German historian and statesman (1764?1835)
Karl Heinrich Lang.
Karl Heinrich Ritter von Lang
(7 June 1764 – 26 March 1835) was a German
historian
and
statesman
.
Life
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He was born at
Balgheim
, near
Nordlingen
. From the first he was greatly attracted towards historical studies, and this was shown when he began to attend the gymnasium of
Oettingen
, and in 1782, when he went to the
university of Altdorf
, near
Nuremberg
. At the same time he studied
jurisprudence
, and in 1782 became a government clerk at Oettingen. About the same period he began his activities as a journalist and publicist.
But Lang did not long remain an official. He was of a restless, changeable character, which constantly involved him in personal quarrels, though he was equally quick to retire from them. In 1788 he obtained a position as private tutor in
Hungary
in family of Johann Calisius from Calish and Johanna Pronay in Bitsitz (today Byt?ica, Slovakia), and in 1789 became private secretary to
Baron von Buhler
, the envoy of
Wurttemberg
at
Vienna
. This led to further travels and to his entering the service of the
House of Oettingen-Wallerstein
. In 1792 Lang again betook himself to a university, this time to
Gottingen
. Here he came under the influence of the historian,
Ludwig Timotheus Spittler
, from whom, as also from
Johannes von Muller
and
Friedrich Schlegel
, his historical studies received a fresh impulse.
At intervals from 1793 to 1801 Lang was closely connected with the Prussian statesman
Hardenberg
, who employed him as his private secretary and archivist, and in 1797 he was present with Hardenberg at the
Second Congress of Rastatt
as secretary to the legation. He was occupied chiefly with affairs of the principalities of
Ansbach
and
Bayreuth
, newly acquired by
Prussia
, and especially in the settlement of disputes with
Bavaria
as to their boundaries.
When in 1805 the principalities became part of Bavaria, Lang entered the Bavarian service (1806), was presented with the
Merit Order of the Bavarian Crown
in 1808, and from 1810 to 1817 held the office of archivist in
Munich
. He again devoted himself with great enthusiasm to historical studies, which naturally dealt chiefly with Bavarian history. He evolved the theory, among other things, that the boundaries of the old counties or
pagi
(
Gaue
) were identical with those of the dioceses. This theory was combated in later days, and caused great confusion in the province of
historical geography
. For the rest, Lang did great service to the study of the
history of Bavaria
, especially by bringing fresh material from the archives to bear upon it. He also kept up his activity as a publicist, in 1814 defending in a detailed and somewhat biassed pamphlet the policy of the minister
Montgelas
, and he undertook critical studies in the history of the
Jesuits
. In 1817 Lang retired from active life, and until his death in 1835, lived chiefly in Ansbach.
Lang is best known through his
Memoiren
, which were published in
Brunswick
in two parts in 1842, and were republished in 1881 in a second edition. They contain much of interest for the history of the period, but have to be used with the greatest caution on account of their pronounced tendency to satire. Lang's character, as can be gathered especially from a consideration of his behaviour at Munich, is darkened by many shadows. He did not scruple, for instance, to strike out of the lists of witnesses to medieval charters, before publishing them, the names of families which he disliked.
Selected works
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Of his numerous literary productions the following may be mentioned:
- Beitrage zur Kenntnis der naturlichen und politischen Verfassung des oettingischen Vaterlandes
(1786)
- Ein Votum uber den Wucher von einem Manne sine voto
(1791)
- Historische Entwicklung der deutschen Steuerverfassungen
(1793)
- Historische Prufung des vermeintlichen Alters der deutschen Landstande
(1796)
- Neuere Geschichte des Furstentums Bayreuth
(1486?1603) (1798?1811)
- Tabellen uber Flacheninhalt &c. und bevorstehende Verluste der deutschen Reichsstande
. (On the occasion of the congress of Rastadt, 1798)
- Der Minister Graf von Montgelas
(1814)
- Geschichte der Jesuiten in Bayern
(1819)
- Bayerns Gauen
(Nuremberg, 1830)
Notes
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Regarding personal names:
Ritter
is a title, translated approximately as
Sir
(denoting a
Knight
), not a first or middle name. There is no equivalent female form.
References
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Attribution:
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Other
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