Paul Fridolin Kehr (28 December 1860,

Waltershausen Waltershausen is a town in the south-western part of the district of Gotha in the state of Thuringia, Germany. Geography Geographic location Located on the verge of the Thuringian Basin just before the Thuringian Forest, Waltershausen is so ...

– 9 November 1944, Wässerndorf) was a German

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 stu ...

and

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

. In 1893 he was appointed professor of history and auxiliary sciences at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

, and two years later, procured the same title at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

(from 1895). In 1903 he was named director of the Prussian Historical Institute in Rome, and in 1915 became general director of the Prussian State Archives. During the same year, he became chairman of the central directorate of "

Monumenta Germaniae Historica The ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'' (''MGH'') is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published primary sources, both chronicle and archival, for the study of Northwestern and Central European history from the end of the Roman Empire ...

", as well as director of the

Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for German History The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (German language, German: ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften'') was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions we ...

. In 1940, he was awarded the Eagle Shield of the German Reich with the distinction "The outstanding researcher of medieval history". Kehr died in Wässerndorf and was buried in the private cemetery of those of Pölnitz near Hundshaupten Castle.

Publications

Kehr is best known for

documentary research Documentary research is the use of outside sources, documents, to support the viewpoint or argument of an academic work. The process of documentary research Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of ...

on the

Papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

and of German imperial history. He was editor or co-editor of the following: * ''Päpstlichen Urkunden und Regesten aus den Jahren 1358–78'' (two volumes 1886–1889) – Papal documents and summaries from the years 1358–78. * ''Die Urkunden Otto III'' (1889) – The documents of

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of ...

. * ''Regesta Pontificum Romanorum'' ("Italia pontifica" seven volumes, Berlin 1906 to 1925)-- documents issued by the papacy relevant to Italian churches * ''Germania sacra'' (Volume 1,

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 ...

1929).Orden Pour Le Merite
(short biography)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kehr, Paul Fridolin 1860 births 1944 deaths People from Waltershausen People from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha German archivists 20th-century German historians German male non-fiction writers Academic staff of the University of Marburg Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy 21st-century German historians Max Planck Institute directors