Carl Heinrich Becker (12 April 1876 – 10 February 1933) was a German orientalist and politician in Prussia. In 1921 and 1925–1930 he served as Minister for Culture in Prussia (independent). He was one of the founders of the study of the contemporary Middle East and a reformer of the system of higher education in the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

Early life and study

Becker was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, the son of a banker. He attended universities at

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, and travelled in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, before earning his doctorate in 1899.

Academic career

In 1902, Becker became a ''

privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...

'' for semitic

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, where he came into contact with

Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas profo ...

. After his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

in 1908, he was appointed Professor of History and Culture of the Orient at the newly founded

Hamburg Colonial Institute The Hamburg Colonial Institute (german: Hamburgisches Kolonialinstitut) was a higher education establishment founded in 1908 by the City of Hamburg with the support of Bernhard Dernburg, head of the Imperial Colonial Office. In 1919 he was merged ...

and Director of the Seminar for History and Culture of the Orient in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. In 1910 he founded ''

Der Islam ''Der Islam: Journal of the History and Culture of the Middle East'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on the history and culture of the Middle East. The journal is published by Walter de Gruyter. It was established in ...

'', a journal for the history and culture of the Middle East, and was its first editor. In 1913 he accepted an offer from

Bonn University The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

, where he was Professor of Oriental Philology. Becker and his colleague

Martin Hartmann Martin Hartmann (9 December 1851, Breslau – 5 December 1918, Berlin) was a German orientalist, who specialized in Islamic studies. In 1875, he received his doctorate at the University of Leipzig as a student of Heinrich Leberecht Fleische ...

were among the first to combine modern sociological thinking with

Islamic studies Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...

. He was an opponent of the ''

Kulturkreis The (roughly, "culture circle" or "cultural field") school was a central idea of the early 20th-century German school of anthropology that sought to redirect the discipline away from the quest for an underlying, universal human nature toward a c ...

theorie'' (theory of cultural circles) of Ernst Troeltsch.

Political career

During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Becker began his work with the Prussian Ministry of Culture. In 1921 and 1925–1930 he served as Minister for Culture in Prussia (independent). He died in

Selected works

*''Ibn Gauzi's Manaqib Omar Ibn' Abdelaziz'' (Dissertation, 1899) *''Beitrage zur Geschichte Agyptens unter dem Islam'' (2 vols., 1902- 1903) *''Papyri Schott-Reinhardt: Veroffentlichungen aus der Heidelberger Papyrus‐ Sammlung'', Vol. 1 ( 1906) *''Der Kanzel im Kultus des alten Islam'' (1906) *''Christentum und Islam'' (1907) *''L'Islam et la Colonisation de l'Afrique'' (1910) *''Gedanken zur Hochschulreform'' (1919) *''Kulturpolitische Aufgaben des Reichs'' (1919) *''Kant und die Bildungskrise der Gegenwart'' (1924) *''Islamstudien: Vom Werden und Wesen der islamischen Welt'' (2 vols., 1924- 1932) *''Vom Wesen der deutschen Universitaet'' (1925) *''Die preussische Kunstpolitik und der Fall Schilling'' (1925) *''Die Paedagogische Akademie im Aufbau unseres nationalen Bildungswesens'' (1926) *''Zu Beethovens 100. Todestag'' (1927)

External links

* * ** (trans. Rev. H. J. Chaytor) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Carl Heinrich 1876 births 1933 deaths German scholars German orientalists Education ministers of Prussia Historians of Islam Academic staff of the University of Bonn Politicians from Amsterdam German male non-fiction writers

Early life and study

Academic career

Political career

Selected works

Further reading

External links