Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer
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Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer (10 December 1790 – 26 April 1861) was a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
Tyrolean traveller, journalist, politician and historian, best known for his
controversial Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...
discontinuity theory concerning the
racial A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...
origins of the
Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
, and for his travel writings.Dream Nation: Enlightenment, Colonization, and the Institution of Modern Greece, Stathis Gourgouris p.142-143Sociolinguistic Variation and Change, Peter Trudgill, p.131The Fragments of Death, Fables of Identity: An Athenian Anthropography, Neni Panourgia - Social Science - 1995, p. 28


Biography


Education

Fallmerayer was born the seventh of ten children in Pairdorf ( it, Parara), a village in Tschötsch ( it, Scezze) near
Brixen Brixen (, ; it, Bressanone ; lld, Porsenù or ) is a town in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography First mentioned in 901, Brixen is the third largest city and oldest town in the province, and the artistic an ...
in
Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
. At the time of Fallmerayer's birth, the region was incorporated in the Habsburg monarchy, in 1805 it became a part of
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, and it belongs today to Italy. His parents were small farmers. From the age of seven Fallmerayer attended the local school in Tschötsch and worked as a shepherd. In 1801 the family moved to Brixen, where Fallmerayer's father found employment as a day-laborer. Fallmerayer was enrolled in the ''Volksschule'', where he impressed the priests with his talents. In 1803 he entered the cathedral school as a '' Gymnasiast'', whence he was graduated in 1809 with a diploma in metaphysics, mathematics, and the philosophy of religion. (The ''Gymnasium'' in Brixen today bears Fallmerayer's name). He then left Tyrol, at the time in the midst of a freedom struggle against Bavaria, for
Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
. In Salzburg, Fallmerayer found employment as a private tutor, and enrolled in a Benedictine seminary, where he studied classical, modern, and oriental philology, literature, history, and philosophy. After a year's study he sought to assure to himself the peace and quiet necessary for a student's life by entering the abbey of
Kremsmünster Kremsmünster is a town in Kirchdorf an der Krems District, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Settled in 777, it is home to the Kremsmünster Abbey. The Abbey was founded 777 by Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria and is one of the oldest abbeys o ...
, but difficulties put in his way by the
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n officials prevented the accomplishment of this intention. At the University of Landshut (today the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich), to which he removed in 1812, he first applied himself to jurisprudence, but soon devoted his attention exclusively to history and classical and oriental philology. His immediate necessities were provided for by a stipendium from the Bavarian crown.


Early career

In the fall of 1813, in the midst of the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, Fallmerayer decided to seek his fame in military service and joined the Bavarian infantry as a subaltern. He fought with distinction at Hanau on 30 October 1813 and served throughout the campaign in France. He remained in the army of occupation on the banks of the Rhine until the
battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
, when he spent six months at
Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and
Lindau Lindau (german: Lindau (Bodensee), ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major town and island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the county (''Landkreis' ...
on Lake Constance convinced him that his desire for military glory could not be fulfilled, and he devoted himself instead to the study of modern Greek, Persian and Turkish. Resigning his commission in 1818, he was engaged as a teacher of Latin and Greek in the gymnasium at
Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...
, where his students included the young
Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
. In Augsburg his liberal, anti-clerical, tendencies, which had already begun to develop during his student years, expressed themselves in opposition to the growing
ultramontanism Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by th ...
of the Bavarian state. In 1821 Fallmerayer accepted another position at the Progymnasium in Landshut, where he continued to teach classical languages, in addition to religion, German, history, and geography. Landshut was at the time still a great university city, and Fallmerayer took advantage of its resources to continue his study of history and languages. In February 1823 Fallmerayer learned of a prize offered by the
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters {{Infobox organization , name = The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters , full_name = , native_name = Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab , native_name_lang = , logo = Royal ...
to encourage research into the history of the Empire of Trebizond. This late medieval kingdom, located on the south coast of the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
, was at the time known only through scattered references in Byzantine and Turkish chronicles. Fallmerayer began to collect additional sources in a number of languages, including Arabic and Persian, from libraries across Europe, and corresponded with various scholars, including
Silvestre de Sacy Antoine Isaac, Baron Silvestre de Sacy (; 21 September 175821 February 1838), was a French nobleman, linguist and orientalist. His son, Ustazade Silvestre de Sacy, became a journalist. Life and works Early life Silvestre de Sacy was born in Pa ...
and Carl Benedict Hase. In December of the same year Fallmerayer submitted the resulting manuscript to the Danish Academy, and in 1824 he was awarded the prize. Fallmerayer's study, the ''Geschichte des Kaisertums von Trapezunt'', was however not published until 1827. Fallmerayer attempted to convert his success into professional advancement in the Bavarian educational system. In the fall of 1824 he was named Professor at the Landshut Gymnasium, but in a series of letters to the kings of Bavaria, first to Maximilian I and then, following his death, to
Ludwig I en, Louis Charles Augustus , image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg , caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825 , succession=King of Bavaria , reign = , coronation ...
, Fallmerayer requested further funding for his research and a position as a professor at the University of Landshut. These requests were however denied, perhaps on account of Fallmerayer's liberal political views. In 1826 the University of Landshut was moved to
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
, the capital of the Bavarian state, while the Munich
Lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the t ...
was moved to Landshut. Fallmerayer was named Professor of History at the latter institution. In the academic year 1826–27, he offered a lecture course on
universal history A universal history is a work aiming at the presentation of a history of all of mankind as a whole, coherent unit. A universal chronicle or world chronicle typically traces history from the beginning of written information about the past up to t ...
. His inaugural lecture was marked, once again, by his anti-clericalism and reformist-liberal political views. He returned to these themes in his final lecture, in which he presented a vision of a unified Europe under "the rule of public virtues and of laws." These lectures, together with his distinctly "unpatriotic" lectures on Bavarian history, began to draw criticism from the more conservative elements of the academic establishment. In 1827 the ''Geschichte des Kaisertums von Trapezunt'' was finally published, and met with universal praise from its reviewers, including
Barthold Georg Niebuhr Barthold Georg Niebuhr (27 August 1776 – 2 January 1831) was a Danish–German statesman, banker, and historian who became Germany's leading historian of Ancient Rome and a founding father of modern scholarly historiography. By 1810 Niebuhr wa ...
and Carl Hase. The reaction of the Bavarian establishment was somewhat cooler, in part due to the book's preface. Here Fallmerayer had stated as a "law of nature" that the attainment of earthly power by priests leads to the "deepest degradation of the human race."


The Greek theory

Following the publication of his Trebizond study, Fallmerayer devoted his scholarly activities to another Greek region of the late Middle Ages, namely, the
Morea The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottom ...
. In particular, he developed his theory that the ancient, "Hellenic", population of the south Balkans had been replaced during the Migration Period by
Arvanitic Arvanitika (; Arvanitika: , ; Greek: , ), also known as Arvanitic, is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece. Arvanitika is today endangered, as its speakers have been shifting to the use ...
, Aromanian, Slavic and
Turkic peoples The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West, Central, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members speak languages belonging t ...
, a theory which he advocated with characteristic zeal. The first volume of Fallmerayer's ''Geschichte der Halbinsel Morea während des Mittelalters'' appeared in 1830, and he expressed his central theory in the foreword as follows:
The race of the Hellenes has been wiped out in Europe. Physical beauty, intellectual brilliance, innate harmony and simplicity, art, competition, city, village, the splendour of column and temple — indeed, even the name has disappeared from the surface of the Greek continent.... Not the slightest drop of undiluted Hellenic blood flows in the veins of the Christian population of present-day Greece.
This phenomenon was further interpreted by Fallmerayer as an indication of the potential of the "Slavic" nations to overwhelm the "Latin" and the "German", a line of thought which he would later develop in his political writings. He further argued that the Great Powers who had supported the Greek War of Independence which was led by Arvanites and Aromanians had been led by a "classical intoxication" to misjudge the character of the
modern Greek state The history of modern Greece covers the history of Greece from the recognition by the Great Powers — Britain, France and Russia — of its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1828 to the present day. Background The Byzantine Empire had ...
. The ''Geschichte der Halbinsel Morea'' set Fallmerayer at loggerheads with the European
Philhellenes Philhellenism ("the love of Greek culture") was an intellectual movement prominent mostly at the turn of the 19th century. It contributed to the sentiments that led Europeans such as Lord Byron and Charles Nicolas Fabvier to advocate for Greek ...
in general, and with the Bavarian King
Ludwig I en, Louis Charles Augustus , image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg , caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825 , succession=King of Bavaria , reign = , coronation ...
in particular, a convinced Philhellene who already in 1829 had begun to advance the candidacy of his son,
Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded f ...
, for the Greek throne (Otto became King of Greece in 1832). Ludwig's philhellenism was in fact grounded in the conviction that the Greek revolt against Ottoman rule represented the return of antique Hellenic virtue. Ludwig's displeasure with Fallmerayer led to a long delay in the confirmation of Fallmerayer's election to the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. The earliest scholarly reviews of Fallmerayer's work were likewise negative. He was accused of philological errors by the Slovenian linguist
Jernej Kopitar Jernej Kopitar, also known as Bartholomeus Kopitar (21 August 1780 – 11 August 1844), was a Slovene linguist and philologist working in Vienna. He also worked as the Imperial censor for Slovene literature in Vienna. He is perhaps best known ...
, and of misreading the historical sources by the historians Johann Zinkeisen and Karl Hopf. Fallmerayer's ideas caused fierce reaction from various scholars of the newly established Greek state and triggered a search for continuity within Greek historiography, in an attempt to prove the existence of links between modern Greeks and the ancient Greek civilization."Veloudis, Giorgos, 1982. Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer and the birth of the Greek historicism, Athens: Mnimon. On 8 March 2017 an international scientific research was published in the ''
European Journal of Human Genetics The ''European Journal of Human Genetics'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Nature Publishing Group on behalf of the European Society of Human Genetics. It covers all aspects of human genetics. Abstracting and index ...
'', which proposed that, despite their genetical variations, the Greeks of Peloponnese are genetically connected with Sicilians and Italians of Southern Italy and have almost no connection with modern North Slavic DNA.


Travels

Upset by the critical reaction to his Morea study, Fallmerayer resolved to travel abroad to collect material for the projected second volume. An opportunity presented itself when the Russian Count
Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy Count Alexander Ivanovich Count Osterman-Tolstoy (Russian: Александр Иванович Остерман-Толстой; 1770 – 12 February 1857) was a Russian nobleman and soldier in the era of the French Revolutionary Wars. He belonged ...
arrived in Munich, seeking a learned companion for an eastward journey. Fallmerayer applied for and received a year-long leave from his teaching duties, and in August 1831 departed from Munich with Ostermann-Tolstoy. The two sailed first from
Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...
to
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
, planning to arrive in
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
by Christmas. Instead they remained in Egypt for nearly a year, leaving for Palestine in the summer of 1832. Early in 1833 they sailed for
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
by way of
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
and
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...
. In November 1833, Fallmerayer finally set foot in the Morea, where the party remained for a month before travelling north to
Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean S ...
. There Fallmerayer claimed he was struck by the preponderance of
Arvanitika Arvanitika (; Arvanitika: , ; Greek: , ), also known as Arvanitic, is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece. Arvanitika is today endangered, as its speakers have been shifting to the u ...
, an Albanian dialect. The party arrived in Italy in February 1834, and returned to Munich in August of the same year. Upon his return, Fallmerayer discovered that the Landshut Lyceum had in the meantime been moved to
Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the ...
, and that his position had been eliminated. Behind this early "retirement" lay Fallmerayer's "known convictions, which, particularly in religious matters, are incompatible with the teaching profession." He was instead offered an ''Ordinarius'' position as a member of the Bavarian Academy, where his first lecture concerned the " Albanisation" of the population of Attica. His lecture was answered with an attack on his theories by Friedrich Wilhelm Thiersch, and the two opposing lectures led to a controversy in Munich academic circles, as well as in the popular press. The controversy had a pointedly political dimension, with Thiersch representing the "Idealpolitik" position, according to which Bavaria should support the Greek state, and Fallmerayer advocating a hands-off "Realpolitik." This political polemic was further provoked by the preface to the second volume of Fallmerayer's ''Geschichte'', published in 1836, in which he wrote that the Greek War of Independence was a "purely Shqiptarian (
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
n), not a Hellenic Revolution." He advocated furthermore the replacement of the German monarchy in Greece by a native regime. 1839 marked the beginning of Fallmerayer's career as a correspondent for the '' Allgemeine Zeitung'', where he would continue to publish until his death. Fallmerayer's contributions to the ''AZ'' included travel essays, book reviews, political columns, and ''
Feuilleton A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of french: feuillet, the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art critici ...
s''. Fallmerayer soon after left the country again on account of political troubles, and spent the greater part of the next four years in travel, spending the winter of 1839–1840 with Count Tolstoy at
Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
. Between July 1840 and June 1842 Fallmerayer embarked on his second major journey, setting out from Regensburg and travelling along the
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
and across the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
to
Trapezunt Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the ...
. After long stays in Trapezunt, Constantinople,
Athos Athos may refer to: Fictional or mythical characters * Athos (character), one of the title characters in the novel ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) by Alexandre Dumas père * Athos (mythology), one of the Gigantes in Greek mythology * Athos Fadiga ...
Chalkidiki Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region co ...
and the rest of Macedonia, and Athens, he returned to Munich via Trieste and Venice. Fallmerayer published numerous reports from this journey in the ''AZ'', in which he offered a mix of political observations, restatements and further developments of the Greek theory, and "charming descriptions of Anatolian and Turkish landscapes
hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
bear comparison with the best examples of 19th-century ''Reisebilder'' (travel images)." During his year-long stay in Constantinople (from 10 October 1841 to 24 October 1842), Fallmerayer began to advocate European support of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
as a bulwark against the growing influence of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
in the Balkans. These articles were collected and published in 1845 as the ''Fragmente aus dem Orient'', the work on which Fallmerayer's fame as a ''littérateur'' largely rests. Fallmerayer's anti-Russian sentiments were not yet fully developed, and upon his return to Munich in 1842, he was befriended by the Russian poet and diplomat Fyodor Tyutchev. This latter had been entrusted by
Karl Nesselrode Karl Robert Reichsgraf von Nesselrode-Ehreshoven, also known as Charles de Nesselrode ( Russian: Карл Васильевич Нессельроде, ''Karl Vasilyevich Nesselrode''; 14 December 1780 – 23 March 1862) was a Russian German diplo ...
and
Alexander von Benckendorff Konstantin Alexander Karl Wilhelm Christoph Graf von Benckendorff (russian: Александр Христофорович Бенкендорф, Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf, – ) was a Baltic German Cavalry General and statesman, A ...
to find a new spokesperson for Russian interests in Germany. Fallmerayer's Greek thesis had aroused interest in Russian circles, and it was perhaps for this reason that Tyutchev approached Fallmerayer and proposed that he should serve as a journalistic mouthpiece for Czarist policy. Fallmerayer declined, and it has indeed been suggested that his growing opposition to Russian expansionism was provoked by this encounter. By 1845, when the ''Fragmente'' were published, Fallmerayer's distrust of the Tsars had led him to a view of world-historical development that was opposed to the idealistic accounts of Hegel and of Fallmerayer's most vocal opponent, Thiersch. Instead of steady progress toward freedom, Fallmerayer perceived a fundamental polarity between "East" and "West":
For nearly eighteen aeons onen all history has been the result of the struggle between two basic elements, split apart by a divine power from the very beginning: a flexible life-process on the one side, and a formless, undeveloped stasis on the other. The symbol of the former is eternal Rome, with the entire Occident lying behind her; the symbol of the latter is Constantinople, with the ossified Orient.... That the Slavs might be one of the two world-factors, or if one prefers, the shadow of the shining image of European humanity, and therefore that the constitution of the earth might not admit philosophical reconstruction without their assent, is the great scholarly heresy of our time.
Thiersch once more replied to these polemics in an article, also published in the ''AZ'', arguing that the placement of western-European rulers on the thrones of the new Slavic states in the Balkans would be sufficient to prevent the rise of a "new Byzantine-Hellenic world empire." Fallmerayer's essays in the ''AZ'' drew the attention of the Bavarian Crown Prince Maximilian, whose political views were significantly more liberal than those of his father. Between 1844 and 1847 Fallmerayer served Maximilian as a mentor, and occasionally as a private tutor, on historical and political questions. His analysis of Balkan politics, commissioned by Maximilian in 1844, is preserved. In May 1847 Fallmerayer set out on his third and final eastern journey, leaving from Munich for Trieste, whence he sailed to Athens, where he had an audience with King Otto. By June he had arrived in Büyükdere, the summer residence of the Constantinople elite, where he remained for four months before travelling south to the Holy Land via Bursa and
İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...
. In January 1848 he sailed from Beirut back to İzmir, where he stayed until his return to Munich. Fallmerayer's contributions to the ''AZ'' from this period emphasized the strength of Ottoman rule and reformist tendencies in the Turkish government, which he contrasted to the "desolate" condition of the
Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label= Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, wh ...
.


1848

Already in 1847, Ludwig I of Bavaria had initiated a liberal-leaning reform of the Bavarian educational system, and on 23 February 1848, he appointed Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer Professor Ordinarius for History at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he was to replace the recently deceased Johann Joseph von Görres. Fallmerayer, still in İzmir, received the news in March and, completely surprised, returned immediately to Munich. Fallmerayer never offered a single class at the University, however, for on 25 April, before the beginning of the summer semester, he was chosen as a Bavarian delegate to the
Frankfurt Parliament The Frankfurt Parliament (german: Frankfurter Nationalversammlung, literally ''Frankfurt National Assembly'') was the first freely elected parliament for all German states, including the German-populated areas of Austria-Hungary, elected on 1 Ma ...
, a product of the
Revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...
. In May, Fallmerayer's former pupil Maximilian II, King of Bavaria since the abdication of his father in March, called on Fallmerayer to serve as his political advisor, in which role he served until the end of 1848. As the parliamentary debates turned in August toward the relationship between church and state, Fallmerayer assumed an uncompromising anti-clerical stance, and his reputation among the left delegates increased. In October he supported a series of motions put forward by the far-left faction. In January 1848 he again supported the far-left proposal according to which the new, united Germany was to be led by a democratically elected president. In June, finally, he followed the radical ''Rumpfparlament'', which represented the last attempt to preserve the parliamentary structure that had been established in 1848, to Stuttgart. The Bavarian regime had forbidden its delegates to participate in the Stuttgart Parliament, and following its forcible break-up on June 18 by Württembergian troops, Fallmerayer fled to Switzerland. In September 1849 his appointment to the faculty of the University of Munich was revoked by Maximilian II. In December 1849 the Bavarian members of the Stuttgart Parliament were offered amnesty, and in April 1850 Fallmerayer returned to Munich.


Late years

Shortly after Fallmerayer's return to Munich, in November 1850, the Munich Professor Johann Nepomuk von Ringseis delivered an "explosive" lecture at a public session of the Bavarian Academy, where he denounced the arrival in Bavaria of a "philosophical Left", marked by liberalism and irreligiosity, that viewed all religion as a "pathological condition." Fallmerayer was present at the lecture and viewed it as an opportunity to reenter the public sphere. His reply was published in January in the Leipzig ''Blätter für literarische Unterhaltung'', a liberal journal that had been founded by
Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus (4 May 1772 – 20 August 1823) was a German encyclopedia publisher and editor, famed for publishing the '' Conversations-Lexikon'', which is now published as the Brockhaus encyclopedia. Biography Brockhaus was educ ...
. There he not only responded to Ringseis' account, but furthermore expressed his general opinions on the function of academic institutions, and advocated the "Right to Free Research and Free Speech." He also made a number of unflattering remarks regarding Ringseis' personal appearance. In reaction the ultramontanist party in Munich launched an organized offensive, in both the press and in official circles, to discredit Fallmerayer. An article published in the ''Tiroler Zeitung'' claimed that, as a result of unspecified transgressions committed in Athens, Fallmerayer had been punished by rhaphanidosis. On January 25, Peter Ernst von Lasaulx proposed the formation of a commission to consider Fallmerayer's expulsion from the Academy; despite a spirited defense of Fallmerayer by
Leonhard von Spengel Leonhard von Spengel (24 September 1803, in Munich – 8 November 1880, in Munich) was a German classical scholar. Biography He attended the lyceum in his hometown, where as a pupil of Joseph Kopp and Johann von Gott Fröhlich, he was encour ...
, the motion was passed with a vote of 10 to 8. The commission was formed in March, and while it declined to expel Fallmerayer, resolved to compose an official rebuke, which was published in the ''AZ'' on March 12. In his last decade Fallmerayer continued to publish a stream of political and cultural articles, in particular in the journals ''Donau'' and ''Deutsches Museum''. With the outbreak of the
Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
in 1854, Fallmerayer's activity as correspondent for the ''AZ'' once more increased. In this conflict he naturally supported the European-Ottoman coalition against the Czar. He also returned to more academic pursuits, devoting particular attention to a series of publications on the medieval history of Albania. Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer died in Munich on 26 April 1861 as a result of weakness of the heart. The last entry in his diary, written the previous evening, reads ''Fahle Sonne'' (meaning "pale sun").


Contributions

Fallmerayer is considered one of the great 19th-century intellectuals in the German-speaking world and was adored by the Nazi regime. He is remembered as "a co-founder of
Byzantine studies Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, demography, dress, religion/theology, art, literature/epigraphy, music, science, economy, coinage and politics of the Eastern Roman Empire. T ...
, as discoverer of the divisive Greek theory, as a prophet of the world-historical opposition between Occident and Orient, and finally as a brilliant essayist." Fallmerayer has been described as "one of the greatest German stylists," and the ''Fragmente aus dem Orient'' is a classic of German travel literature. Fallmerayer was one of three scholars (together with Gottlieb Lukas Friedrich Tafel and Georg Martin Thomas) who laid the foundation for ''Byzantinistik'' (Byzantine studies) as a self-sufficient academic discipline in Germany. Their achievements were crowned in the following generation by the establishment of the first German ''Lehrstuhl'' for Byzantinstik at Munich, whose first occupant was
Karl Krumbacher Karl Krumbacher (23 September 1856 – 12 December 1909) was a German scholar who was an expert on Byzantine Greek language, literature, history and culture. He was one of the principal founders of Byzantine Studies as an independent academic ...
. Among Fallmerayer's scholarly contributions to Byzantine studies, only the ''History of the Empire of Trebizond'' is still cited as an authority. His general characterization of Byzantine society has also on occasion been revived, most notably by Romilly Jenkins. His Greek theory was already widely disputed in his lifetime, and is not accepted today. Its primary significance was as a "strong impetus for research in Byzantine as well as in modern Greek studies." Early criticisms were published by the Slovene scholar
Jernej Kopitar Jernej Kopitar, also known as Bartholomeus Kopitar (21 August 1780 – 11 August 1844), was a Slovene linguist and philologist working in Vienna. He also worked as the Imperial censor for Slovene literature in Vienna. He is perhaps best known ...
,
Friedrich Thiersch Friedrich Wilhelm Thiersch (17 June 178425 February 1860), was a German classical scholar and educationist. Biography He was born at Kirchscheidungen (now a part of Laucha an der Unstrut, Saxony-Anhalt). In 1809 he became professor at the ...
, Johann Wilhelm Zinkeisen, and by
George Finlay George Finlay (21 December 1799 – 26 January 1875) was a Scottish historian. Biography Finlay was born in Faversham, Kent, where his Scottish father, Captain John Finlay FRS, an officer in the Royal Engineers, was inspector of government powd ...
. Fallmerayer's work played a decisive role in the development of Byzantine history as a discipline in Greece, where a number of late 19th- and early 20th-century scholars sought to disprove the thesis of Greek racial discontinuity (notable examples include Kyriakos Pittakis and Constantine Paparrigopoulos; Paparrigopoulos demonstrated in 1843 that Fallmerayer's theory had many pitfalls). On account of his insistence on the Slavic origin of the modern Greeks, Fallmerayer was considered a
pan-Slavist Pan-Slavism, a movement which crystallized in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had rule ...
by many in Greece, a characterization which in any case stood in opposition to his actual writings on contemporary politics. Fallmerayer's name eventually became "a symbol for hatred of the Greeks", and
Nikos Dimou Nikos Dimou ( el, Νίκος Δήμου), born in 1935 in Athens, is a Greek writer and columnist. He started out as a copywriter and went on to become one of the best-known Greek intellectuals. Biography He graduated from Athens College an ...
wrote (only partly in jest) that he had been raised to imagine Fallmerayer as a "blood-dripping Greek-eater" (αιμοσταγή ελληνοφάγο). In the twentieth century the charge of "neo-Fallmerayerism" was occasionally used by Greek scholars in an attempt to discredit the work of certain Western European scholars, including
Cyril Mango Cyril Alexander Mango (14 April 1928 – 8 February 2021) was a British scholar of the history, art, and architecture of the Byzantine Empire. He is celebrated as one of the leading Byzantinists of the 20th century. Mango was Koraes Professor ...
, whose work bore no actual relation to Fallmerayer's. (The charge was also heard outside of Greece, for example, in the course of a debate between
Kenneth Setton Kenneth Meyer Setton (June 17, 1914 in New Bedford, Massachusetts – February 18, 1995 in Princeton, New Jersey) was an American historian and an expert on the history of medieval Europe, particularly the Crusades. Early life, education and aw ...
and Peter Charanis.) The first modern Greek translation of Fallmerayer's work appeared in 1984. Fallmerayer's account of the split between "Occident" and "Orient" hinged on his interpretation of the Russian Empire, which he perceived as a powerful blend of Slavic ethnic characteristics, Byzantine political philosophy, and Orthodox theology. Although he initially perceived this constellation with admiration, and viewed Russia as the potential savior of Europe from
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
, his view changed in the mid-1840s, perhaps as a result of his encounter with Fyodor Tyutchev, and he soon came to see Russia as the major threat to Western Europe. By the late 1840s he was convinced that Russia would conquer Constantinople and the Balkans, and perhaps further the Slavic lands of the Habsburg and Prussian Empires. In the mid-1850s he was overjoyed by the success of the European/Ottoman coalition in the
Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
. Fallmerayer's account of East and West represented a crucial break from Hegel's idealistic philosophy of history, and has been characterized as a precursor to Samuel P. Huntington's " Clash of Civilizations" thesis.


Political impact of Fallmerayer's racial theories

In the 1830s, philehellenes who had recently supported the creation of the modern Greek kingdom suspected political motivations in his writings; namely an Austrian desire for expansion southwards into the Balkans, and Austrian antagonism to Russian interests in the area reflected in his other writings. In this context, the calls by English and French intellectuals for a revival of "the glory that was Greece" were seen by Austrians in a very negative light, and any Austrian theory on the Greeks was looked on with suspicion by the philhellenes in the West. Fallmerayer was first among his contemporaries to put forward a ruthless
Realpolitik ''Realpolitik'' (; ) refers to enacting or engaging in diplomatic or political policies based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than strictly binding itself to explicit ideological notions or moral and ethical ...
on the Eastern Question and the expansionist designs of Czarist Russia. He was a Slavophobe and "argued vehemently that only a strong Ottoman State could prevent Russian expansion into Western Europe." Fallmerayer's theory was popular as part of the
Nazi propaganda The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation of Nazi polici ...
in Axis-occupied Greece (1941–1944) during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, when classically educated Nazi officers used it as an excuse to commit numerous atrocities against the Greek population.


Selected works

*1827: ''Geschichte des Kaisertums von Trapezunt'' (History of the Empire of Trebizond) (Munich)
Available online
*1830: ''Geschichte der Halbinsel Morea während des Mittelalters.'' Teil 1: ''Untergang der peloponnesischen Hellenen und Wiederbevölkerung des leeren Bodens durch slavische Volksstämme'' (History of the Morea Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Part one: Decline of the Peloponnesian Hellenes and repopulation of the empty land by Slavic peoples) (Stuttgart). *1835: ''Welchen Einfluß hatte die Besetzung Griechenlands durch die Slawen auf das Schicksal der Stadt Athen und der Landschaft Attika? Oder nähere Begründung der im ersten Bande der'' Geschichte der Halbinsel Morea während des Mittelalters ''aufgestellten Lehre über die Enstehung der heutigen Griechen'' (What influence did the occupation of Greece by the Slavs have on the fate of the city of Athens and of the countryside of Attica? Or, a more detailed explanation of the theory regarding the origin of the present-day Greeks that was proposed in the first volume of the ''History of the Morea Peninsula during the Middle Ages'') (Stuttgart). *1836: ''Geschichte der Halbinsel Morea während des Mittelalters.'' Teil 2: ''Morea, durch innere Kriege zwischen Franken und Byzantinern verwüstet und von albanischen Colonisten überschwemmt, wird endlich von den Türken erobert. Von 1250-1500 nach Christus'' (Part two: Morea, devastated by internal wars between the Franks and the Byzantines, and inundated by Albanian colonists, is finally captured by the Turks. From 1250 through 1500 A.D.) (Tübingen). *1843-44: ''Originalfragmente, Chroniken, Inschriften und anderes Material zur Geschichte des Kaisertums Trapezunt'' (Original fragments, chronicles, inscriptions, and other material on the history of the Empire of Trebizond) (''Abhandlungen der Historischen Klasse der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.'' Bd. 3, Abt. 3, pp. 1–159 and Bd. 4, Abt. 1, pp. 1–108)
3. Bandes available online4. Bandes available online
*1845: ''Fragmente aus dem Orient'' (Fragments from the Orient) volumes(Stuttgart)
Available online
*1852: ''Denkschrift über Golgotha und das Heilig-Grab: Der Evangelist Johannes, der jüdische Geschichtsschreiber Flavius Josephus und die Gottesgelehrtheit des Orients'' (Meditation on Golgotha and the Holy Grave: John the Evangelist, the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, and the divine erudition of the Orient) (''Abhandlungen der Historischen Klasse der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.'' Bd. 6, Abt. 3, 643-88). *1853: ''Das Tote Meer'' (The Dead Sea) (''Abhandlungen der Historischen Klasse der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.'' Bd. 7, Abt. 1, pp. 39–144). *1857: ''Das albanesische Element in Griechenland.'' Abt. 1: ''Über Ursprung und Altertum der Albanesen'' (The Albanian element in Greece. Pt. 1: On the origin and antiquity of the Albanians.) (''Abhandlungen der Historischen Klasse der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.'' Bd. 8, Abt. 2, pp. 417–87). *1860-61: ''Das albanesische Element in Griechenland.'' Abt. 2 und 3: ''Was man über die Taten und Schicksale des albanesischen Volkes von seinem ersten Auftreten in der Geschichte bis zu seiner Unterjochung durch die Türken nach dem Tode Skander-Bergs mit Sicherheit wissen kann.'' (Pts. 2 and 3: What can be known with certainty about the deeds and fate of the Albanian people from their first appearance in history until their subjugation by the Turks after the death of Skanderberg.) (''Abhandlungen der Historischen Klasse der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.'' Bd. 8, Abt. 3, pp. 657–736 and Bd. 9, Abt. 1, pp. 3–110). *1861: G.M. Thomas, ed., ''Gesammelte Werke.'' Bd. 1: ''Neue Fragmente aus dem Orient.'' Bd. 2: ''Politische und kulturhistorische Aufsätze.'' Bd. 3: ''Kritische Versuche.'' (Collected works. V. 1: New fragments from the Orient. V. 2: Political and cultural-historical essays. V. 3: Critical essays.) (Leipzig)
Available online
*1877: G.M. Thomas, ed., ''Fragmente aus dem Orient'' (2nd edition, Stuttgart). *1913: H. Feigl and E. Molden, eds., ''Schriften und Tagebücher: Fragmente aus dem Orient. Neue Fragmente. Politisch-historische Aufsätze — Tagebücher (in Auswahl)'' (Writings and diaries: Fragments from the Orient, New fragments, Political-historical essays — Selections from the diaries) (Munich and Leipzig). *1943: E. Mika, ed., ''Byzanz und das Abendland: Ausgewählte Schriften'' (Byzantium and the West: selected writings) (Vienna). *1949: F. Dölger, ed., ''Hagion Oros oder der Heilige Berg Athos'' (Hagion Oros, or, the Holy Mount Athos) (Vienna). *1963: H. Reidt, ed., ''Fragmente aus dem Orient'' (Munich). *1978: F.H. Riedl, ed., ''Hagion Oros oder der Heilige Berg Athos'' (Bozen). *1978: A. Kollautz, ed., ''Antrittsvolesung über Unversalgeschichte, gehalten zu Landshut am 20. November 1862'' (Inaugural lecture on universal history, held at Landshut on November 20, 1862) (''Der Schlern'' 52, pp. 123–39). *1980: ''Geschichte des Kaisertums von Trapezunt'' (reprint of 1827 edition) (Hildesheim). *1984: E. Thurnher, ed., ''Reden und Vorreden'' (Speeches and Forewords) (Salzburg and Munich). *1990: E. Thurnher, ed., ''Europa zwischen Rom und Byzanz'' (Europe between Rome and Byzantium) (Bozen). *2002: E. Hastaba, ed., ''Der Heilige Berg Athos'' (Bozen). *2002: "Geschichte der Halbinsel Morea während des Mittelalters. Erster Theil"(Translation in Greek language. Τranslation-factual Pantelis Softzoglou. Editions Long March, Athens) (Part one: History of the Morea Peninsula during the Middle Ages.Decline of the Peloponnesian Hellenes and repopulation of the empty land by Slavic peoples) *2003: N. Nepravishta, tr., ''Elementi shqiptar në Greqi'' (Albanian translation of ''Das albanesische Element in Griechenland'') (Tirana). *2007: ''Fragmente aus dem Orient'' (Bozen). *2014: "Geschichte der Halbinsel Morea während des Mittelalters. Zweiter Teil" (Translation in Greek language. Τranslation-factual Pantelis Softzoglou. Appendix of the editor: Reading the Fallmerayer in the era of new czars. Editions Long March, Athens) (Part two: History of the Morea Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Morea, devastated by internal wars between the Franks and the Byzantines, and inundated by Albanian colonists, is finally captured by the Turks. From 1250 through 1500 A.D.) available in Greek the preface note of translator, the preface of writer and the appendix


References


Sources

*G. Auernheimer, "Fallmerayer, Huntington und die Diskussion um die neugriechische Identität", ''Südosteuropa'' 47 (1998), 1–17. *F. Curta, "Byzantium in dark-age Greece (the numismatic evidence in its Balkan context)", ''Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies'' 29 (2005), 113–45
PDF online
*W. Jens, ed., ''Kindlers neues Literatur-Lexikon'' (Munich, 1988–92). *T. Leeb, ''Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer: Publizist und Politiker zwischen Revolution und Reaktion'' (Munich, 1996). *P. Speck, "Badly ordered thoughts on Philhellenism", in S. Takacs, ed., ''Understanding Byzantium'' (Aldershot, 2003), 280-95. *E. Thurnher, ''Jahre der Vorbereitung: Jakob Fallmerayers Tätigkeiten nach der Rückkehr von der zweiten Orientreise, 1842–1845'' (Vienna, 1995). *E. Thurnher, ed., ''Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer: Wissenschaftler, Politiker, Schriftsteller'' (Innsbruck, 1993). *E. Thurnher, ''Jakob Philipp Fallmerayers Krisenjahre, 1846 bis 1854: auf Grund der Briefe an Joseph und Anna Streiter in Bozen'' (Vienna, 1987). *G. Veloudis, "Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer und die Enstehung des neugriechischen Historismus", ''Südostforschungen'' 29 (1970), 43–90. *N. Wenturis, "Kritische Bemerkungen zu der Diskussion über die neugriechische Identität am Beispiel von Fallmerayer, Huntington, und Auernheimer", ''Südosteuropa'' 49 (2000), 308–24. *


External links


Works

At
Austrian Literature Online Austrian Literature Online (ALO) is an Austrian digitization project by the University Library of Innsbruck, the University Library of Graz and the University of Linz. ALO is, together with Project ANNO, by the Austrian National Library, the lar ...
:
''Fragmente aus dem Orient'' and ''Gesammelte Werke''
At Google Books:
Gesammelte Werke v.3Fragmente aus dem Orient


Websites



(in German). * ttp://ostermanniana.ru/Fallmerayer/Fallmer_O-T_history.pdf V. Dworakowski, "Fallmerayer and Osterman-Tolstoi: story of a relationship."(in Russian). {{DEFAULTSORT:Fallmerayer, Jakob 1790 births 1861 deaths People from Brixen Austrian explorers 19th-century Austrian historians German military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars German ethnographers Members of the Frankfurt Parliament Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Burials at the Alter Südfriedhof Proponents of scientific racism