Julius von Ficker, or Johann Kaspar Julius Ficker von Feldhaus (30 April 1826 – 10 June 1902) was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

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 ...

. In 1898 he was awarded the

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Or ...

for Sciences and Arts.Johann Kaspar Julius Ficker von Feldhaus
Orden Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste (

Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts Pour may refer to these people: * Kour Pour (born 1987), British artist of part-Iranian descent * Mehdi Niyayesh Pour (born 1992), Iranian footballer * Mojtaba Mobini Pour (born 1991), Iranian footballer * Pouya Jalili Pour (born 1976), Iranian si ...

) (in German)

Career

Born at

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

, Ficker studied history and law at

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...

, 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 during 1848-49 lived in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, where he was closely associated with the noted historian

Johann Friedrich Böhmer Johann Friedrich Böhmer (22 April 179522 October 1863) was a German historian. His historical work was chiefly concerned with collecting and tabulating charters and other imperial documents of the Middle Ages. This work in turn cites: * Johannes ...

, who proved himself a generous friend and patron. In 1852 he proceeded to Bonn, but shortly afterwards accepted an invitation from Count Leopold Thun-Hohenstein, the reorganizer of the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n system of education, to settle at

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

as professor of general history. In 1863, however, he joined the faculty of jurisprudence, and his lectures on political and legal history drew around him a large circle of devoted and admiring pupils. In 1866 he was elected member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, but retired, after being ennobled by the Emperor of Austria,

Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

, in 1879.

The Sybel-Ficker controversy

During the period 1859–1866, triggered by the publication of Giesebrecht's ''Geschichte der deutschen Kaiserzeit'', he was engaged in a literary controversy with the historian

Heinrich von Sybel Heinrich Karl Ludolf von Sybel (2 December 1817 – 1 August 1895), German historian, came from a Protestant family which had long been established at Soest, in Westphalia. Life He was born in Düsseldorf, where his father held important pos ...

on the significance of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

. Ficker advocated and defended the theory that Austria, on account of its blending of races, was best fitted as successor of the old empire to secure the political advancement of both Central Europe and of Germany. In support of his theory, he wrote ''Das deutsche Kaiserreich in seinen universalen und nationalen Beziehungen'' (Innsbruck, 1871), and ''Deutsches Königtum und Kaisertum'' (Innsbruck, 1872). As legatee of Böhmer's literary estate, he published the ''Acta Imperii selecta'' (Innsbruck, 1870) and directed the completion and revision of the ''

Regesta Imperii Papal regesta are the copies, generally entered in special registry volumes, of the papal letters and official documents that are kept in the papal archives. The name is also used to indicate subsequent publications containing such documents, in c ...

''. Julius von Ficker died in Innsbruck. His sons were also prominent.

Ludwig von Ficker Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig Ahgren, or simply Ludwig, American YouTube live streamer and ...

(1880–1967) was a publisher and essayist who promoted and published the work of his friend,

Georg Trakl Georg Trakl (3 February 1887 – 3 November 1914) was an Austrian poet and the brother of the pianist Grete Trakl. He is considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionists. He is perhaps best known for his poem " Grodek", which he wr ...

Heinrich von Ficker Heinrich von Ficker (22 November 1881 – 29 April 1957) was a German-Austrian meteorologist and geophysicist who was a native of Munich. He was the son of historian Julius von Ficker (1826–1902). Career From 1911 he was a professor of met ...

(1881–1957) was a meteorologist, geophysicist and explorer.

Rudolf von Ficker Rudolf (von) Ficker (until 1919, Rudolf Ritter Ficker von Feldhaus; * 11 June 1886 in Munich; † 2 August 1954 in Igls) was an Austrian musicologist. Life Rudolf von Ficker was the son of the historian Julius von Ficker and brother of author/pu ...

(1886–1954) was a musicologist.

Works

Ficker's numerous and important works extend over three branches of scientific history: political and legal history and the science of

diplomatics Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents: especially, historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, p ...

. In each division he discovered new methods of investigation. Among his writings those of especial note are:

Political history

*'' Rainald von Dassel, Reichskanzler und Erzbischof von Köln'' (Cologne, 1850) *''Münsterische Chroniken des Mittelalters'' (Münster, 1851) *'' Engelbert der Heilige, Erzbischof von Köln'' (Cologne, 1853) *''Die Überreste des deutschen Reichsarchivs in

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

'' (Vienna, 1855).

Legal history

*''Über einen Spiegel deutscher Leute'' (Vienna, 1857) *''Über die Entstehungszeit des

Sachsenspiegel The (; gml, Sassen Speyghel; modern nds, Sassenspegel; all literally "Saxon Mirror") is one of the most important law books and custumals compiled during the Holy Roman Empire. Originating between 1220 and 1235 as a record of existing loc ...

s'' (Innsbruck 1859) *''Vom Reichsfürstenstande'' (Innsbruck, 1861) *''Forschungen zur Reichs- und Rechtsgeschichte Italiens'' (4 vols., Innsbruck, 1868–74) *''Untersuchungen zur Rechtsgeschichte'' (3 vols., Innsbruck, 1891–97).

Diplomatics

*''Beiträge zur Urkundenlehre'' (2 vols., Innsbruck, 1877–78).

References

External links

Julius von Ficker
at the ''

aeiou Encyclopedia Austria-Forum is a freely accessible online collection of reference works in both German language, German and English language, English about Austria-related topics. Background The predecessor of Austria-Forum, the AEIOU project was launched in ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Ficker, Julius von 1826 births 1902 deaths People from Paderborn People from the Province of Westphalia German Roman Catholics 19th-century German historians 19th-century Austrian historians Legal historians Academics of the University of Innsbruck Austrian knights University of Bonn alumni University of Münster alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni German expatriates in Austria German male non-fiction writers Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Rectors of universities in Austria