Wagner, Paul Adolf Heinrich

Archivist, regional historian

Born: 03.04.1852 in Reichenbach (today Dzierżoniów, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland)

died: 22.02.1941 in Wiesbaden

Wagner studied law in Berlin. With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, he was drafted into military service. He then changed subjects and studied history in Bonn and Berlin; he was one of the students of Heinrich von Sybel and Gustav Droysen. Wagner received his doctorate in 1867 and trained as an archivist at the Prussian State Archives in Königsberg.

After working in Königsberg, Aurich and Koblenz, he was appointed the new archive director of the Wiesbaden State Archives (now the Hessian Main State Archives in Wiesbaden) on April 1, 1897. In 1899-1908 and again in 1921-32, he held the office of Chairman of the Association for Nassau Antiquities and Historical Research and served as Chairman of the Historical Commission for Nassau from 1902-36.

Because of his commitment, both associations appointed him honorary chairman. He published numerous works on the history of the House of Nassau, the Lords of Eppstein and the history of the city of Wiesbaden.