Wolfgang Mommsen

Wolfgang Justin Mommsen (German pronunciation: [vɔlfgaŋ jʊʃtiːn mɔmzn̩]; November 5, 1930 – August 11, 2004) was a German historian. He was the twin brother of historian Hans Mommsen. According to Aristotle Kallis:

Wolfgang Mommsen was born in Marburg, the son of the historian Wilhelm Mommsen and great-grandson of the Roman historian Theodor Mommsen. He was educated at the University of Marburg, University of Cologne and University of Leeds between 1951 and 1959. He served as professor at the University of Cologne (1959–1967), University of Düsseldorf (1967–1978) and finally as director of the German Historical Institute in London between 1978 and 1985. In 1965, he abandoned his first wife to marry one of his graduate students, Sabine von Schalburg, with whom he had four children.

Mommsen wrote a biography of Max Weber in 1959. His main areas of expertise were in 19th century-20th century British and German history. His interests were wide-ranging and he wrote about diplomatic, social, intellectual, and economic history. Mommsen championed a Sonderweg ("special path") interpretation of German history. Echoing the views of Hans-Ulrich Wehler and Fritz Fischer, he argued that 19th century Germany was only partially modernized. Economic modernization was not accompanied by political modernization. Much of Mommsen's comparative studies of British and German history concern why, in his view, the British had both a political and economic modernization while the Germans had only the latter. An Anglophile, Mommsen very much enjoyed teaching and living in Britain.

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