Ulrich von Hehl (born 19 October 1947) is a German

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and university professor. He has published extensively, mostly on German history in the twentieth century, and with a particular focus on the role played by the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church and its interaction with politics.

Life

Ulrich von Hehl was born into a

family in

Viersen Viersen (; ) is the capital of the Viersen (district), district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Viersen is situated approximately 8 km north-west of Mönchengladbach, 15 km south-west of Krefeld and 20 km ...

, a manufacturing town in the extreme west of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

British occupation zone The British occupation zone in Germany (German: ''Britische Besatzungszone Deutschlands'') was one of the Allied-occupied areas in Germany after World War II. The United Kingdom, along with the Commonwealth, was one of the three major Allied po ...

located between the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

frontier and

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. Between 1958 and 1959 he attended the

Gymnasium (school) ''Gymnasium'' (and Gymnasium (school)#By country, variations of the word) is a term in various European languages for a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university. It is comparable to the US English term ''U ...

in Viersen, before moving on to the Moltkeplatz Gymnasium (school) at

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

roughly 15 miles (24 km) to the northeast of Viersen, which he attended till successfully completing his school career in 1966. There followed a period of

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

after which, between 1969 and 1974, he studied

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and

Germanistics The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as sta ...

at the

University of Bonn 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 Willi ...

. His doctorate followed in 1977. His dissertation concerned the Catholic Church and National Socialism in the

Archbishopric of Cologne Archbishopric of Cologne may refer to: * Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne, the spiritual jurisdiction of the archbishops of Cologne since * Electorate of Cologne, the temporal jurisdiction of the archbishops of Cologne between the mid-13th ce ...

during the twelve

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

years. and was supervised by

Konrad Repgen Konrad Repgen (5 May 1923 – 2 April 2017) was a German historian and a professor emeritus (retired) at the University of Bonn. He was revered for his work on contemporary church history.Karl-Joseph Hummel, Michael Kißener (Ed.): ''Die Katholik ...

. He pursued a career in history for a period, heading up the Commission for Contemporary History in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

. with which he has been associated since 1977. He received his habilitation (higher academic qualification) in 1987, still from Bonn University, for a piece of biographical work on Chancellor Wilhelm Marx (1863-1946). In 1989/90 he briefly occupied a teaching chair at the

University of Augsburg The University of Augsburg () is a university located in the Universitätsviertel section of Augsburg, Germany. It was founded in 1970 and is organized in 8 Faculties. The University of Augsburg is a relatively young campus university with a ...

. Moving east, between 1992 and 2013 he held a professorship in contemporary and latest history at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, retiring in April 2013.

Work

Ulrich von Hehl's research focus covers Catholicism in Germany, the "Weimar" period and aspects of the Nazi years. His various memberships include a place on the Academic Advisory Board of the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (''"House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany"''). He is also deputy board chairman of the Horst Springer Foundation for Contemporary and Latest History in Saxony. He has been involved in preparing the fourth volume, covering the period from 1914, of a four volume History of the City of Leipzig, produced in 2015 to celebrate the city's anniversary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hehl, Ulrich von 1947 births Living people 20th-century German historians Academic staff of Leipzig University People from Viersen