Dahlmann, Friedrich Christoph (1785-1860)

Dahlmann, Friedrich Christoph

HISTORIAN, POLITICIAN (GERMANY)

BORN 13 May 1785, Wismar, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - DIED 5 Dec 1860, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen
GRAVE LOCATION Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen: Alter Friedhof (Abteilung IIIa, Grabnummer 176)

Friedrich Dahlmann was the son of Johann Christian Dahlmann, the mayor of Wismar. Wismar was Swedish at that time. He studied in Kopenhagen and in Halle. After his father died he lived in Wismar for several years. In 1809 he went to Dresden, where Adam Müller had invited him to write for "Phöbus". Before he arrived, "Phöbus" was terminated, but he became a close friend of Heinrich von Kleist. They travelled to Groß-Enzersdorf together and witnessed the second day of the Battle of Aspern.

In 1810 he was promoted in Wittenberg and he became a teacher at the University of Kopenhagen in 1811. He obtained a professorship in Kiel in 1813. In 1817 he married Julie Hegewisch (1795-1826), the daughter of Professors Dietrich Hermann Hegewisch (1746-1812). They had three sons and a daughter. In 1829 he married Luise von Horn (1800-1856).

He was politically opposed to the Danish government and he wasn't granted a full professorship in Kopenhagen. In 1829 he obtained a professorship in Göttingen and in 1833 he cooperated on a new constitution. After this was dissolved by King Ernst August in 1837 he was one of the seven professors of Göttingen who launched a protest. After this he was banished and he moved to Leipzig and then Jena. There he wrote his "Geschichte von Dänemark" (1840-1843).

After Friedrich Wilhelm IV became king he obtained a professorship in Bonn in 1842. After the Revolution of 1848 he was a member of the Bundestag in Frankfurt am Main for Prussia. In the 1850s he withdrew from politics and concentrated on teaching. He died in Bonn in 1860.

Related persons
• was a friend of Kleist, Heinrich von

Images

The grave of Friedrich Dahlmann at the Alter Friedhof, Bonn.
Picture by Androom (17 Jun 2012)