Royal Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität
Who did Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff work for in Feb 1912?
Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff Enno Friedrich Wichard Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff ( 22 December 1848 – 25 September 1931 ) was a German classical philologist . Wilamowitz , as he is known in scholarly circles , was a renowned authority on Ancient Greece and its literature . Life . Youth . Wilamowitz-Moellendorff was born in Markowitz ( Markowice ) , a small village near Hohensalza ( Inowrocław ) , in the then Province of Posen ( now part of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship ) , to a Germanized family of distant Polish ancestry . His father , a Prussian Junker , was Arnold Wilamowitz , of Szlachta origin and using the Ogończyk coat of arms , while his mother was Ulrika , née Calbo . The couple settled in a small manor confiscated from a local noble in 1836 . The Prussian part of their name , von Moellendorf , was acquired in 1813 , when Prussian field marshal Wichard Joachim Heinrich von Möllendorf adopted Ulrichs ancestors . Wilamowitz , a third child , grew up in East Prussia . In 1867 Wilamowitz passed his Abitur at the renowned boarding school at Schulpforta . Studies . Until 1869 Wilamowitz studied Classical Philology at the University of Bonn . His teachers , Otto Jahn and Hermann Usener , had a formative influence on him . Willamowitzs relationship with Usener was strained . He developed a lifelong rivalry with his fellow student Friedrich Nietzsche and a close friendship with his contemporary Hermann Diels . Together with Diels , he moved to Berlin in 1869 , where he graduated as a Doctor of Philosophy cum laude in 1870 . After voluntary service in the Franco-Prussian War , he embarked on a study tour to Italy and Greece . Conflict with Nietzsche and Wagner . Even before he gained a professorial title , Wilamowitz was a member of a scholarly dispute about Nietzsches Birth of Tragedy that attracted much attention . In 1872–73 , he published two unusually aggressive polemics ( German : Zukunftsphilologie , i.e . Philology of the future ) , which strongly attacked Nietzsche ( then Professor at the University of Basel ) and Professor Erwin Rohde ( University of Kiel ) . Richard Wagner , whose views on art had influenced Nietzsche and Rohde , reacted by publishing an open letter and Rohde wrote a damning response . The issue at stake was the deprecation of Euripides , on whom Nietzsche blamed the destruction of Greek tragedy . Wilamowitz saw the methods of his adversaries as an attack on the basic tenets of scientific thought , unmasking them as enemies of the scientific method . His polemic was considered as Classical philologys reply to Nietzsches challenge . At the age of 80 when Wilamowitz wrote his memoirs , he saw the conflict with Nietzsche less passionately but did not retract the essential points of his critique . He stated that he had not fully realised at the time that Nietzsche was not interested in scientific understanding but rather in Wagners musical drama , but also that he was nevertheless right to take his position against Nietzsches rape of historical facts and all historical method . Greifswald . In 1875 , he gained a professorial title for his study Analecta Euripidea . In the same year he gave his first public academic lecture in Berlin . In 1876 , he was employed as Ordinarius ( full professor ) for Classical Philology at Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität at Greifswald . During this period , he also married Marie Mommsen , the eldest daughter of Theodor Mommsen , and published Homeric Studies ( Homerische Studien ) . Göttingen . In 1883 , he took a further professorial position at Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen . Here , he continued to teach Classical Philology but also gave replacement lectures in Ancient History . His influence ensured the employment of his Greifswald colleague , Julius Wellhausen , in Göttingen . In 1891 , he became vice-chancellor of the university , and he was appointed a member of Göttingens Royal Academy of Sciences one year later . When Wilamowitz left Göttingen , he was succeeded by Georg Kaibel , a close associate from his student days and his successor at Greifswald . Berlin . In 1897 , with the support of his friend Diels , Wilamowitz was offered a position at the Royal Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität at Berlin , as successor to Ernst Curtius . He stayed until his retirement in 1921 . In 1915 , he was appointed chancellor of the university for one year . Together with Diels , he founded the Berlin Institute for Ancient Studies ( Institut für Altertumskunde ) in 1897 . His public lectures on subjects of Classical antiquity , which took place twice a week , attracted large audiences . Teaching activities and memberships . In 1891 , Wilamowitz was elected a corresponding member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences and he was a full member from 1899 . In 1902 he took the academys presidency . As a member of the Göttingen academy , he strongly encouraged the publication of the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae . From 1897 he also worked as a member to the academys Commission for Patristics . In 1894 he was elected full member of the German Archaeological Institute . He also was editor of the series Philologische Untersuchungen from 1880 to 1925 . Further , Wilamowitz taught as a guest lecturer in Oxford ( 1908 ) and Uppsala ( 1912 ) , was a corresponding member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( 1909 ) and the Scientific Society of Lund ( 1921 ) . Inscriptiones Graecae . During his presidency of the Prussian Academy , Wilamowitz oversaw the continuation of August Böckhs and Adolf Kirchhoffs publication series , the Inscriptiones Graecae . Wilamowitz had a formative influence on the further development of that project , which he directed until his death . World War I . Wilamowitz was an initiator of the memorandum Erklärung der Hochschullehrer des Deutschen Reiches ( Declaration by the University Teachers of the German Reich ) , in which 3,016 signatories supported German participation in the First World War . Shortly after , he also signed the Manifesto of the Ninety-Three , from which he distanced himself later . In 1914 , his son , Tycho von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff , who was also active as a classical philologist , fell in the battle of Ivangorod . The memorandum appeared a few days later . Family . In 1878 he married Maria Mommsen , the eldest daughter of the famous ancient historian , Theodor Mommsen , whom he actively assisted in the completion of his Roman History . Wilamowitz spent his last years in seclusion , suffering from severe kidney problems . He died in Berlin on 25 September 1931 , having been in a coma for a short time . He is buried in his native village , along with his wife , Maria ( 1855–1936 ) , and their only son , Tycho . He also had a daughter , Dorothea Freifrau Hiller von Gaertringen , wife of archaeologist Friedrich Hiller von Gaertringen , who died on 24 March 1972 . Achievements . Wilamowitz is one of the central figures of 19th and 20th century Classical philology . As a great authority of the literature and history of Ancient Greece , Wilamowitz took a stance against traditional methodology and textual criticism . As a representative of Postclassicism , he concentrated less on literary history but rather aimed to extract biographical information on the respective authors from the preserved texts . Thus , he employed historical perspectives to serve philology . Apart from his seminal general works ( Greek Literature from Antiquity , Hellenistic Poetry ) , he published numerous detailed studies of Euripides , Homer , Aeschylus , Pindar and Aristotle . As a scientific organiser , he was also responsible for the publication of important standard-setting source material publications , such as Inscriptiones Graecae . He also passionately supported the preservation of Classical education in the German school system . Notable pupils of his include Felix Jacoby , Karl Mittelhaus , Wolfgang Schadewaldt , Eduard Fraenkel , Werner Jaeger , Johannes Geffcken , Paul Maas , Eduard Schwartz , Gilbert Murray , Paul Friedländer , Friedrich Solmsen and Johannes Sykutris . In recent decades , the American scholar William M . Calder III has been publishing a series of important documents about and by Wilamowitz , including much of his correspondence with Diels , Eduard Norden , Mommsen , Paul Wendland , and others . Awards . - 1886 Knights Cross of the Hohenzollern House - 1908 Pour le Mérite Order - 1910 Honorary doctorate in Theology at the University of Berlin - 1911 Honorary doctorate , Oslo University - 1928 Adlerschild des Deutschen Reiches ( Non-wearable decoration of the Weimar republic ) Works . - Griechische Literatur des Altertums - Einleitung in die griechische Tragödie - Homerische Untersuchungen ( 1884 ) - Die Ilias und Homer ( 1916 ) - Platon ( vollständig in 2 Bänden ) ( 1919 ) - Hellenistische Dichtung ( 1924 ) - Erinnerungen 1848–1914 . Verlag von K . F . Koehler , Leipzig 1928 . ( Memoirs ) Sources . - Michael Armstrong , Wolfgang Buchwald , William M . Calder III. : Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff bibliography 1867−1990 ( Hildesheim , Weidmann , 1991 ) . - Braun , Maximilian , William M . Calder , III & Dietrich Ehlers , edd. , Lieber Prinz . Der Briefwechsel zwischen Hermann Diels und Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff ( 1869–1921 ) ( Hildesheim : Weidmann , 1995 ) . - Calder , William M . III and Bernhard Huss ( eds ) , The Wilamowitz in Me : 100 Letters between Ulrich von Wilamovitz-Moellendorff and Paul Friedlaender ( 1904–1931 ) ( Los Angeles : Charles Young Research Library , University of California , 1999 ) . - Candio , Antonella , Ein lebendiges Ganzes : la filologia come scienza e storia nelle Coefore di Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff ( Amsterdam : Adolf M . Hakkert , 2008 ) ( Supplementi di Lexis , 57 ) . - Norton , Robert E. , Wilamowitz at War , International Journal of the Classical Tradition , 15/1 , ( 2008 ) , pp . 74–97 . External links . - Original texts by Wilamowitz on German Wikisource