Heinrich Bernhard Oppenheim
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Bernhard Oppenheim (July 20, 1819-March 29, 1880 in Berlin
) was a German
publicist
and philosopher concerned with the ideas of liberalism
, free trade
and international law
.
Oppenheim was son of a Jewish family of bankers in Frankfurt
and studied law
in Göttingen, Heidelberg and Berlin
. In Berlin he could not reach a postdoctoral lecturer qualification because of his Jewish origin, so he became a private lecturer (Privatdozent
) for political science and international law in Heidelberg.
But his inclinations to journalism
soon won the upper hand, and, his living assured by his family, he gave up teaching.
He was very much taken by the questions surrounding the movements of 1848
. His feeble attempts at practical politics nevertheless foundered and left him more and more to make himself known through his pen and his theories. He spoke at the agitated mass meeting at Unter den Zelten where the legislature's petition to the king regarding the wishes of the people was discussed. He became one of the chief editors, with Arnold Ruge
and Eduard Meyen, of “Die Reform” (The Reform) which soon came under the oversight of several democratic
groups. Among his other co-workers on this paper were Mikhail Bakunin
, Karl Heinzen
and Georg Herwegh
. Oppenheim sought a seat in the National Assembly. He thought it sufficient to refer to his writings in “Die Reform” where he developed his premise “that only with freedom did the people become mature enough for freedom,” but the people of Berlin had no patience with a candidate who campaigned only with his pen. This experience convinced him even more he that he was suited to a writing career, as he did not seem suited to speaking.
He went to Baden
and, looking for secrets, broke into the private files of the departed archduke. Lorenzo Brentano
, the leader of the provisional government, put him in charge of the government newspaper, the “Karlsruher Zeitung”. When a schism broke out between Brentano's moderates and Gustav Struve
's terrorists, Oppenheim worked for the latter, and was dismissed from the newspaper when they failed. He then traveled to Switzerland
, France
, Holland and England. He returned in 1850 and continued to publish works on democratic ideas. He denounced the democrats for the victories of the Reaction, but thought the latter were ultimately to blame because they turned to raw despotic power rather than continuing with their phony constitutionalism.
In 1861 Oppenheim joined the German Progress Party
and edited the Yearbook for Politics and Literature which was banned soon afterwards. He also became a member of the Congress of German Economists, as he was known as an excellent economist and supporter of free trade. He also paid attention to social matters.
The occurrences of 1866 worked a great transformation in Oppenheim. He greeted the new order with joy while other liberals were more skeptical. Oppenheim joined the National Liberals
and supported Bismarck
's strategy for national unification. He wrote two flyers for the elections, one of which only saw limited distribution since the leaders saw it as too radical. After 1870, for the first time he directly discussed practical questions, writing on poor laws and economics
. He was also critical of “fanciful thinkers about the future among the teachers in the universities.”
In 1874, he was elected Member of the Reichstag
representing Reuß ä. L. and took his seat as an expert on the 1869 changes to commercial regulations. In 1877 he lost his seat to a social democrat. In reaction to Bismarck’s protectionist policy
he split with his party in 1880.
Oppenheim’s philosophical work is concentrated on parliamentarism the idea of common welfare. He coined the phrase “lectern socialism” (German "Kathedersozialismus").
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
) was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
publicist
Publicist
A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book, film or album...
and philosopher concerned with the ideas of liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
and international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
.
Oppenheim was son of a Jewish family of bankers in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
and studied law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
in Göttingen, Heidelberg and Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
. In Berlin he could not reach a postdoctoral lecturer qualification because of his Jewish origin, so he became a private lecturer (Privatdozent
Privatdozent
Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...
) for political science and international law in Heidelberg.
But his inclinations to journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
soon won the upper hand, and, his living assured by his family, he gave up teaching.
He was very much taken by the questions surrounding the movements of 1848
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...
. His feeble attempts at practical politics nevertheless foundered and left him more and more to make himself known through his pen and his theories. He spoke at the agitated mass meeting at Unter den Zelten where the legislature's petition to the king regarding the wishes of the people was discussed. He became one of the chief editors, with Arnold Ruge
Arnold Ruge
Arnold Ruge was a German philosopher and political writer.-Studies in university and prison:Born in Bergen auf Rügen, he studied in Halle, Jena and Heidelberg. As an advocate of a free and united Germany he was jailed for five years in 1825 in the fortress of Kolberg, where he studied Plato and...
and Eduard Meyen, of “Die Reform” (The Reform) which soon came under the oversight of several democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
groups. Among his other co-workers on this paper were Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin was a well-known Russian revolutionary and theorist of collectivist anarchism. He has also often been called the father of anarchist theory in general. Bakunin grew up near Moscow, where he moved to study philosophy and began to read the French Encyclopedists,...
, Karl Heinzen
Karl Heinzen
Karl Peter Heinzen was a revolutionary author who resided mainly in Germany and the United States. He was one of the German Forty-Eighters.-Biography:...
and Georg Herwegh
Georg Herwegh
Georg Friedrich Rudolph Theodor Herwegh was a German revolutionary poet.-Biography:He was born in Stuttgart on 31 May 1817, the son of an innkeeper...
. Oppenheim sought a seat in the National Assembly. He thought it sufficient to refer to his writings in “Die Reform” where he developed his premise “that only with freedom did the people become mature enough for freedom,” but the people of Berlin had no patience with a candidate who campaigned only with his pen. This experience convinced him even more he that he was suited to a writing career, as he did not seem suited to speaking.
He went to Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
and, looking for secrets, broke into the private files of the departed archduke. Lorenzo Brentano
Lorenzo Brentano
Lorenzo Brentano was a journalist and a U.S. Representative from Illinois.-Biography:Born as Lorenz Peter Carl Brentano in Mannheim, Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany, Brentano received a thorough classical training and studied jurisprudence at the Universities of Heidelberg and Freiburg...
, the leader of the provisional government, put him in charge of the government newspaper, the “Karlsruher Zeitung”. When a schism broke out between Brentano's moderates and Gustav Struve
Gustav Struve
Gustav Struve, known as Gustav von Struve until he gave up his title, , was a German politician, lawyer and publicist, and a revolutionary during the German revolution of 1848-1849 in Baden...
's terrorists, Oppenheim worked for the latter, and was dismissed from the newspaper when they failed. He then traveled to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Holland and England. He returned in 1850 and continued to publish works on democratic ideas. He denounced the democrats for the victories of the Reaction, but thought the latter were ultimately to blame because they turned to raw despotic power rather than continuing with their phony constitutionalism.
In 1861 Oppenheim joined the German Progress Party
German Progress Party
The German Progress Party was the first modern political party with a program in Germany, founded by the liberal members of the Prussian Lower House in 6 June, 1861....
and edited the Yearbook for Politics and Literature which was banned soon afterwards. He also became a member of the Congress of German Economists, as he was known as an excellent economist and supporter of free trade. He also paid attention to social matters.
The occurrences of 1866 worked a great transformation in Oppenheim. He greeted the new order with joy while other liberals were more skeptical. Oppenheim joined the National Liberals
National Liberal Party (Germany)
The National Liberal Party was a German political party which flourished between 1867 and 1918. It was formed by Prussian liberals who put aside their differences with Bismarck over domestic policy due to their support for his highly successful foreign policy, which resulted in the unification of...
and supported Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
's strategy for national unification. He wrote two flyers for the elections, one of which only saw limited distribution since the leaders saw it as too radical. After 1870, for the first time he directly discussed practical questions, writing on poor laws and economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
. He was also critical of “fanciful thinkers about the future among the teachers in the universities.”
In 1874, he was elected Member of the Reichstag
Reichstag (German Empire)
The Reichstag was the parliament of the North German Confederation , and of the German Reich ....
representing Reuß ä. L. and took his seat as an expert on the 1869 changes to commercial regulations. In 1877 he lost his seat to a social democrat. In reaction to Bismarck’s protectionist policy
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
he split with his party in 1880.
Oppenheim’s philosophical work is concentrated on parliamentarism the idea of common welfare. He coined the phrase “lectern socialism” (German "Kathedersozialismus").