HALLER, JOHANNES

Historian; b. Keinis (Estonia), Oct. 16, 1865; d. Tübingen, Dec. 24, 1947. He studied at Dorpat, Berlin, and Heidelberg. From 1892 to 1897 Haller worked in Rome at the Institute for Prussian History. Having been professor at Marburg (1902), he went to Giessen in 1904 and in 1913 to Tübingen, where he taught until his death. Early in his career Haller demonstrated a profound knowledge of both medieval and modern European history. He acquired fame with the publication of his Concilium basiliense (5 v. Basel 1896–1904). However, his reputation rests on his extraordinary history of the papacy, Das Papsttum, Idee und Wirklichkeit (3 v. Stuttgart 1934–45; 2d ed. 5 v. 1950–53). Das Papsttum is not so much a history as it is a thorough and nearly exhaustive discussion of the papacy as an institution based upon tradition, theology, and law, strongly polemic, often basing its conclusions on challenging hypotheses. In addition Haller wrote Die Epochen der deutschen Geschichte (Stuttgart 1923), a provocative work in which he discussed the major epochs of German history. In the later years of his career he turned his attention toward papal officials and decretals, showing their influence upon the history of medieval Germany.

Bibliography: bÄumer, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 4:1334–35. h. dannenbauer and j. haller, Das Papsttum, 5 v. (2d, rev. ed. Stuttgart 1950–53) 5:409–417.

[b. f. scherer]