Karl Heinrich Lang
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (May 2014) |
Karl Heinrich Ritter von Lang (7 June 1764 – 26 March 1835) was a German historian and statesman.
Life
He was born at
But Lang did not long remain an official. He was of a restless, changeable character, which constantly involved him in personal quarrels, though he was equally quick to retire from them. In 1788 he obtained a position as private tutor in
At intervals from 1793 to 1801 Lang was closely connected with the Prussian statesman Hardenberg, who employed him as his private secretary and archivist, and in 1797 he was present with Hardenberg at the Second Congress of Rastatt as secretary to the legation. He was occupied chiefly with affairs of the principalities of Ansbach and Bayreuth, newly acquired by Prussia, and especially in the settlement of disputes with Bavaria as to their boundaries.[1]
When in 1805 the principalities became part of Bavaria, Lang entered the Bavarian service (1806), was presented with the
Lang is best known through his Memoiren, which were published in Brunswick in two parts in 1842, and were republished in 1881 in a second edition. They contain much of interest for the history of the period, but have to be used with the greatest caution on account of their pronounced tendency to satire. Lang's character, as can be gathered especially from a consideration of his behaviour at Munich, is darkened by many shadows. He did not scruple, for instance, to strike out of the lists of witnesses to medieval charters, before publishing them, the names of families which he disliked.[1]
Selected works
Of his numerous literary productions the following may be mentioned:
- Beiträge zur Kenntnis der natürlichen und politischen Verfassung des oettingischen Vaterlandes (1786)
- Ein Votum über den Wucher von einem Manne sine voto (1791)
- Historische Entwicklung der deutschen Steuerverfassungen (1793)
- Historische Prüfung des vermeintlichen Alters der deutschen Landstände (1796)
- Neuere Geschichte des Fürstentums Bayreuth (1486–1603) (1798–1811)
- Tabellen uber Flächeninhalt &c. und bevorstehende Verluste der deutschen Reichsstände. (On the occasion of the congress of Rastadt, 1798)
- Der Minister Graf von Montgelas (1814)
- Geschichte der Jesuiten in Bayern (1819)
- Bayerns Gauen (Nuremberg, 1830)
Notes
Regarding personal names: Ritter is a title, translated approximately as Sir (denoting a Knight), not a first or middle name. There is no equivalent female form.
References
Attribution:
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Hashagen, Justus (1911). "Lang, Karl Heinrich". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 171–172.
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