Biography of Reinhart Koselleck

Reinhart Koselleck (born 23 April 1923 in Görlitz; died 3 February 2006 in Bad Oeynhausen) was a German historian, author and university teacher. He worked on conceptual history, theories of historical time, political iconography and the ways language, experience and expectation shape historical thought.

Studies and early work

After the Second World War, Koselleck studied in Heidelberg, including history, philosophy, sociology and public law. His dissertation was published in 1959 as Critique and Crisis. In it he examined the relation between Enlightenment, morality, politics and crisis in the emergence of modern bourgeois society.

Conceptual history

Koselleck's name is closely linked with Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe, the historical lexicon of political and social language in Germany. For him, concepts reached beyond individual words. They carried experiences, expectations, conflicts and change. Language therefore became a place where social order and historical movement could be studied.

Bielefeld

After posts in Bochum and Heidelberg, Koselleck became professor of theory of history at Bielefeld University in 1973. He had already been involved in the founding and development of the university. From 1974 to 1975 he directed the Center for Interdisciplinary Research and later remained connected with its academic advisory board. Bielefeld University established the Reinhart Koselleck Visiting Professorship in his memory.

Time, images and memory

In books such as Futures Past and Zeitschichten, Koselleck asked how people expect futures, interpret pasts and organize presents. Alongside texts, he was interested in images, monuments, political rituals and forms of commemoration. His collection of figures, objects and photographs is now being processed in Bielefeld and Marburg.

Later years

Koselleck received several awards, including the Sigmund Freud Prize for scholarly prose. On 10 October 2001, the honorary doctorate from Université Denis-Diderot Paris VII was approved. Reinhart Koselleck died on 3 February 2006 in Bad Oeynhausen. His work remains closely connected with Bielefeld, conceptual history and historical theory.