Otto Piper (1841–1921) was a German

architectural historian An architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it. Professional requirements As many architectural historians are employed at universities and other facilities ...

who, with August von Cohausen (1812–1896), is regarded as one of the two founders of scientific research into

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

Life

Otto Piper was born on 23 December 1841 in Röckwitz, the youngest of five children of the Evangelical pastor, Wilhelm Piper (1806–1873), and his wife, Julie, née Mercker (1818–1888). He was born at Röckwitz near Stavenhagen in

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. He attended the grammar school in

Neubrandenburg Neubrandenburg (, Low German ''Niegenbramborg'', both lit. ''New Brandenburg an der Havel, Brandenburg'') is a city in the southeast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the shore of a lake called Tollensesee and forms the urban c ...

from 1850 to 1862 and passed his ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'' in 1862, coming top of his class. During his time at Neubrandenburg, about which he later wrote as part of his school recollections, he met Fritz Reuter, Johannes Schondorf and other people in Reuter's circle of friends. After studying

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

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, from May 1864,

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 ...

,entry
in the Rostocker Matrikelportal where he received a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in 1873 (Dr. jur.), Piper initially worked as a lawyer in Rostock. There he came to know Sophie Krüger, the woman who was later to become his wife. Soon after the end of the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

, Piper went to

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 ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

where he became the editor of the ''Niederrheinischen Kurier'' ("Lower Rhine Courier"). Later he was the editor of newspapers in Trier and Düsseldorf, before returning to

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

in 1879. From 1879 to 1889 he was the mayor of Penzlin. Afterwards he settled in Konstanz on

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

and, in 1893, moved to Munich. His main work, ''Burgenkunde'' ("Castle Architecture" 1895) is still one of the standard works on German castle research, a discipline known generally in German as ''Burgenkunde'' after his book. His great rival was Bodo Ebhardt, the other well known German castle researcher at the turn of the century. Piper accused Ebhardt, for example, of opportunism, when he rebuilt the Kaiser's Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg in

in 1902 and, contrary to his own scientific findings, made several unhistoric changes in order to satisfy the taste of his imperial client. Otto Piper had three children, including the publisher, Reinhard Piper. He died on 23 February 1921 in Munich.

Honours

* 1911 honorary doctors of the University of Bostock * 1911 Silver Medal for Art and Science (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)

Works

* ''Get Rekt der Sponsalien besonders nach dem Particularrechte der Stadt Rostock: ein Commentar zu Thl. I., Tit. IV. des Rostocker Stadtrechtes v. J. 1757.'' Rostock: Stiller 1871 * ''Zu den commissarisch-deputatischen Verhandlungen über die Reform unserer Verfassung: eine staatswissenschaftliche Denkschrift.'' Rostock: Stiller 1872 * ''Zur Baugeschichte der Burg Stargard i.M.'' In: Verein für Mecklenburgische Geschichte und Altertumskunde (publ.): ''Jahrbücher des Vereins für Mecklenburgische Geschichte und Altertumskunde''. Vol. 51, Schwerin, 1886, pp
98
102
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* ''Über die Burgreste im Vereinsgebiet, besonders die Ruine Altbodman'', in: ''Schriften des Vereins für Geschichte des Bodensees und seiner Umgebung'', 20th annual, 1891, pp. 31–43
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* ''Nochmal die Lindauer Heidenmauer'', in: ''Schriften des Vereins für Geschichte des Bodensees und seiner Umgebung'', 21st annual, 1892, pp. 87–105
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; ''Berichtigungen'', pp. 106–110
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* ''Burgenkunde. Forschungen über gesamtes Bauwesen und Geschichte der Burgen innerhalb des deutschen Sprachgebietes''. Theodor Ackermann, Munich, 1895 * ''Von der glücklichen mecklenburgischen Verfassung''. 1898 * ''Abriss der Burgenkunde''. Leipzig, 1900 * ''Österreichische Burgen''. (publ. Alfred Hölder) Vienna: ''Erster Theil'' 1902
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, ''Zweiter Teil'' 1903
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, ''Dritter Teil'' 1904
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, ''Vierter Teil'' 1905
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, ''Fünfter Teil'' 1907
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, ''Sechster Teil'' 1908
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, ''Siebenter Teil'' 1909
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, ''Achter Teil'' 1910
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* ''Burgenkunde. Bauwesen und Geschichte der Burgen''. Munich, 1912 (1st edn., 1895). (reprint e.g. in Weltbild-Buchverlag, Munich, 1992, )

Literature

* Reinhard Piper: "Otto Piper. Zu seinem 10. Todestag am 23. Februar 1923", in: Mecklenburgische Monatshefte, 7th annual, 1931, pp. 67–70. * ''Piper, Otto''. In: Grete Grewolls: ''Wer war wer in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern? Ein Personenlexikon''. Edition Temmen, Bremen, 1995, , p. 332. * (with portrait photograph) * Sabine Bock: Piper, Otto Karl Christoph Heinrich, Pseudonym: P. Sincerus, in: Biographisches Lexikon für Mecklenburg, Vol. 7. Schmidt-Römhild, Rostock, 2013, , pp. 243–244.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Piper, Otto Architectural historians German non-fiction writers German non-fiction books 19th-century German lawyers 1841 births 1921 deaths German male non-fiction writers German newspaper editors