Friedrich Karl Biedermann

Friedrich Karl Biedermann (1812-1901), German publicist and historian, was born at Leipzig on the 25th of September 1812, and after studying at Leipzig and Heidelberg became professor in the university of his native town in 1838.

His early writings show him as an ardent advocate of German unity, and he was a member of the national parliament which met at Frankfurt in 1848. Becoming a member of the Upper House of the parliament of Saxony, he advocated union under the leadership of Prussia; and, subsequently losing his professorship, he retired to Weimar, where he edited the "Weimarische Zeitung".

Returning to Leipzig in 1863 he edited the newspaper "Deutsche Aligemeine Zeitung" and regained his professorship in 1865. He was again a member of the Saxon Upper House, and from 1871 to 1874 a member of the German Reichstag. He died at Leipzig on the 5th of March 1901.

Biedermann's chief works are: "Erinnerungen aus der Paulskirche" (Leipzig, 1849); "Deutschland im 18. Jahrhundert" (Leipzig, 1854-1880); "Friedrich der grosse und sein Verhaltnis zur Entwickelung des deutschen Geisteslebens" (Brunswick, 1859); "Geschichte Deutschlands 1815-1871" (Berlin, 1891); "Deutsche Volkessend Kulturgeschichte" (Wiesbaden, 1901). He also wrote the dramas, "Kaiser Heinrich V." (Weimar, 1861); "Kaiser Otto III." (Leipzig, 1862); and "Der letzte Burgermeister von Strassburg" (Leipzig, 1870).

References

Richard J. Bazillion, "Modernizing Germany: Karl Biedermann's Career in the Kingdom of Saxony, 1835-1901"(New York, 1990)____________________, "Saxon Liberalism and the German Question in the Wake of the 1848 Revolution," "Canadian Journal of History"13, 1 (April 1978).____________________, "A Scholar in Politics in Pre-March Saxony: The Biedermann Case," "Societas: A Review of Social History"5, 3 (Summer, 1975).
*1911