Wie es eigentlich gewesen

I am a 52 year old mature student who has just started studying for an MA in Contemporary British History at the Institute for Historical Research at London University.

History is a process of discovery, and in this weblog I intend to record my thoughts, ideas and, I hope, some insights and discoveries, as I work my way through the course.

The name of the blog comes from the famous nineteenth century German historian, Leopold von Ranke, who wrote, as a young man, in his first historical work, that the role of history is simply to show how it really was – “Wie es eigentlich gewesen.”

I had been trying to track down the full original quotation for some weeks, and eventually found it in the Crooked Timber posting by Henry Farrell and others on 7 Sept 2005 Wie es eigentlich gewesen (in comment 28).

“Man hat der Historie das Amt, die Vergangenheit zu richten, die Mitwelt zum Nutzen zukuenftiger Jahre zu belehren, beigemessen: so hoher Aemter unterwindet sich gegenwaertiger Versuch nicht: er will blos zeigen, wie es eigentlich gewesen.”

For those who are interested, my own translation of the original German is:

The role, commonly attributed to History, is to judge the Past, to instruct the Present, for the benefit of the Future: such a high (noble) role is not claimed for this essay: it aims simply to show how it really was.

It seems to me that too many historians have criticised or attempted to judge the past - a fruitless task if ever there was one, as the past has been and gone and cannot now be changed. On the other hand, if we attempt to see the past as it really was and to interpret it in its own terms, it can still instruct the Present for the benefit of the Future.

Comments

[Jeff Morrow]

I like your translation of "will" as "aims." So many translate the German "will" into an English "will" to create a silly statement that Ranke undoubtedly never intended. I am sure he knew the difference between "wollen" and "wurden."

Jeff Morrow