Otto Karl Alexander Mejer (27 May 1818,

Zellerfeld Clausthal-Zellerfeld () is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the southwestern part of the Harz mountains. Its population is approximately 15,000. The town hosts the Clausthal University of Technology. The health resort is locate ...

– 24 December 1893,

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

) was a German

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

Mejer-otto-in-voit-max-hrsg-bildnisse-goettinger-professoren-goettingen-vandenhoeck-und-ruprecht-1937-nr157

specialist and

church historian Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of th ...

. He studied law at the universities of

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 ...

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

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

, receiving his doctorate at Göttingen in 1841. While a student in Berlin, he was deeply influenced by the teachings of

Friedrich Carl von Savigny Friedrich Carl von Savigny (21 February 1779 – 25 October 1861) was a German jurist and historian. Early life and education Savigny was born at Frankfurt am Main, of a family recorded in the history of Lorraine, deriving its name from the cast ...

. Not long after graduation, he became a lecturer at Göttingen, and in 1845/46 took an extended study trip to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

.Mejer, Otto
Deutsche Biographie In 1847 he became a full professor of law at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg () was the university of Königsberg in Duchy of Prussia, which was a fief of Poland. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant Reformation, Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke A ...

, which was followed by professorships at

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg. In 2021 it surpa ...

(1850) and

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

(1851). In 1874 he returned as a professor to Göttingen, where he taught classes until his retirement in 1883. From 1885 to 1893 he was president of the State Consistory at the

Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover () is a Lutheran church body ''(Landeskirche)'' in the northern German state of Lower Saxony and the city of Bremerhaven covering the territory of the former Kingdom of Hanover. The seat of the Landesb ...

, then the highest-ranking office of the church.

Principal works

* ''Institutionen des gemeinen deutschen Kirchenrechtes'', 1845 – Institutions of common German canon law. * ''Die Propaganda, ihre Provinzen und ihr Recht. Mit besonderer Rücksicht auf Deutschland'' (2 volumes), 1853 – Propaganda, provinces and their rights, with a special reference to Germany. * ''Eine Erinnerung an Barthold Georg Niebuhr'', 1867 – In memorance of

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 ...

. * ''Lehrbuch des deutschen Kirchenrechts'' (3rd edition, 1869) – Textbook of German canon law. * ''Zur Geschichte der römisch-deutschen Frage'' (3 volumes), 1871-75 – History of the Roman-German question. A description involving the development of legal relations between the state and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

within the German states. * ''Febronius, Weihbischof Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim und sein Widerruf'', 1880 – Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim and his revocation. He was also the author of 14 articles in the ''

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

''.Otto Mejer
at de.Wikisource

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mejer, Otto 1818 births 1893 deaths Academic staff of the University of Rostock Academic staff of the University of Greifswald Academic staff of the University of Königsberg Academic staff of the University of Göttingen People from Goslar (district) Historians of Christianity Canon law jurists German historians of religion 19th-century German jurists