Barthold Georg Niebuhr 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 was inspiring German patriotism in students at the University of Berlin by his analysis of Roman economy and government. Niebuhr was a leader of the Romantic era and symbol of German national spirit that emerged after the defeat at Jena. But he was also deeply rooted in the classical spirit of the Age of Enlightenment in his intellectual presuppositions, his use of philologic analysis, and his emphasis on both general and particular phenomena in history.
Barthold Georg Niebuhr (drawing by Louise Seidler)
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany.
Statue of Wilhelm von Humboldt in front of the main building by artist Paul Otto
Friedrich Wilhelm University in 1850
Statue of Alexander von Humboldt outside Humboldt-Universität, from 1883 by artist Reinhold Begas
Friedrich Wilhelm University became an emulated model of a modern university in the 19th century (photochrom from 1900).
