 57, p. 15.
- ↑ Johannes Kunisch: The little war. Studies on the army of absolutism. Wiesbaden 1973. Cf. the list of the habilitation theses and dissertations prepared or started by Friedrich Hermann Schubert. In: Friedrich Hermann Schubert: Ludwig Camerarius (1573–1651) - a biography. The Palatinate government in exile in the Thirty Years War. A contribution to the history of political Protestantism. With contributions on the life and work of the author. Edited by Anton Schindling with the assistance of Markus Gerstmeier. Münster 2013, pp. 690–692, here: p. 691.
- ↑ Bernd Schneidmüller: Consensus - Territorialization - Self-interest. How to deal with late medieval history. In: Frühmittelalterliche Studien 39 (2005), pp. 225–246, here: p. 239.
- ↑ Ulrich Muhlack: Johannes Kunisch (1937–2015). In: Historical magazine. 302 (2016), pp. 580-585, here: p. 585.
- ↑ Johannes Kunisch: About the character of the epoch of the early modern period. In: Eberhard Jäckel , Ernst Weymar (ed.): The function of history in our time. Stuttgart 1975, pp. 150-161.
- ↑ Bernd Schneidmüller: Peter Moraw - From Heidelberg to the journal for historical research. In: Christine Reinle (Hrsg.): Status and perspectives of the social and constitutional history of the Roman-German Empire. Peter Moraw's research influence on German Medieval Studies. Affalterbach 2016, pp. 65–77, here: p. 76.
- ↑ Johannes Kunisch: Konrad III., Arnold von Wied and the chapel building of Schwarzrheindorf. Düsseldorf 1966, p. 75.
- ↑ Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger: Obituary. In: Journal for historical research 42 (2015), pp. 187–189, here: p. 188.
- ↑ Johannes Kunisch: Absolutism. European history from the Peace of Westphalia to the crisis of the Ancien Régime. Goettingen 1986.
- ↑ Johannes Kunisch (ed.): Three hundred years of the Prussian coronation. A conference documentation. Berlin 2002.
- ^ Heinz Duchhardt in: Historische Zeitschrift 281 (2005), pp. 472–474; Hans-Christof Kraus in: Das Historisch-Politische Buch 53 (2005), pp. 561–564; Heinrich Kaack in: Zeitschrift für Geschichtswwissenschaft 53 (2005), p. 748 f .; Gerd Roellecke in: Journal for historical research 33 (2006), pp. 159–161.
- ↑ Ulrich Muhlack: Johannes Kunisch (1937–2015). In: Historical magazine. 302 (2016), pp. 580-585, here: p. 581.
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Kunisch, Johannes |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German historian |
DATE OF BIRTH | January 31, 1937 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin |
DATE OF DEATH | March 2, 2015 |
Place of death | Bonn |