Otto Ulbricht

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Otto Ulbricht (* 1944 ) is a German historian and representative of microhistory .

Live and act

At the age of 36, Otto Ulbricht worked as a research assistant at the history seminar of the University of Kiel and at the same time taught in the field of modern history . He was an adjunct professor of history at the University of Kiel and has meanwhile retired after teaching for a good 35 years.

In 1980 Otto Ulbricht published his dissertation with the title English Agriculture in Kurhannover in the second half of the 18th century: Approaches to historical diffusion research , which he submitted to the Philosophy Department at Kiel University . He published his habilitation thesis in 1990 - also at the University of Kiel - under the title Child Murder and Enlightenment in Germany . Otto Ulbricht researched crime, plague and poverty in the early modern period. He criticizes the increasing generalization and dehumanization of the science of history; by placing microhistory and the historical exploration of emotions at the center of his research, he tried to counteract it.

In 1982 he was a Research Fellow at Macquarie University , Sydney / Australia; In 1988 Otto Ulbricht was visiting professor at Wellesley College , Massachusetts, USA; In 1994 he received a scholarship from the Max Planck Institute for History , Göttingen.

Otto Ulbricht completed his studies at the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel . He studied English, Ancient History, and Medieval and Modern History. During his studies he worked for one year as an "Assistant Teacher" at the City of London School for Boys.

reception

Otto Ulbricht is considered a defender and supporter of micro-history. He promotes the discourse on and the further development of micro history within Germany and advocates a clear separation of everyday history and micro history . For him, microhistory is characterized by a reduced object of investigation, with the help of which the understanding of larger contexts can be promoted. The often appropriate contrast between micro and macro history does not exist for Ulbricht, as the micro historian tries to open up larger connections with the detailed investigations. Ulbricht recognizes this as one of the most central goals in micro history. According to Ulbricht, microhistorians therefore even conduct a more precise and realistic macro-history. With its strict definition of micro-history, he speaks some - particularly Anglo-Saxon work - the status of micro-history, and renames it possibly even as micro historian s , so as mere tales without scientific and source-critical claim. Examples of this are, according to Ulbricht, Giovanni and Lusanna by Gene Brucker and Shameful Passions by Judith Cora Brown . In contrast to this, Brucker defined microhistory in particular through its narrative writing: Through a narrative writing of history, according to Brucker, the readership would get closer and more vivid access to the field or individual examined; to achieve this, files from ecclesiastical and secular courts are particularly suitable.

Otto Ulbricht's clear stance on what is micro-history and what is not also caused contradictions. Ulbricht's assertion that micro-history has a “greater closeness to reality” and - since it is closer to the source and the detail - a higher “claim to credibility”, provoked criticism. Instead of a discussion about the question of which research approach is better or more valuable, an exchange should take place between different schools on factual and content-related issues. For the discourse historian Achim Landwehr - as expressed in a review of Ulbricht's microhistory: People and conflicts in the early modern era - there is no question that “microhistory cannot be more realistic than other approaches - it is simply a different way of doing things to paint a picture of the past. In this sense it is important and necessary ”.

Publications

Monographs

Article (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Personnel and course directory for the winter semester 1980/81 of the University of Kiel: https://www.uni-kiel.de/journals/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/jportal_derivate_00000814/WS1980-81.pdf (30.06.2019).
  2. ↑ Entry OGND: http://swb.bsz-bw.de/DB=2.104/PPNSET?PPN=600275000&INDEXSET=21 (10.10.2019).
  3. ↑ https://www.histsem.uni-kiel.de/das-institut-1/personalverzeichnis (June 30, 2019).
  4. ↑ http://d-nb.info/800517016 (June 30, 2019).
  5. ↑ http://d-nb.info/900588454 (June 30, 2019).
  6. ↑ Ulbricht, Otto (2009) Micro History: People and Conflicts in the Early Modern Age , Frankfurt and New York: Campus Verlag: page 9.
  7. ↑ Micro-history: People and Conflicts in the Early Modern Age # Micro-history as human history.
  8. ↑ Magnússon, Sigurdur Gylfi; Szijárto, Istavan M. (2013) What Is Microhistory ?: Theory and Practice , London: Routledge: Pages 33 - 34.
  9. ↑ Ulbricht, Otto (2009) Micro History: People and Conflicts in the Early Modern Age , Frankfurt and New York: Campus Verlag: Pages 33 - 34.
  10. ↑ Brown, Judith C. (1988) Shameful Passions: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Italy at the Time of the Renaissance , Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam Jun.
  11. ↑ Ulbricht, Otto (2009) Micro History: People and Conflicts in the Early Modern Age , Frankfurt and New York: Campus Verlag: page 22.
  12. ^ Brucker Gene: Giovanni and Lusanna: The story of a love in the Florence of the Renaissance . Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1988, pp. 11-12.
  13. ↑ Ulbricht, Otto (2009) Micro History: People and Conflicts in the Early Modern Era , Frankfurt and New York: Campus Verlag: page 339.
  14. ↑ Landwehr, Achim Review of: Otto Ulbricht: Mikrogeschichte: People and Conflicts in the Early Modern Age , Frankfurt and New York: Campus 2009, in: sehepunkte 9 (2009), No. 9 [15.09.2009], http: // www .sehepunkte.de / 2009/09 / 16205.html (30.06.2019).
personal data
SURNAME Ulbricht, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German microhistorian and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH 1944