Johann Gustav Droysen - Legacy To Prussian Historiography

Legacy To Prussian Historiography

In his later years he was almost entirely occupied with Prussian history. After 1851 Droysen was appointed to a professorship at Jena; in 1859 he was called to Berlin, where he remained until his death. In 1851 he brought out a life of Count Yorck von Wartenburg (Berlin, 1851–1852), generally considered one of the best biographies in the German language and then began his great work on the Geschichte der preussischen Politik, or, in English, The History of Prussian Politics, (Berlin, 1855–1886). Seven volumes were published, the last posthumously; in total the work consumed 32 volumes. It forms a complete history of the growth of the Prussian monarchy to the year 1756. This, like all Droysen's work, shows a strongly marked individuality, and a penchant of tracing the manner in which important dynamic forces worked themselves out in history.