Hans Medick (born 7 October 1939) is a German historian.

Life

Born in

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

, Medick studied history, philosophy, English and political science at the universities of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

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

Erlangen Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...

from 1959 to 1966. After graduating with a master's degree, he was a research assistant at the University of Erlangen from 1967 to 1973, where he also received his doctorate under Kurt Kluxen in 1971. In July 1972, he received the faculty prize for his dissertation. From 1973 to 2004, he worked as a

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, research institute, or privately held organization to provide assistance in academic or private research endeavors. Research assistants work under ...

at the Göttingen Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity. After various teaching posts in Germany and Switzerland, he was appointed Visiting Professor at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

in 1980. In 1993, he completed 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 ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

for the subject of Medieval and Modern History. In 1997, he became William A. Clark Professor of Early Modern History at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. From 1999 to 2004 he taught as Professor of

historical anthropology Historical anthropology is a historiographical movement which applies methodologies and objectives from social and cultural anthropology to the study of historical societies. Like most such movements, it is understood in different ways by differe ...

at the

University of Erfurt The University of Erfurt () is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after German reunification. Therefore ...

. Medick is co-editor of the academic journal ''Historische Anthropologie''. His research focuses on the experiences and representations of violence during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, concepts of person and self in their cultural expressions and practices, methodological approaches of

microhistory Microhistory is a genre of history that focuses on small units of research, such as an event, community, individual or a settlement. In its ambition, however, microhistory can be distinguished from a simple case study insofar as microhistory aspi ...

and historical anthropology. Since the 1980s, Medick has been one of the protagonists of microhistory or

Alltagsgeschichte ''Alltagsgeschichte'' ( German; and sometimes translated as 'history of everyday life') is a form of social history that emerged among West German historians in the 1980s. It was founded by Alf Lüdtke (1943–2019) and Hans Medick (born 1939). ...

, which already anticipated many of the methodological innovations of the

cultural turn The cultural turn is a movement beginning in the early 1970s among scholars in the humanities and social sciences to make culture the focus of contemporary debates; it also describes a shift in emphasis toward ''meaning'' and away from a positiv ...

of historical studies () in the 1990s. The aim was to expand historical social science, which focuses on general structures and processes, to include approaches that also include the level of concretely acting subjects. To this end, approaches from

ethnology Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Sci ...

were to be made fruitful for historical science. To this end, Medick examined, for instance, the self-designs and social practices in the weaving village

Laichingen Laichingen () is a town in the district of Alb-Donau near Ulm in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It has 10,964 inhabitants (2005). Geography Geographical location Laichingen is located on the Laichingen Alb, a branch of the Swabian Jura. It is loca ...

between 1650 and 1900. Medick's essay ''Missionaries in the Rowboat'' (1984) is "still one of the key texts of a historiography 'from below'", judged Michael Wildt in 2016. He also contributed to the formulation of the concept of

proto-industrialisation Proto-industrialization is the regional development, alongside commercial agriculture, of rural handicraft production for external markets. Cottage industries in parts of Europe between the 16th and 19th centuries had long been a niche topic of ...

, which was developed primarily in everyday history. Medick is married to the cultural scientist and has two sons, including the journalist .

Publications

Monographs * ''Naturzustand und Naturgeschichte der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft. Die Ursprünge der bürgerlichen Sozialtheorie als Geschichtsphilosophie und Sozialwissenschaft bei Samuel Pufendorf, John Locke und Adam Smith'' (''.'' vol. 5).

Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (V&R) is a scholarly publishing house based in Göttingen, Germany. It was founded in 1735 by (1700–1750) in connection with the establishment of the Georg-August-Universität in the same city. After Abraham Vandenh ...

, Göttingen 1973, (2nd, unchanged edition. ebenda 1981; in the same time: Dissertation, Erlangen-Nürnberg University 1971). * with and : ''Industrialisierung vor der Industrialisierung. Gewerbliche Warenproduktion auf dem Land in der Formationsperiode des Kapitalismus'' (''Veröffentlichungen des Max-Planck-Instituts für Geschichte.'' Vol. 53). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1977, (english translation: ''Industrialization before Industrialization. Rural Industry in the Genesis of Capitalism.'' Cambridge University Press, Cambridge among others 1981, ; Italian translation: ''L’ industrializzazione prima dell’industrializzazione.'' Il mulino, Bologna 1984, ). * ''Weben und Überleben in Laichingen 1650–1900. Lokalgeschichte als allgemeine Geschichte''''Weben und Überleben in Laichingen 1650–1900. Lokalgeschichte als allgemeine Geschichte''
on Cairn (''Veröffentlichungen des Max-Planck-Instituts für Geschichte.'' vol. 126). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1996, (in the same time: Habilitations-Schrift, Universität Göttingen 1992/93). * ''.'' Wallstein-Verlag, Göttingen 2018, . Editorships * with David Sabean: ''Emotionen und materielle Interessen. Sozialanthropologische und historische Beiträge zur Familienforschung'' (''Veröffentlichungen des Max-Planck-Instituts für Geschichte.'' Vol. 75). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1984, . * with : ''Geschlechtergeschichte und allgemeine Geschichte. Herausforderungen und Perspektiven'' (''Göttinger Gespräche zur Geschichtswissenschaft.'' Vol. 5). Wallstein-Verlag, Göttingen 1998, . * with : ''Zwischen Alltag und Katastrophe. Der Dreißigjährige Krieg aus der Nähe'' (''Veröffentlichungen des Max-Planck-Instituts für Geschichte.'' Vol. 148). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1999, . * with and Patrice Veit: ''Von der dargestellten Person zum erinnerten Ich. Europäische Selbstzeugnisse als historische Quellen (1500–1800)'' (''Selbstzeugnisse der Neuzeit.'' vol. 9). Böhlau, Cologne among others 2001, . * with

Peer Schmidt Peer Eugen Georg Schmidt (11 March 1926; Erfurt, Weimar Germany – 8 May 2010; Berlin) was a German actor who specialized in film actor, films, television and dubbing. He is best known as the German voice of Gérard Philipe, Marlon Brando and Jean ...

: ''Luther zwischen den Kulturen. Zeitgenossenschaft – Weltwirkung.'' Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2004, . * with Andreas Bähr: ''Sterben von eigener Hand. Selbsttötung als kulturelle Praxis.'' Böhlau, Cologne among others 2005, . Research portal and digital editions
Mitteldeutsche Selbstzeugnisse der Zeit des Dreißigjährigen Krieges (MDSZ)

References

External links

Site of the University of Erfurt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Medick, Hans 20th-century German historians Academic staff of the University of Erfurt University of California, Los Angeles faculty Johns Hopkins University faculty 1939 births Living people Writers from Wuppertal

Life

Publications

References

Further reading

External links