Alfred Hettner
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Alfred Hettner | |
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| Born | 6 August 1859 |
| Died | 31 August 1941 (aged 82) |
| Alma mater | University of Strasbourg |
| Known for | Chorological approach to geography; fieldwork in Colombia and Chile. |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Heidelberg University (1899–1928) |
| Doctoral students | Martha Krug-Genthe, Oskar Schmieder, Friedrich Metz (de), Heinrich Schmitthenner (de) |
Alfred Hettner (6 August 1859, in Dresden – 31 August 1941, in Heidelberg) was a German geographer.
Hettner is known for his concept of chorology, the study of places and regions, a concept that influenced both Carl O. Sauer and Richard Hartshorne. Apart from the geography of Europe, his fieldwork concentrated mainly on that of Colombia, Chile and Russia.
Early life and education
[edit]Hettners parents were art historian Hermann Theodor Hettner and Marie von Stockmar. His maternal grandfather was Christian Friedrich, Baron Stockmar. His half-brother was Otto Hettner.[1]
Career
[edit]Hettner obtained his PhD from the University of Strasbourg, snf was also a pupil of Ferdinand von Richthofen and Friedrich Ratzel at Leipzig—where he obtained his habilitation.
According to him, geography is a chorological science or it is a study of regions. Hettner rejected the view that geography could be either general or regional. Geography, like other fields of learning, must deal in both unique things (regional geography) and with the universal (general geography), but the study of regions — especially in the form of his Länderkunde approach — is the main field of geography. Hettner supervised, among others, the PhDs of Martha Krug-Genthe, Oskar Schmieder, Friedrich Metz and Heinrich Schmitthenner.
In 1895, he founded the journal Geographische Zeitschrift, which he also edited for many years. He was a lecturer briefly at Tübingen (1894-1897) and Leipzig (1897-1899).[1]
In 1899, he joined University of Heidelberg as an associate professor. By 1906, he became the first Chair of Geography at Heidelberg. His book Europe was published in 1907. He held this office until his retirement in 1928.[1] From 1920-19931 or possibly longer he was the director of the Heidelberg section of teh Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft.
He died in Heidelberg in 1941.
Literary works
[edit]- Methodische Zeit- und Streitfragen, in: Geographische Zeitschrift, Bd. 29 (1923), S. 49-50
- Die Geographie, ihre Geschichte, ihr Wesen und ihre Methoden, Breslau, 1927
Legacy
[edit]Hettner had a significant impact on Richard Hartshorne’s The Nature of Geography.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Plewe, Ernest (1972). "Hettner, Alfred". Deutsche Biographie (in German) (9th ed.). pp. 31–32. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ Harvey, Francis; Wardenga, Ute (April 2006). "Richard Hartshorne's adaptation of Alfred Hettner's system of geography". Journal of Historical Geography. 32 (2): 422–440. doi:10.1016/j.jhg.2005.07.017. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
External links
[edit]- Die Heidelberger Hettner-Lecture (in German)
- Short biography of Alfred Hettner (in German)
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- 1859 births
- 1941 deaths
- Scientists from Dresden
- German geomorphologists
- University of Strasbourg alumni
- Academic staff of Leipzig University
- Academic staff of the University of Tübingen
- Academic staff of Heidelberg University
- 19th-century German earth scientists
- German geographers
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- Recipients of the Cullum Geographical Medal
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