Leopold von Ranke

Leopold von Ranke was a German historian who is widely regarded as the founder of modern source-based history. He pioneered the use of primary sources, such as archival documents and eyewitness accounts, to reconstruct the past as it actually happened (wie es eigentlich gewesen). He also introduced the seminar teaching method in his classroom, where he trained a generation of distinguished historians. He was ennobled in 1865, with the addition of "von" to his name. Ranke was born on December 21, 1795, in Wiehe, Thuringia, Saxony (now in Germany), into a family of Lutheran pastors and lawyers. He was educated partly at home and partly at the prestigious Schulpforta school. He developed a lifelong love of ancient Greek, Latin, and Lutheranism. In 1814, he entered the University of Leipzig, where he studied classics and theology. He became an expert in philology and translation of the ancient authors into German. His favorite authors were Thucydides, Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Barthold Georg Niebuhr, Immanuel Kant, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Friedrich Schelling, and Friedrich Schlegel. Ranke showed little interest in the work of modern history until he became a schoolmaster at the Friedrichs Gymnasium in Frankfurt an der Oder from 1817 to 1825. There he became fascinated by history as a way of finding the hand of God in the workings of human affairs. He also began to write his own historical works, based on careful research and critical analysis of the sources. His first book was Die römischen Päpste (The Roman Popes), published in 1834-1836, which challenged the prevailing Catholic and Protestant views on the papacy and offered a balanced and nuanced account of its history. He followed this with several other works on European history, such as Fürsten und Völker von Süd-Europa (Princes and Peoples of Southern Europe), Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Reformation (German History in the Age of the Reformation), Französische Geschichte (French History), Englische Geschichte (English History), and Weltgeschichte (World History). Ranke became a professor of history at the University of Berlin in 1825, where he remained until his retirement in 1871. He established the first historical seminar in Germany, where he taught his students how to use primary sources and how to write narrative history with an emphasis on international politics (Außenpolitik). He also founded several historical journals and societies, such as the Historische Zeitschrift (Historical Journal) and the Historische Kommission (Historical Commission). He was a prolific writer and editor, producing over 50 volumes of historical works in his lifetime. Ranke had a great influence on Western historiography and is considered a symbol of the quality of 19th century German historical studies. He set the standards for much of later historical writing, introducing such ideas as reliance on primary sources (empiricism), an emphasis on narrative history and especially international politics (Außenpolitik), and a respect for the diversity and uniqueness of historical periods and cultures (historism). He also inspired many historians who followed him, such as Heinrich von Sybel, Wilhelm Dilthey, Friedrich Wilhelm Schirrmacher, Philipp Jaffé, Jacob Burckhardt, Lord Acton, John Richard Green, James Anthony Froude, Thomas Babington Macaulay, George Bancroft, Francis Parkman, Henry Adams, Herbert Baxter Adams, Charles A. Beard, Frederick Jackson Turner, George Macaulay Trevelyan, Lewis Namier, and many others. Ranke died on May 23, 1886, in Berlin, Germany, at the age of 90. He was buried at the Sophienkirche in Berlin. He was survived by his wife Clara Graves, whom he married in 1843, and their six sons and two daughters. He left behind a legacy of historical scholarship and teaching that continues to shape the field of history today.