Otto, Heinrich

Historian, teacher

Born: 25.12.1863 in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe

died: 03.09.1944 in Wiesbaden

Otto studied history, German and classical philology in Innsbruck, Strasbourg, Bonn and Marburg. He completed his doctorate in 1893 with a thesis on the relationship between Rudolf of Habsburg and Pope Gregory X. From 1898, he worked as a senior teacher at the Fürst-Johann-Ludwig-Gymnasium in Hadamar.

When he was a fellow at the Prussian Historical Institute in Rome in 1904-06, he was entrusted with the edition of Marsilius of Padua's work "Defensor pacis", which was to be published as part of the MGH (Monumenta Germaniae Historica). His poor health and the difficulty of obtaining source material prevented this project from being realized. Nevertheless, he was awarded the title of professor in 1906.

In Hadamar, his adopted home, he co-founded the local chapter of the Association for Nassau Antiquity and Historical Research. Between 1911-25, Otto was head of the Limburg town archive, where he organized the archive's move from the old hospital to the new grammar school in 1921, among other things.

After his retirement in 1925, he moved to Wiesbaden with his family. In 1927-33 he took over the editorship of the Nassauische Annalen und Heimatblätter. From 1935-39 he was a member of the advisory board of the Historical Commission for Nassau.

His scholarly work includes the Regesten der Erzbischöfe von Mainz (1328-53).