Felix Dahn

Felix Ludwig Julius Dahn (9 February 1834 – 3 January 1912) was a German nationalist and anti-semitic lawyer, author and historian. He was also known for writing nationalist poetry.

Julius Sophus Felix Dahn was born in Hamburg as the oldest son of Friedrich (1811–1889) and Constanze Dahn who were notable actors at the city's theater. The family had both German and French roots. Dahn began his studies in law and philosophy in Munich (he had moved there with his parents in 1834), and graduated as Doctor of Laws in Berlin. After his habilitation treatise, Dahn became lecturer of German Law in Munich in 1857. In 1863 he became senior lecturer/associate professor in Würzburg, received a professorship in Königsberg (in 1872, and in 1888 he relocated to University of Breslau, again as a full professor, and was elected rector of the university in 1895. During his regime, he discriminated against Polish students by enforcing a ban on Polish student associations. He belonged to as honorary member to association "Germania," a nationalistic and antisemitic organisation, and was one of the leaders of the far right of Alldeutscher Verband Dahn was also honorary doctor in Medicine and in Philosophy. A month before his 78th birthday, Dahn died in Breslau. He was married to Therese von Droste-Hülshoff (1845-1929).

Dahn's writings were extremely influential in forming the conception of the European history unfolding during the first millennium CE which dominated German-speaking countries during the late 19th and early 20th century. His multi-volume Prehistory of the Germanic and Roman Peoples, a chronology of the European Völkerwanderung (Migration Period) that first appeared in print in 1883, was so definitive that abbreviated versions were reprinted until the late 1970s. His works contributed to the foundation of National Socialism in Germany, while his book Ein Kampf um Rom encouraged a "völkisch avant-garde" who feared the supposed danger of ethnic mixing. Besides his historical works he also published nationalist poems in which he compared Poles to animals like wolves.

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