Richard Koebner

Richard Michael Koebner (29 August 1885 – 29 April 1958) was a German-Jewish historian who specialized in medieval and modern European history. He was a professor at the University of Breslau before emigrating to Mandatory Palestine in 1934 after his dismissal under the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service by the Nazi regime. He subsequently became a professor of modern history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was an important figure in the development of the university's Department of History.

Koebner's research covered medieval urban history, German expansion into eastern Europe, the history of political concepts, and the historical meanings of terms such as empire and imperialism. His posthumously published book Empire (1961), together with the expanded study Imperialism: The Story and Significance of a Political Word, 1840–1960 (1964), became important contributions to the historical study of political terminology.

Early life and education

Koebner was born in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) on 29 August 1885. He was the son of a physician and attended the Maria-Magdalenen-Gymnasium in Breslau. He studied at the universities of Berlin, Breslau and Geneva. Among his teachers in Berlin were the historians Hans Delbrück, Alfred Herrmann and Eduard Meyer, as well as the philosophers Max Dessoir and Alois Riehl and the economist Ignaz Jastrow.

In 1911 he received his doctorate in Berlin with a dissertation on marriage concepts in the late Middle Ages, Die Eheauffassung des ausgehenden deutschen Mittelalters.

Academic career in Breslau

Koebner completed his habilitation at the University of Breslau in 1919 with a study of the origins and early history of the city of Cologne, Die Anfänge des Gemeinwesens der Stadt Köln. Zur Entstehung und ältesten Geschichte des deutschen Städtewesens. From 1920 he taught at the University of Breslau as a Privatdozent, and in 1924 he was appointed außerordentlicher Professor of medieval and modern history.

His early scholarship concentrated particularly on medieval urban development, economic and social history, and German expansion into eastern Europe. His publications included studies of Venantius Fortunatus, the medieval history of Cologne, Breslau, and the development of German settlements in eastern Europe.

Koebner's historical interests were broad and interdisciplinary. His teaching at Breslau included subjects extending beyond conventional medieval political history, reflecting his interest in intellectual and cultural history.

Emigration and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

In 1933 Koebner was dismissed from his position at the University of Breslau following the Nazi seizure of power and the implementation of legislation removing politically and racially persecuted academics from the German civil service. He emigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1934 after receiving an appointment at the newly established Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

At the Hebrew University, Koebner became professor of modern history and played an important role in the development of the university's History Department. The National Library of Israel describes him as a historian of medieval and modern Europe and records his earlier professorship at Breslau and later position at the Hebrew University.

Koebner's arrival in Jerusalem represented a major transition in his career. He had to adapt his scholarly and teaching work to the intellectual environment of the Hebrew University and, according to an obituary published by the Association of Jewish Refugees, learned Hebrew in order to lecture at the university.

He became one of the formative scholars of the university's historical studies. His students included later prominent historians; among them was Hedva Ben-Israel, who studied for her master's degree under Koebner at the Hebrew University.

Later work

During his Jerusalem years Koebner continued to work on European history while developing an increasing interest in the history of political concepts. His 1951 article Despot and Despotism: Vicissitudes of a Political Term examined the changing historical meanings of political terminology.

His study of the concept of empire was published posthumously as Empire in 1961. Koebner had collected thousands of excerpts and notes for the project before his death. Helmut Dan Schmidt subsequently edited and expanded the material, resulting in Imperialism: The Story and Significance of a Political Word, 1840–1960, published by Cambridge University Press in 1964.

The work treated the changing meanings of empire and imperialism as part of the history of political consciousness rather than merely as a history of political institutions. The study traced the changing uses of the term imperialism from the nineteenth century through the twentieth century.

In 1957 Koebner published, together with his wife Gertrud Koebner, Vom Schönen und seiner Wahrheit. Eine Analyse ästhetischer Erlebnisse, a work concerning aesthetics and the philosophical interpretation of beauty.

Retirement and death

Koebner retired from the Hebrew University in the mid-1950s. In 1955 he moved to the United Kingdom, where he subsequently worked in London and Manchester as a visiting professor.

He died in London on 29 April 1958, aged 72.

Legacy

The Hebrew University later commemorated Koebner's contribution to historical scholarship by establishing the Richard Koebner Chair and, in 1986, the Richard Koebner Minerva Center for German History. The center promotes research into German and German-Jewish history and is located within the History Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The National Library of Israel holds the Richard Koebner Archive, containing biographical materials, documents concerning his activity at the Hebrew University, research papers, writings on other authors, and materials relating to music and art.

Koebner is remembered particularly for his contributions to medieval and modern European history, the history of German expansion and urban development, and the historical study of political concepts. His work on the concepts of empire and imperialism subsequently became an important reference point for historians interested in the history of political language.

Selected bibliography

Die Eheauffassung des ausgehenden deutschen Mittelalters (1911) Venantius Fortunatus. Seine Persönlichkeit und seine Stellung in der geistigen Kultur des Merowinger-Reiches (1915) Die Anfänge des Gemeinwesens der Stadt Köln. Zur Entstehung und ältesten Geschichte des deutschen Städtewesens (1922) Despot and Despotism: Vicissitudes of a Political Term (1951) Empire (1961, posthumous) Imperialism: The Story and Significance of a Political Word, 1840–1960 (with Helmut Dan Schmidt, 1964, posthumous) Vom Schönen und seiner Wahrheit. Eine Analyse ästhetischer Erlebnisse (with Gertrud Koebner, 1957)