Heinz Duchhardt, Martin Espenhorst (Ed.)
August Ludwig (von) Schlözer in Europa
(August Ludwig (von) Schlözer in Europe)
1. Edition 2012
272 pages
ISBN 978-3-525-10103-2
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Europäische Geschichte Mainz Beihefte -
plus S&H
Book
Due to his prolific writings and his political activities, Schlözer was a well-known personality in the late 18th century both at home and beyond the borders of the Holy Roman Empire. He represented a type of scientist who concentrated on strict research into cultural-historical relationships and on collecting the respective data. He could at times be difficult to get along with, with his undiplomatic manners, although the directness of his approach also won him many admirers. Many pinned their hopes on him and enjoyed the criticism he expressed. Yet, surprising enough, his influence did not extend beyond the revolutionary year 1789. Landing squarely in the middle of the tensions he eventually withdrew from public life.
Even beyond the borders of Germany Schlözer´s works gained much renown, especially in Russia as well as in Hungary and Romania. In 1803/04 he was awarded nobility by Czar Alexander I of Russia.
In the Fall of 2009, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of his death (born 1735, died 1809), an international conference was held in his place of birth, Kirchberg an der Jagst (Gaggstatt). The interdiscipliary contributions from that conference document the many facets of his life as a historian, legal scholar, writer and political thinker. They illustrate the broad European dimensions of this scholar, his transportation of non-German, particularly European, culture and knowledge into the Old Reich. They also show how Schlözer, who always strived to effect change and improvement, introduced new or forgotten content into the history of the peoples and states of Europe and greatly affected the politics and developments in all of Europe.
