The Hesperian / (Lincoln, Neb.) 1885-1899, February 01, 1893, Page 13, Image 13

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    THE HESPERIAN
13
on account of the brilliancy with which ho
presented his subject. Soluu was one of
the few men at, Leipzig that did not read their
loot arcs, and there wore not seats enough
for those who came to hear his fascinating
treatment of canon law.
The amount of lecture work done bv an
instructor or professor is determined by him
self. In the summer of 1SSS Arndt gave
one four hour course, one two hour course
(in one period), and one seminar exercise
(2 hours). Maurenbrecher offered the same
number of hours. This I believe is the aver
age number of hours. What did they do
with the rest of their time I They were
never idle. When not engaged on their
lectures they were writing history; thus mak
ing a reputation for themselves and for their
university. In 1SSS there were some one
hundred and eighty instructors and profes
sors connected with Jthe university of Leipzig.
Every man was a doctor of philosophy, of
theology, of medicine, or of jurisprudence;
each man was a specialist and was known
for some scientific work that he had done.
There were eleven men lecturing on Europ
ean history, and among them such histor
ians as: Maurenbrecher, Arndt, Biedermann,
Wachsmuth, Voigt, Holzapfel, Erler and
young Busch who has recently made a name
for himself by his work on English history.
In Political Economy one could listen to
Ko.seher; in Geography to Ratzel; in Phil
ology to Zarneke, Lipsius, Ribbeck, Brug
iiihiiii. and Delitzsch ; in Theology to Luth
ardtand Bauer; in Jurisprudence to Binding
awl Windscheild; in Chemistry to Ostwald
and Wislicenus; in Pedagogy to Masius: in
Anglo-Saxon to Wuelker; and in Philosophy
l W umlt. These were the names that drew
students from afar and made old Leipzig
famous. These men made the university.
1'liey were producers and not simple phrasc
niakers or hearers of recitations; they were
wholars who were known by their work.
It may not be out of place in closing this
brief sketch to say a word of the man under
whom I studied at Leipzig. I do it at this
time on account of his recent death. He
died at Leipzig November 0, just, in the prime
of life being only fifty-four when 'lhe
seemed just ready to do his best work," to
use the words of one who knew him.
Maurenbrecher obtained his doctor's de
gree at Bonn in 1SG1, presenting as a dis
sertation a critical study of the contempor
aneous historians of Otto the Great. He
began at once to turn his attention to the
period of the Reformation, and in 1S05 pub
lished a volume on "Karl Y. und die deut
schen Protestanten."
In 1S07 he was made professor of modern
history at Dorpat, and in 1SG9 was called to
Koenigsberg. University duties interfered
somewhat with his Reformation studies but
in 1S73 he published a volume of brilliant
sketches on the "Refonnationszeit.' This
was followed in 1SS0 by the first volume of
his greatest work on the "Geschichte der
katolisehen Reformation." The second vol
ume of this work never appeared, although
Maurenbrecher published from time to time
in the "HistoriseherTaschenbuch,,, of which
he was the editor, studies that gave prom
ise of the eventual completion of his task.
In 1S0O appeared his book on the "Koenigs
wahl in Dcutschland,' the fruit of his aca
demic lectures; and in 1S92 his last work on
the ''Gruenduns: des deutschen Reiches."
This was also based upon lectures, delivered
during my first winter in Lipzeig. In addi
tion to this, many of the leading German
periodicals have published articles from
Maurenbrechcr's pen. In his inaugural lec
ture at Dorpat and in the Taschenbuch he
has treated most ably the subject of histori
cal writing and the task of the historian .
He certainly did much but he might have
done so much more had he lived another ten
years and it would have been ripe work.
Maurenbrecher was a man of large frame
and very fleshy : so fleshy in fact that it was
a serious inconvience to him. He was truly
a "character" and a very positive one too.
Yet at the same time he was one of the most
affable men that lever met. I well remem
ber the twinkle in his eye and the laugh in
his voice when he parted with me the day
I
ji '
? .
! ,
I
n
i
1
t"
Vi
u