Johann Wilhelm von Archenholz explained

Johann Wilhelm Archenholz was born in Langfuhr (Wrzeszcz) near Danzig (Gdańsk) on 3 September 1741. He was a Prussian[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] officer, Professor of History and a publicist. His book about the history of the Seven Years' War (1756–63) was the basis for many reprints, as well as for school books.

Life

Archenholz passed from the Berlin Cadet school into the Prussian army at the age of sixteen, and took part in the last campaigns of the Seven Years' War. Retiring from military service, on account of his wounds, with the rank of captain in 1763, he travelled for sixteen years and visited nearly all the countries of Europe, and resided in England for ten years from 1769 to 1779.

Returning to Germany in 1780, he obtained a lay canonry at Magdeburg Cathedral, and immediately entered upon a literary career by publishing the periodical Litteratur- und Völkerkunde (Leipzig, 1782–1791). This was followed in 1785 by England und Italien (Leipzig, 1787), in which he gives an appreciation of English political and social institutions. Between 1789 and 1798 he published his Annalen der britischen Geschichte (20 volumes). But the work by which he is best known to fame is his history of the Seven Years' War, Geschichte des siebenjährigen Krieges (first published in the Berliner historisches Taschenbuch of 1787, and later in 2 volumes.

In 1791 Archenholz lived in France with his family, publishing German language reports about the French Revolution in his journal Minerva. While at first he agreed with the ideas of the revolution, his view was changed by the ongoing violence. In 1792 he had to flee the country as he was threatened to be beheaded following some of his political papers.In 1792 he moved to Hamburg, and there, from 1792 to 1812, edited the Minerva, which had a reputation for its literary, historical and political information.

Archenholz commissioned a Berlin artist,, to produce a copper etching for Archenholz's History of Gustav Vasa of the famous Swedish Nobility. He died in Öjendorf (part of Hamburg today) on 28 February 1812, where the street Archenholzstraße ("Archenholz street") and a school called "Grundschule Archenholzstraße"[6] is named after him today.

Assessment

Archenholz' understanding of his role as a publicist was very modern for his times. He strove not to deliver opinions to his readers but instead unbiased facts. His main interest was current politics in Europe as well as their historical development.

Publications

Digitized works

Notes and References

  1. Hans Kohn . April 1951 . The Eve of German Nationalism (1789–1812) . Journal of the History of Ideas . 12 . 2 . 256–284 . 10.2307/2707517 . 2707517 . University of Pennsylvania Press .
  2. Book: Buchan , James . Crowded with Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment: Edinburgh's Moment of the Mind. Hardcover. December 1, 2003. HarperCollins Publishers. 0-06-055888-1. 448. registration.
  3. Robert Shoemaker . May 2001 . Male honour and the decline of public violence in eighteenth-century London . Social History . 26 . 2 . 190–208 . 10.1080/03071020110041352 . 18680881 . 205545504 .
  4. James Schmidt . February 1998 . Cabbage Heads and Gulps of Water: Hegel on the Terror . Political Theory . 26 . 1 . 4–32 . 10.1177/0090591798026001002 . 144303736 .
  5. Marcia Pointon . March 2001 . "Surrounded with Brilliants": Miniature Portraits in Eighteenth-Century England . Art Bulletin . 83 . 1 . 48–71 . 10.2307/3177190 . 3177190 . College Art Association .
  6. Web site: Willkommen . 2023-02-05 . Grundschule Archenholzstraße . de-DE.

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