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Barthold Georg NiebuhrGerman historian, founder of the scientific-critical method in the study of history
Date of Birth: 26.08.1776
Country:  Germany |
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Biography of Barthold Georg Niebuhr
Barthold Georg Niebuhr (1776-1831) was a German historian and the founder of the scientific-critical method in the study of history. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark on August 27, 1776, as the son of the traveler Carsten Niebuhr.
Niebuhr studied at the University of Kiel and then spent over a year in England and Scotland. From 1804 to 1806, he served as the director of the National Bank of Denmark, and from 1806 to 1810, he was invited by Stein to become the director of the National Bank of Prussia.
In 1810, Niebuhr started giving lectures on Roman history at the University of Berlin. From 1816 to 1823, he served as the ambassador of Prussia to the Vatican, and later became a professor at the University of Bonn.
Niebuhr's most notable work is "Römische Geschichte" (Roman History), published from 1811 to 1832 in three volumes. While the actual results of this work were valuable, it was his method that made it groundbreaking. Niebuhr attempted to extract the rational core from the legends surrounding the founding of Rome, focusing on the history of the society and state formation in Rome rather than on exceptional individuals.
By the end of the 19th century, it was realized that excessive criticism was unproductive. However, Niebuhr's method remains the foundation of any serious historical research to this day.
