Karl Rathgen (December 6, 1856, in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

– November 4, 1921, 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 ...

) was a German economist. He was the first Chancellor of the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

. After studying in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, Halle,

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

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 ...

, he passed the first state examination in

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...

in 1880 in Naumburg and earned his doctorate (Dr. rer. pol.) in 1882 with a thesis on the Making of markets in Germany from the University of Straßburg. From 1882 to 1890, he taught Public Law, Statistics and Administration Science at the Imperial

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

and was also an adviser to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce. In 1892, Rathgen passed 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 ...

at the Friedrich Wilhelms University of Berlin and the following years was appointed extraordinary, in 1895 ordinary Professor of the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

. From 1900 to 1903, he was temporarily in charge of

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 ...

s Chair at

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 ...

. In 1907, he received funding from the

Hamburg Scientific Foundation The Hamburg Scientific Foundation () was founded in Hamburg in 1907 to support academic research and its dissemination in that city. Werner von Melle promoted the project from early 1907, raising 3.8 million marks by its foundation on 12 April 19 ...

becomiung a Professor at the newly established Hamburg Colonial Institute the following year. After its transformation into the

in 1919, he took over the chair of

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

, Colonial policy and

Public finance Public finance refers to the monetary resources available to governments and also to the study of finance within government and role of the government in the economy. Within academic settings, public finance is a widely studied subject in man ...

and became at the same time its first Chancellor. From 1913 to 1914, Rathgen taught as an Exchange Professor at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He mostly came out with publications on

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and had a great impact on German perception of the economic development of Japan.

Works

Among others: * Japans Volkswirtschaft und Staatshaushalt (Japan's Economy and state budget). Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot 1891 * Die Japaner und ihre wirtschaftliche Entwicklung (The Japanese and their economic development). Leipzig: Teubner 1905. * Staat und Kultur der Japaner (State and Culture of the Japanese). Bielefeld, Leipzig: Velhagen & Klasing 1907. * Die Japaner in der Weltwirtschaft (The Japanese in the World Economy). Leipzig: Teubner 1911.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rathgen, Karl 1856 births 1921 deaths Politicians from Weimar People from Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach National-Social Association politicians German economists Academic staff of the University of Hamburg Academic staff of the University of Tokyo