Apprenticeship from a jurist with a historical education: Max Weber and historicism

Abstract

There are only few studies on Max Weber’s intellectual biography between the beginning of his undergraduate studies in Heidelberg (1882) and the publication of his doctoral dissertation on medieval commercial partnerships (1889). Through analysis of his correspondence, this article seeks to demonstrate the importance of historians like Erdmannsdörffer, Baumgarten, Ranke, and Treitschke for the young lawyer and how his early intellectual development occurred under the strong influence of the historicist tradition.