ABSTRACT
Why were Leopold von Ranke’s contemporaries so highly impressed by the productivity and appetite for work that Germany’s most famous historian had displayed, even in old age? How widely shared were the virtues of work attributed to Ranke? Did his admirers interpret his demanding work rhythm as a model for imitation or, alternatively, as an achievement unattainable by ordinary mortals? Drawing on a rich array of memoires and obituaries, this chapter argues that the virtues of work attributed to Ranke were central to the self-image of Germany’s middle-class society. Ranke’s motto, labor ipse voluptas (“the joy lies in the work itself”), expressed an appreciation of hard work that was found not merely among academics but throughout the German Bildungsbürgertum.
