Leonhard Ennen, also spelled Leonard Ennen, (5 March 1820 – 14 June 1880) was a German

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

and

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can consis ...

born in

Schleiden Schleiden is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies in the Eifel hills, in the district of Euskirchen, and has 12,998 inhabitants as of 30 June 2017. Schleiden is connected by a tourist railway to Kall, on the Eifel Railway between ...

, in the Eifel region of modern-day Germany. He is remembered for his writings on the history of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

Family and education

Leonhard Ennen's parents were simple farmers, the equivalent of

sharecroppers Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...

in German agricultural society.Hermann Keussen
"Ennen, Leonhard."
In: ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie.'' Herausgegeben von der Historischen Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Band 48 (1904), S. 380–382, Digitale Volltext-Ausgabe in Wikisource. (Version vom 26. Juni 2010, 00:21 Uhr UTC) From 1841 to 1844 he studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and philosophy at the

University of Münster The University of Münster (german: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of stud ...

and the

University of Bonn 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 ...

. Following his

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform v ...

, he served as

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

and head of the upper ''Stadtschule'', city school, in Königswinter am Rhein, and he remained in this position from 1845 to 1857.

Archive development

While teaching at the school, he became interested in the history of Cologne. In 1849 his ''Geschichte der Reformation im Bereiche der alten Erzdiözese Köln'' appeared, in which he examined the impact of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

on the archdiocese of Cologne. He followed this with his ''Der spanische Erbfolgekrieg und der Churfürst Joseph Clemens von Köln'', a study of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

and the role the Elector Joseph Clemens played in this contest, published in 1851. His superiors at the education ministry sent him to Paris, to study archive development and management: the fruit of this study, ''Frankreich und der Niederrhein, oder Geschichte von Stadt und Kurstaat Köln seit dem 30jährigen Kriege bis zur französischen Occupation'', appeared in two volumes in 1855 and 1856. This study of France's relationship with the states of the lower Rhine during the

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...

attracted attention to his talents as an historian, and on 1 August 1857 he was appointed director of the ''Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln'' (

Historical Archive of the City of Cologne The Historical Archive of the City of Cologne (german: Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln, or german: Kölner Stadtarchiv for short) is the municipal archive of Cologne, Germany. It ranks among the largest communal archives in Europe. A municip ...

). With other historians, notably Anton Fahne (1805–1883), he helped to found the ''Historischen Verein für den Niederrhein'' (Historical Society of the Lower Rhine) in 1854, and served as the society's first secretary. He continued to identify, categorize, and publish volumes on the sources and documents of the history of Cologne. He died in Cologne on 14 July 1880.

Selected publications

* ''Geschichte der Reformation im Bereich der alten Erzdiözese'' (History of the

in the Domain of the Ancient

Archdiocese of Cologne The Archdiocese of Cologne ( la, Archidioecesis Coloniensis; german: Erzbistum Köln) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and northern Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. History The Electorate of Cologn ...

), 1847 * ''Frankreich und der Niederrhein'' (France and the Lower Rhine); two volumes, 1856 * ''Zeitbilder aus der neuern Geschichte der Stadt Köln, mit besonderer Beziehung auf Ferdinand Franz Wallraf'' (Pictures from the Newer History of the City of Cologne, with special reference to Ferdinand Franz Wallraf), 1857 * ''Quellen zur Geschichte der Stadt Köln'' (Sources for the History of the City of Cologne); volumes 1–6, 1850–79 * ''Geschichte der Stadt Köln'' (History of the City of Cologne); five volumes, 1863–75 * ''Bilder vom alten Köln: Stadtansichten d. 15. bis 18. Jahrhundert u. Beschreibung d. Zustände vom Mittelalter bis nach d. Franzosenzeit'' (Pictures of old Cologne: City Views from the 15th to 18th century, etc.)

References

Notes and citations

Sources

* Hermann Keussen
"Ennen, Leonhard."
In: ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie.'' Herausgegeben von der Historischen Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Band 48 (1904), S. 380–382, Digitale Volltext-Ausgabe in Wikisource. (Version vom 26. Juni 2010, 00:21 Uhr UTC) * ''Die Chronik Kölns'', Chronik Verlag, Dortmund 1991, * ''Meyers Konversationslexikon'', Bd. 5, Seite 665, Verlag des Bibliographischen Instituts, Leipzig und Wien, Vierte Auflage, 1885–1892

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ennen, Leonhard 1820 births 1880 deaths People from Euskirchen (district) German archivists 19th-century German historians 19th-century German writers 19th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers