Everything about Johann Gustav Droysen totally explained
Johann Gustav Droysen (
July 6,
1808–
June 19,
1884), was a
German historian. His history of
Alexander the Great was the first work representing a new school of German historical thought.
Life
Droysen was born at
Treptow in
Pomerania. His father, Johann Christoph Droysen, was an army chaplain who had been present at the celebrated siege of
Kolberg in 1806–1807. As a child, Droysen witnessed some of the military operations during the
War of Liberation, his father by then being pastor at
Greifenhagen, in the immediate neighbourhood of
Stettin, which was held by the
French for most of
1813. These youthful impressions laid the foundation of his ardent attachment to the
Kingdom of Prussia. He was educated at the
gymnasium of Stettin and at the
University of Berlin; in 1829 he became a master at the Graue Kloster (or Grey Friars), one of the oldest schools in Berlin; besides his work there he gave lectures at the
Friedrich Wilhelm University, from 1833 as
Privatdozent, and from 1835 as professor, without a salary.
During these years Droysen studied classical antiquity; he published a translation of
Aeschylus and a paraphrase of
Aristophanes, but the work by which he made himself known as a historian was his
Geschichte Alexanders des Grossen (Berlin, 1833,– and other editions), a book which long remained probably the best work on the subject. It was in some ways the herald of a new school of German historical thought, for it shows that idealization of power and success which he'd learnt from the teaching of
Hegel. It was followed by other volumes dealing with the successors of
Alexander the Great, published under the title of
Geschichte des Hellenismus (
Hamburg, 1836–1843). A new and revised edition of the whole work was published in 1885; it has been translated into French, but not into English.
In 1840 Droysen was appointed professor of history at
Kiel. He was at once attracted to the political movement for the defence of the rights of the Elbe duchies, of which
Kiel was the centre. Like his predecessor
FC Dahlmann, he placed his historical learning at the service of the estates of
Schleswig-Holstein and composed the address of 1844, in which the estates protested against the claim of King
Christian VIII of Denmark to alter the law of succession in the duchies. In 1848 he was elected a member of the
Frankfurt parliament, and acted as secretary to the committee for drawing up the constitution. He was a determined supporter of Prussian ascendancy, and was one of the first members to retire after King
Frederick William IV of Prussia refused the imperial crown in 1849. During the next two years Droysen continued to support the cause of the duchies, and in 1850, with Carl Samwer, he published a history of the dealings of Denmark with Schleswig-Holstein,
Die Herzogthümer Schleswig-Holstein und das Königreich Dänemark seit dem Jahre 1800 (Hamburg, 1850). A translation was published in
London in the same year under the title
The Policy of Denmark towards the Duchies of Schleswig-Holstein. The work was one of great political importance, and had much to do with the formation of German public opinion on the rights of the duchies in their struggle with
Denmark.
After
1851 it was impossible for Droysen to remain at Kiel, and he was appointed to a professorship at
Jena; in 1859 he was called to Berlin, where he remained till his death. In his later years he was almost entirely occupied with Prussian history. In 1851 he brought out a life of
Count Yorck von Wartenburg (Berlin, 1851–1852), generally considered one of the best biographies in the
German language, and then began his great work on the
Geschichte der preussischen Politik (Berlin, 1855–1886). Seven volumes were published, the last not till after his death. It forms a complete history of the growth of the Prussian monarchy down to the year 1756. This, like all Droysen's work, shows a strongly marked individuality, and a great power of tracing the manner in which important dynamic forces worked themselves out in history. It was his characteristic quality of comprehensiveness that also gave him so much influence as a teacher.
Droysen was twice married, and died in Berlin. His eldest son, Gustav, was the author of several well-known historical works, namely,
Gustav Adolf (Leipzig, 1869–1870);
Herzog Bernhard von Weimar (
Leipzig, 1885); an admirable
Historischer Handatlas (Leipzig, 1885), and several writings on various events of the
Thirty Years' War. Another son,
Hans Droysen, was the author of some works on Greek history and antiquities.
See
M. Duncker,
Johann Gustav Droysen, ein Nachruf (Berlin, 1885); and Dahlmann-Waitz,
Quellenkunde der deutschen Geschichte (Leipzig, 1906).
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