Friedrich Ratzel's photograph from the University of Leipzig

Friedrich Ratzel (August 30, 1844, Karlsruhe, Baden – August 9, 1904, Ammerland) was a German geographer and ethnographer, notable for coining the term Lebensraum ("living space"). Image File history File links Friedrich_Ratzel. ... The University of Leipzig (German Universität Leipzig), located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony (former Kingdom of Saxony), Germany, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. ... August 30 is the 242nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (243rd in leap years), with 123 days remaining. ... Jan. ... Karlsruhe (population 285,812 in 2006) is a city in the south west of Germany, in the Bundesland Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border. ... For other uses, see Baden (disambiguation). ... August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... Ammerland is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... A geographer is a crazy psycho whose area of study is geocrap, the pseudoscientific study of Earths physical environment and human habitat and the study of boring students to death. ... Ethnography (from the Greek ethnos = nation and graphe = writing) refers to the qualitative description of human social phenomena, based on months or years of fieldwork. ... Lebensraum (German for habitat or living space) was one of the major political ideas of Adolf Hitler, and an important component of Nazi ideology. ...

Life

Ratzel's father was the head of the household staff of the Grand Duke of Baden. He attended high school in Karlsruhe for six years before being apprenticed at age 15 to apothecaries . In 1863, he went to Rapperswil on the Lake of Zurich, Switzerland, where he began to study the classics. After a further year as an apothecary at Mörs near Krefeld in the Ruhr area (1865-1866), he spent a short time at the high school in Karlsruhe and became a student of zoology at the universities of Heidelberg, Jena and Berlin, finishing in 1868. He studied zoology in 1869, publishing Sein und Werden der organischen Welt on Darwin. Interior of an apothecarys shop. ... Year 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Rapperswil is a small town in the canton of St. ... Lake Zurich showing a sailing boat, a popular pastime on the lake A view of the lake from Horgen Lake Zurich (also spelled Lake Zürich or Lake of Zürich; in German Zürichsee) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the town of Zürich. ... In the traditional sense of the term, a classic book is one written in ancient Greece or ancient Rome (see classics). ... Moers (in older texts also Mörs or Meurs) is a city (population about 108,000 in 2003) in western Germany. ... Krefeld is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... For the conurbation see Ruhr Area. ... Zoology (rarely spelled zoölogy) is the biological discipline which involves the study of non-human animals. ... Heidelberg and the other cities of the Neckar valley The castle (Schloss) above the town Main Street (Hauptstrasse) Shopping district View from the so called alley of philosophers (Philosophenweg) towards the Old Town, with Heidelberg Castle, Heiliggeist Church and the Old Bridge Heidelberg is a city in Baden-Württemberg... The Market Square in Jena. ... Berlin is the capital city and one of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany. ... 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... For other people of the same surname, and places and things named after Charles Darwin, see Darwin. ...

After the completion of his schooling, Ratzel began a period of travels that see him transform from zoologist/biologist to geographer. He began field work in the Mediterranean, writing letters of his experiences. These letters led to a job as a traveling reporter for the Kölnische Zeitung ("Cologne Journal"), which provided him the means for further travel. Ratzel embarked on several expeditions, the lengthiest and most important being his 1874-1875 trip to North America, Cuba, and Mexico. This trip was a turning point in Ratzel’s career. He studied the influence of people of German origin in America, especially in the Midwest, as well as other ethnic groups in North America. The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... Year 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link with display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... The Midwest is a common name for a region of the United States of America. ...

He produced a written work of his account in 1876, Städte-und Kulturbilder aus Nordamerika (Profile of Cities and Cultures in North America), which would help establish the field of cultural geography. According to Ratzel, cities are the best place to study people because life is "blended, compressed, and accelerated" in cities, and they bring out the "greatest, best, most typical aspects of people". Ratzel had traveled to cities such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Richmond, Charleston, New Orleans, and San Francisco. 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... New York, NY redirects here. ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, The Hub (of the Universe)1, Athens of America, The Cradle of Revolution, Puritan City, Americas Walking City Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas M. Menino(D) Area    - City 232. ... Nickname: Motto: Philadelphia maneto - Let brotherly love continue Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States Commonwealth Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Government  - Mayor John F. Street (D) Area  - City 369. ... Nickname: Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Country United States Federal District District of Columbia Government  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack... Nickname: Motto: Sic Itur Ad Astra (Thus do we reach the stars) Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia Coordinates: Country United States State Virginia County Independent City Government  - Mayor L. Douglas Wilder (I) Area  - City 62. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...

Upon his return in 1875, Ratzel became a lecturer in geography at the Technical High School in Munich. In 1876, he was promoted to assistant professor, then rose to full professor in 1880. While at Munich, Ratzel produced several books and established his career as an academic. In 1886, he accepted an appointment at Leipzig. His lectures were widely attended, notably by the influential American geographer Ellen Churchill Semple. 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Munich (German: , pronounced  ; Austro-Bavarian: Minga [1]) is the capital of the German Federal State of Bavaria. ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Year 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ...   [] (Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk) is the largest city in the federal state of Saxony in Germany with a population of over 504,000. ... Ellen Churchill Semple (January 8, 1863, Louisville, Kentucky – May 8, 1933, West Palm Beach, Florida). ...

Ratzel produced the foundations of human geography in his two-volume Anthropogeographie in 1882 and 1891. This work was misinterpreted by many of his students, creating a number of environmental determinists. He published his work on political geography, Politische Geographie, in 1897. It was in this work that Ratzel introduced concepts that contributed to Lebensraum and Social Darwinism. Population density by country, 2006 Human geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the systematic study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with the environment, with particular reference to the causes and consequences of the spatial distribution of human activity on the Earths surface. ... Year 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Environmental determinism, also known as climatic determinism, is the view that the physical environment, rather than social conditions, determines culture. ... Political geography is a field of human geography that is concerned with politics. ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Lebensraum (German for habitat or living space) was one of the major political ideas of Adolf Hitler, and an important component of Nazi ideology. ... Social Darwinism in the most basic form is the idea that biological theories can be extended and applied to the social realm. ...

Ratzel continued his work at Leipzig until his sudden death on August 9, 1904 in Ammerland, Germany. August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... Ammerland is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. ...

Writings

Influenced by thinkers like Darwin and zoologist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel, he published several papers. Among them is the essay Lebensraum (1901) concerning biogeography, creating a foundation for the uniquely German variant of geopolitics: geopolitik. Zoology (Greek zoon = animal and logos = word) is the biological discipline which involves the study of animals. ... Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (February 16, 1834 - August 8, 1919) was a German biologist and philosopher who popularized Charles Darwins work in Germany. ... Biogeography is the science which deals with patterns of species distribution and the processes that result in such patterns. ... Geopolitics is the study which analyses geography, history and social science with reference to international politics. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

Ratzel’s writings coincided with the growth of German industrialism after the Franco-Prussian war and the subsequent search for markets that brought it into competition with England. His writings served as welcome justification for imperial expansion. Influenced by the American geostrategist Alfred Thayer Mahan, Ratzel wrote of aspirations for German naval reach, agreeing that sea power was self-sustaining, as the profit from trade would pay for the merchant marine, unlike land power. The Second Industrial Revolution (1871–1914) is a phrase used by some historians to describe an assumed second phase of the Industrial Revolution. ... Combatants Second French Empire North German Confederation allied with south German states (later German Empire) Commanders Napoleon III Otto Von Bismarck, Helmuth von Moltke the Elder Strength 400,000 at the beginning of the war 1,200,000 Casualties 150,000 dead or wounded 284,000 captured 350,000 civilian... Look up Market in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... // Cecil Rhodes: Cape-Cairo railway project. ... Geostrategy is a subfield of geopolitics. ... Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan (September 27, 1840 - December 1, 1914) was a United States Navy officer, geostrategist, and educator. ... Naval warfare is combat in and on seas and oceans. ... International trade is the exchange of goods and services across international boundaries or territories. ...

Ratzel’s key contribution to geopolitik was the expansion on the biological conception of geography, without a static conception of borders. States are instead organic and growing, with borders representing only a temporary stop in their movement. It is not the state proper that is the organism, but the land in its spiritual bond with the people who draw sustenance from it. The expanse of a state’s borders is a reflection of the health of the nation. Border stone at Passo San Giacomo between Val Formazza in Italy and Val Bedretto in Switzerland Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, states or subnational administrative divisions. ... Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit. ...

Ratzel’s idea of Raum (space) would grow out of his organic state conception. This early concept of lebensraum was not political or economic, but spiritual and racial nationalist expansion. The Raum-motiv is a historically driving force, pushing peoples with great Kultur to naturally expand. Space, for Ratzel, was a vague concept, theoretically unbounded. Raum was defined by where German peoples live, where other weaker states could serve to support German peoples economically, and where German culture could fertilize other cultures. However, it ought to be noted that Ratzel's concept of raum was not overtly aggressive, but theorized simply as the natural expansion of strong states into areas controlled by weaker states. Eugène Delacroixs Liberty Leading the People, symbolising French nationalism during the July Revolution. ... German culture (German: Deutsche Kultur) is a term that refers to the heritage and weltanschauung of the people from the German-speaking world, or Deutschsprechende Welt. ...

Influence

Rudolf Kjellén was Ratzel’s Swedish student who would further elaborate on organic state theory and who coined the term “geopolitics”. Johan Rudolf Kjellén Johan Rudolf Kjellén (13 June 1864, Torsö – 14 November 1922, Uppsala) was a Swedish political scientist and politician who first coined the term geopolitics. His work was influenced by Friedrich Ratzel. ...

The German gayboy General Karl Haushofer was exposed to Ratzel, who was friends with Haushofer’s father, and would integrate Ratzel’s ideas on the division between sea and land powers into his theories, saying that only a country with both could overcome this conflict. in his writings, Haushofer also adopted the view that borders are largely insignificant, especially as the nation ought to be in a frequent state of struggle with those around it. Further, Haushofer would adopt Ratzel's conception of Raum as the central program for German geopolitik. General Karl Haushofer General Karl Haushofer (August 27, 1869-March 13, 1946) popularised German geopolitics, notably during Weimar Republic and the Third Reich. ...

Quotes

"A philosophy of the history of the human race, worthy of its name, must begin with the heavens and descend to the earth, must be charged with the conviction that all existence is one—a single conception sustained from beginning to end upon one identical law."

Further reading

• Dorpalen, Andreas. The World of General Haushofer. Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., New York: 1984.
• Martin, Geoffrey J. and Preston E. James. All Possible Worlds. New York, John Wiley and Sons, Inc: 1993.
• Mattern, Johannes. Geopolitik: Doctrine of National Self-Sufficiency and Empire. The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore: 1942.
• Wanklyn, Harriet. Friedrich Ratzel, a Biographical Memoir and Bibliography. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 1961.

Links

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Friedrich Ratzel (German)