In Memory of Professor Wolfgang J. Mommsen

Abstract

[MWS 5.1 (2005) 123-124] ISSN 1470-8078 In Memory of Professor Wolfgang J. Mommsen Takeshi Ishida, Hiroshi Orihara, Yukitaka Sasabe, Kazuhiko Sumiya, Ken'ichi Tominaga, Yoshiaki Uchida, Yasutoshi Ueyama, Yoshiro Yano, and Katsuhiko Yoshime It was not so long after Professor Wolfgang J. Mommsen's sudden death in the Baltic Sea on 11 August, that the tragic news was delivered to Japan. We, scholars in Japan, were looking forward to his further aca demic achievements, and are shocked and sorry for this sudden loss. In Japan, he is known foremost as a scholar of Max Weber studies. In particular his masterpiece, Max Weber and German Politics, 1890-1920, brought the authoritarian aspects of Max Weber into daylight, and pro vided a major sensation to Weber studies. Its impact shocked not only German scholars, but scholars worldwide, obviously including Japanese. Since it was published in 1959, his name has been frequently referred to in Japanese Weberian studies, and it has provoked further studies and criticism (recently such as the study of Yukitaka Sasabe). However, with out question, it is still a basic crucial text for the study of the political thinking of Max Weber (a Japanese translation of the second expanded edition was published in 1993-1994). In this magnum opus, Professor Mommsen thoroughly followed the footsteps of Weber's political think ing from his school years to his death. Professor Mommsen not only vigorously gathered unknown or unopened pieces of material on this subject, but also analyzed those pieces in accordance with Weber's multi faceted academic achievements, and provided a synthesized view. It is an essential nautical chart for the next generation who launch into the exploration of the vast ocean of Weber's political thinking. Needless to say, Professor Mommsen's achievements in this field are not limited to this masterpiece. So far, three of his books on Weber have been translated into Japanese: the first of them appeared in 1977, the translation of his Suhrkamp Taschenbuch on Max Weber (1974). More over, his effort to bridge Weber studies, both international and inter disciplinary, is also well known; most notably, the work by him and and his colleagues to hold the 1984 London conference and the publication of the book Max Weber and his Contemporaries (an abridged Japanese translation appeared in 1994).© Max Weber Studies 2005, Department of Applied Social Sciences, London Metropolitan University, Old Castle Street, London El 7NT, UK. 124 Max Weber Studies Yet more important for future generations will be his contributions to the on-going publishing of the Max Weber Gesamtausgabe, in which he played a leading role. In Japan, as one of the biggest markets of the Gesamtausgabe, his contributions are looked upon favourably although at the same time criticized (especially by Hiroshi Orihara in relation to the so called 'Economy and Society' manuscripts). However, no one doubts that his painstaking efforts of these recent years was crucial to the pro gress of this important project, which will benefit not only future devel opments of Max Weber studies internationally, but also the development of the humanities and the social sciences in general. Obviously, his academic achievements were not limited to Max Weber studies. Both he and his twin brother Professor Hans Mommsen are renowned left-liberal historians of modern German history. While Hans Mommsen studied mainly the Nazi period, Wolfgang Mommsen studied the Wilhelmian-era that preceded that period. His works on imperialism and World War I are well known (The book on Imperial ism, which he edited, was translated into Japanese in 2002). Professor Mommsen started his career at Cologne as a historian, under the guid ance of Theodor Schieder. It could be said, that his real ability was shown in the field of modern German history, which he pursued in a wide international perspective. His Weber studies were also done under this historian's perspective, and were supported thoroughly by histori cal material evidence. Last, but not least, the reason why we Japanese scholars of humanities and social science remember him so clearly is because of his repeated visits to Japan! He visited many universities including Tokyo and Kyoto in the 1980s and 1990s, and gave so many impressive...