Carl Heinrich Becker (12 April 1876 – 10 February 1933) was a German orientalist and politician in Prussia. In 1921 and 1925–1930, he served as Minister for Culture in Prussia (independent). He was one of the founders of the study of the contemporary Middle East and a reformer of the system of higher education in the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

Early life and study

Becker was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, the son of a banker. He attended universities at

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

, and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and travelled in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, before earning his doctorate in 1899.

Academic career

In 1902, Becker became a ''

privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

'' for semitic

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

, where he came into contact with

Max Weber Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German Sociology, sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economy, political economist who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology and the social sc ...

. After his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

in 1908, he was appointed Professor of History and Culture of the Orient at the newly founded Hamburg Colonial Institute and Director of the Seminar for History and Culture of the Orient in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. In 1910, he founded ''

Der Islam ''Der Islam: Journal of the History and Culture of the Middle East'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on the history and culture of the Middle East. The journal is published by Walter de Gruyter. It was established in ...

'', a journal for the history and culture of the Middle East, and was its first editor. In 1913, he accepted an offer from

Bonn University The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Will ...

, where he was Professor of Oriental Philology. Becker and his colleague

Martin Hartmann Martin Hartmann (9 December 1851, Breslau – 5 December 1918, Berlin) was a German orientalist, who specialized in Islamic studies. In 1875, he received his doctorate at the University of Leipzig as a student of Heinrich Leberecht Fleisch ...

were among the first to combine modern sociological thinking with

Islamic studies Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam, which is analogous to related fields such as Jewish studies and Quranic studies. Islamic studies seeks to understand the past and the potential future of the Islamic world. In this multidiscipli ...

. He was an opponent of the '' Kulturkreistheorie'' (theory of cultural circles) of

Ernst Troeltsch Ernst Peter Wilhelm Troeltsch (; ; 17 February 1865 – 1 February 1923) was a German liberal Protestant theologian, a writer on the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of history, and a classical liberal politician. He was a member of ...

Political career

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Becker began his work with the Prussian Ministry of Culture. In 1921 and 1925–1930, he served as Minister for Culture in Prussia (independent). He died in

Selected works

*''Ibn Gauzi's Manaqib Omar Ibn' Abdelaziz'' (Dissertation, 1899) *''Beitrage zur Geschichte Agyptens unter dem Islam'' (2 vols., 1902- 1903) *''Papyri Schott-Reinhardt: Veroffentlichungen aus der Heidelberger Papyrus- Sammlung'', Vol. 1 ( 1906) *''Der Kanzel im Kultus des alten Islam'' (1906) *''Christentum und Islam'' (1907) *''L'Islam et la Colonisation de l'Afrique'' (1910) *''Gedanken zur Hochschulreform'' (1919) *''Kulturpolitische Aufgaben des Reichs'' (1919) *''Kant und die Bildungskrise der Gegenwart'' (1924) *''Islamstudien: Vom Werden und Wesen der islamischen Welt'' (2 vols., 1924- 1932) *''Vom Wesen der deutschen Universitaet'' (1925) *''Die preussische Kunstpolitik und der Fall Schilling'' (1925) *''Die Paedagogische Akademie im Aufbau unseres nationalen Bildungswesens'' (1926) *''Zu Beethovens 100. Todestag'' (1927)

External links

* * ** (trans. Rev. H. J. Chaytor) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Carl Heinrich 1876 births 1933 deaths German scholars German Islamic studies scholars Education ministers of Prussia Historians of Islam Academic staff of the University of Bonn Politicians from Amsterdam German male non-fiction writers

Early life and study

Academic career

Political career

Selected works

Further reading

External links