Arnold Schaefer

Arnold Dietrich Schaefer (16 October 1819 in Seehausen, today part of Bremen – 19 November 1883 in Bonn) was a German historian.

Academic background

He studied philology and history at the University of Leipzig, where he was influenced by Gottfried Hermann (1772–1848) and Moritz Haupt (1808–1874). After graduation, he was persuaded by educationist Karl Justus Blochmann (1786–1855) to relocate to Dresden, where he subsequently taught classes in history and ancient languages at the Vitzthum gymnasium. In 1851 he was appointed to the Royal Saxon state school (St. Augustin gymnasium) in Grimma.

In late November 1857, he became a full professor of history at the University of Greifswald; several years later (1865), he started work as a professor at the University of Bonn, where he remained until his death in 1883.

Written works

Largely known for his writings on ancient Greek and Roman history, he also made contributions in studies involving the history of Prussia. The following are a few of his principal works:

• Geschichtstabellen zum Auswendiglernen (1847) - History tables for memorization.
• Demosthenes und seine Zeit (1856–58) - Demosthenes and his time.
• Abriß der Quellenkunde der griechischen Geschichte bis auf Polybios (1867) - Outline involving the source study of Greek history up to the time of Polybius.
• Geschichte des siebenjährigen Kriegs (1867–74), three volumes - History of the Seven Years' War.
• Abriß der Quellenkunde der griechischen und römischen Geschichte (1883) - Outline involving the source study of Greek and Roman history.

References

• ADB: Shepherd, Arnold Dietrich @ Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
• WorldCat Search (publications)
• Julius Asbach: Zur Erinnerung an Arnold Dietrich Schaefer. Leipzig 1895.
• Johannes Poeschel: Das Kollegium der Fürsten- und Landesschule Grimma von 1849 bis 1900. Grimma 1901, S. 29–32.
• Roderich Schmidt: Arnold Schaefer, 1819–1883. In: Ders.: Fundatio et confirmatio universitatis. Von den Anfängen deutscher Universitäten (Bibliotheca Eruditorum. Internationale Bibliothek der Wissenschaften, Bd. 13). Goldbach 1998 (zuerst erschienen: 1968), S. 349-368.
• Michael Czolkoß, Studien zur Geschichte der Geschichtswissenschaft. Die Universität Greifswald in der preußischen Hochschullandschaft (1830-1865). Marburg 2015, Tectum, ISBN 978-3-8288-3515-3.