Ludwig Schmidt

Ludwig Schmidt (18 July 1862 – 10 March 1944) was a German historian and librarian at the Saxon State and University Library Dresden. He is best known for his magnum opus, Die Geschichte der deutschen Stämme bis zum Ausgang der Völkerwanderung (1904-1918), which up to the present day remains the standard reference work on the history of the Germanic peoples in the Migration Period.

Ludwig Schmidt
Born	(1862-07-18)18 July 1862 Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony
Died	10 March 1944(1944-03-10) (aged 81) Dresden, Germany
Nationality	German
Awards	Knight's Cross 1st Class of the Albert Order (1910)
Academic background
Alma mater	Leipzig University
Academic work
Discipline	History
Institutions	Saxon State and University Library Dresden
Main interests	History of the Germanic peoples during the Migration Period
Notable works	Die Geschichte der deutschen Stämme bis zum Ausgang der Völkerwanderung (1904-1918)

Biography

Ludwig Schmidt was born in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony on 18 July 1862. He studied history at Leipzig University from 1881 to 1884, during which he developed an interest in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Wilhelm Arndt and Heinrich Bernhard Christian Brandes were among his professors. His 1884 dissertation was on the history of the Lombards. After his graduation, Schmidt was employed by the Saxon State and University Library Dresden, where he was appointed Senior Librarian in 1919 and Deputy Director in 1921. He received the title of Professor in 1907, was soon afterwards made Corresponding Member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences and Full Member of the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Schmidt received the Knight's Cross 1st Class of the Albert Order in 1910. He retired on 31 December 1925.^[1]

Research

Ludwig Schmidt specialized in the history of the Germanic peoples during the Migration Period. His magnum opus, Die Geschichte der deutschen Stämme bis zum Ausgang der Völkerwanderung, was published in 1904–1918. It has since been revised and republished in numerous editions. In the second edition published in 1934, which disagrees with Nazi theories, Schmidt spoke out against the politicization of history by the Nazi authorities.^[2] Schmidt's book is based almost entirely on primary sources, on which Schmidt had gained a complete overview during his time as a university librarian. From the early 20th century up to modern times, his book has been an essential resource for historians on the history of the Germanic peoples during the Migration Period.^[3] The book is listed by the Oxford Classical Dictionary (2012) as a primary resource on the Germanic peoples.^[4]

See also

• E. A. Thompson
• J. B. Bury
• Lucien Musset
• Peter Heather

References

1. Springer 2004, pp. 190–193.
2. Eigenwill 2011.
3. Springer 2004, pp. 190–193. "So bleibt die "Geschichte der deutschen Stämme" zumindest als Stoffslg. unentbehrlich."; Eigenwill 2011. "Wegen ihrer Materialfülle ist diese Publikation noch heute unentbehrlich."; Kulikowski 2006, p. 48. "[E]ven today one cannot study the Goths or any other late antique barbarians without reference to the revised second edition of Ludwig Schmidt’s Geschichte der deutschen Stamme (‘History of the German Tribes’)..."; Heather 1994, p. VI. "The Goths are not, of course, a neglected subject. A fine tradition of German scholarship stretches back over a hundred years or more, and Schmidt’s Die Ostgermanen remains quite indispensable."
4. Drinkwater 2012, p. 613.

Sources

• Drinkwater, John Frederick (2012). "Germans". In Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony; Eidinow, Esther (eds.). The Oxford Classical Dictionary (4 ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 613. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001. ISBN 9780191735257.
• Heather, Peter (1994). Goths and Romans 332–489. Oxford Scholarship Online. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205357.001.0001. ISBN 9780198205357.
• Kulikowski, Michael (2006). Rome's Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1139458092.
• Springer, Matthias [in German] (2004). "Schmidt". Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (in German). Vol. 27. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 190–193. ISBN 3110181169.
• Eigenwill, Reinhardt (1 December 2011). "Ludwig Schmidt". Sächsische Biografie (in German). Institut für Sächsische Geschichte und Volkskunde. Retrieved August 30, 2020.