Otto Hintze – a pioneer of social and constitutional histor

Volume 346 of the Studien zur europäischen Rechtsgeschichte out no

The great German scholar Otto Hintze (1861–1940) is still known to many as a historian only of Prussia or the Hohenzollern dynasty. Yet his research went far beyond these fields and are of impressive contemporary relevance. This is particularly true for his interest in a historical sociology of bureaucracy, a methodological turn towards global history and his realism regarding the politics of power which, however, also explored the possibilities of a stable international peace order. Hintze’s work represents a critical continuation of historicism with the greatest openness towards the social sciences. It can be read as a supplement and corrective to the writings of Max Weber and Ernst Troeltsch, but also as an alternative to Carl Schmitt, and is therefore rightly attracting increasing international attention.