Rudolf Kötzschke (8 July 1867 – 3 August 1949) was a German historian who founded the Seminar for Regional History and Settlement Studies in Leipzig, the first regional history institution at a German university.

Life and career

Born in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, Kötzschke was the son of the "royal Saxon chamber musician" Hermann Kötzschke and older brother of the historian Paul Richard Kötzschke (1869–1945). He attended Gelinek's public school and from 1877 to 1885 the Kreuzschule in Dresden. From 1886 to 1889, he studied at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, majoring in Latin and history and minoring in German, geography,

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

; in the summer of 1887, he studied for a semester at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

. In Leipzig, he became a member of the (now in the Deutsche Sängerschaft). In 1889, he was awarded a doctorate in Leipzig with a thesis on ''Ruprecht von der Pfalz und das Konzil zu Pisa'', the following year he passed the

Staatsexamen The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, physical therapists, teachers, research librarians, archivists, pharmacists, food chemists, psyc ...

. Subsequently, Kötzschke initially worked as a teacher at a Dresden and a Leipzig grammar school until the historian

Karl Lamprecht Karl Gotthard Lamprecht (25 February 1856 – 10 May 1915) was a German historian who specialized in German art and economic history. Biography Lamprecht was born in Jessen in the Province of Saxony. As a student, he trained in history, politic ...

brought him to Leipzig in 1894. In 1896, Kötzschke became an assistant at the ''Königlich Sächsischen Kommission für Geschichte''. In 1899, Kötzschke habilitated in Leipzig for "middle and modern history, in particular for Saxon regional history", the subject of the habilitation was ''Studien zu Verwaltungsgeschichte der Grundherrschaft Werden''. Besides Lamprecht,

Erich Marcks Erich Marcks (6 June 1891 – 12 June 1944) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He authored the first draft of the operational plan, ''Operation Draft East'', for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, adv ...

and were reviewers. After his

Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

, Kötzschke first became a private lecturer in Leipzig and in 1906 Extraordinarius. In 1906, he was also appointed director of the Institute for Regional History and Settlement Studies, a position he held until 1936. From 1930, he held a chair of Saxon history. During the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

era, he became a member of the

National Socialist People's Welfare The National Socialist People's Welfare (, NSV) was a social welfare organization during the Third Reich. The NSV was originally established in 1931 as a small Nazi Party-affiliated charity, which was active locally in the city of Berlin. On 3 Ma ...

, the

Reichsluftschutzbund The Reichsluftschutzbund (RLB; "Reich Air Protection League") was a civil defense organization in Nazi Germany in charge of air raid precautions in residential areas and among smaller businesses. Purpose The RLB was organized by Hermann Göring ...

and the

Reichskolonialbund The ''Reichskolonialbund'' (RKB) () was a collective body that absorbed all German colonial organisations during the time of the Third Reich. It was led by Franz Ritter von Epp. The ''Reichskolonialbund'' was active between 1936 and 1943. His ...

. However, he did not join the

National Socialist German Workers' Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. He described the ''

Machtergreifung The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose t ...

'' by the Nazis as ''a landmark in German history''. In November 1933 he signed the

Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State officially translated into English as the Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State was a document presented on 11 November 1933 at the Albert Hall in Leipzi ...

. He became an emeritus professor in 1935. In the same year, he became a member of the

Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften The Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig () is an institute which was founded in 1846 under the name ''Royal Saxon Society for the Sciences'' (). Notable people * Kurt Aland * Annette Beck-Sickinger * Walther Bothe * Alexander Car ...

. His successor in Leipzig was the Austrian Adolf Helbok in 1935. As an academic teacher, Kötzschke supervised over 100 doctoral theses from 1906 until his retirement. Important academic students were , , and

Walter Schlesinger Walter Schlesinger (April 28, 1908, Glauchau – June 10, 1984, Weimar (Lahn), Weimar-Wolfshausen, near Marburg) was a German historian of medieval social and economic institutions, particularly in the context of German regional history ("Landesge ...

. In 1942, Kötzschke was admitted as a corresponding member of the

Prussian Academy of Sciences The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences () was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin Academy" may also refer. In the 18th century, when Frenc ...

. After World War II, Kötzschke was again entrusted with the direction of the Institute for German Regional and Folk History from 1946 to 1949, which was reopened on 7 October 1946. Kötzschke continued to teach at the University of Leipzig until shortly before his death on 3 August 1949 and endeavoured to rebuild the destroyed seminar library. Kötzschke became the founder of regional historical research as a scientific discipline. He is considered an expert on medieval economic history, especially agricultural and settlement history. His publications such as the ''Economic History of the Middle Ages'', the ''Saxon History up to the Reformation Period'' and the ''Rural Settlement and Agrarianism in Saxony'' are the culmination of his research. The Rudolf Kötzschke Society was founded in 1994. Kötzschke's work during the Nazi period was first discussed in detail in a volume published in 1999. Kötzschke died in Leipzig at the age of 82.

Publications

* ''Deutsche und Slaven im mitteldeutschen Osten. Ausgewählte Aufsätze.''''Deutsche und Slaven im mitteldeutschen Osten. Ausgewählte Aufsätze.''
on WorldCat Edited by Walter Schlesinger, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1961. * ''Ländliche Siedlung und Agrarwesen in Sachsen'' (''Forschungen zur deutschen Landeskunde.'' Vol. 77, ). Published from the estate by Herbert Helbig. Publishing house of the Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Remagen 1953. * ''Die Anfänge des deutschen Rechtes in der Siedlungsgeschichte des Ostens. (Ius Teutonicum)'' (''Berichte über die Verhandlungen der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philologisch-Historische Klasse'' 93, 2, ). Hirzel, Leipzig 1941. * with : ''Sächsische Geschichte. Werden und Wandlungen eines Deutschen Stammes und seiner Heimat im Rahmen der Deutschen Geschichte.'' 2 volumes (Vol. 1: ''Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Mittelalter und Reformationszeit.'' Vol. 2: ''Geschichte der Neuzeit seit der Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts.''). Heinrich, Dresden 1935 (in one volume: ''Sächsische Geschichte.'' Weltbild-Verlag, Augsburg 1995, ). * ''Allgemeine Wirtschaftsgeschichte des Mittelalters'' (''Handbuch der Wirtschaftsgeschichte.'' Vol. 2). Fischer, Jena 1924 (Nachdruck. Olms, Hildesheim among others 1998, ). * as publisher: ''Quellen zur Geschichte der ostdeutschen Kolonisation im 12. bis 14. Jahrhundert'' (''Quellensammlung zur deutschen Geschichte.'' Vol. 7, ). Teubner, Leipzig among others 1912 (2nd edition. idem 1931). * ''Deutsche Wirtschaftsgeschichte bis zum 17. Jahrhundert'' (''Grundriss der Geschichtswissenschaft.'' Series 2, part. 1). Teubner, Leipzig 1907 (2nd revised edition as ''Grundzüge der deutschen Wirtschaftsgeschichte bis zum 17. Jahrhundert.'' ebenda 1921).

References

External links

*
Rudolf Kötzschke
on SXRL *
Rudolf Kötzschke
in the
Rudolf Kötzschke
on

Kalliope In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; ) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses". Mythology Calliope had two famous sons, OrpheusH ...

Rudolf Kötzschke
on HistVV koetzschke * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kotzschke, Rudolf Academic staff of Leipzig University Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences 19th-century German historians 20th-century German historians 1867 births 1949 deaths Writers from Dresden People educated at the Kreuzschule

Life and career

Publications

Further reading

References

External links