Dahn, JULIUS SOPHUS FELIX

Dahn, JULIUS SOPHUS FELIX, publicist, historian, and poet, was born at Hamburg, 9th February 1834, the son of a well-known actor and actress. He studied law, philosophy, and history at Munich and Berlin, became extraordinary professor at Munich (1862), next year ordinary professor at Würzburg, and in 1872 was appointed to the chair of German Jurisprudence at Königsberg. Among his contributions to public law are Das Kriegsrecht (1870), Handelsrechtliche Vorträge (1875), Deutsches Rechtsbuch (1877), and Deutsches Privatrecht (1878). Of his historical works the chief are Prokopius von Cäsarea (1865), Die Könige der Germanen (1861-71), Westgotische Studien (1874), Langobardische Studien (1876), Urgeschichte der germanischen und romanischen Völker (3 vols. 1881-84), and Geschichte der deutschen Urzeit (1885). Dahn's versatility is as remarkable as his erudition is profound. He has written a series of popular historical romances, and of lyrical and dramatic poems. Of the former may here be named Ein Kampf um Rom (1876), a powerful novel, Odins Trost (1880), and Die Kreuzfahrer (1885). See his Erinnerungen (1892-93).