Wilhelm Heinrich RiehlArticle Free Pass Wilhelm Heinrich Riehl,
(born May 6, 1823, Biebrich, Nassau—died Nov. 16, 1897, Munich),
German journalist and historian whose early emphasis on social
structures in historical development were influential in the
rise of sociological history. After entering the University of
Marburg to study theology in 1841, Riehl transferred to the
University of Tübingen in 1842 to continue in philosophy. He
edited journals at Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, Wiesbaden, and Augsburg
from 1845 to 1853, when he began teaching at Munich. He returned
to journalism briefly, directing the Neue Münchener Zeitung from
1856 until he took the chair in cultural history at the
University of Munich in 1859. Riehl’s best known work is Die
Naturgeschichte des deutschen Volkes als Grundlage einer
deutschen Socialpolitik, 4 vol. (1851–69; “The Natural History
of the German People as a Foundation of German Social
Politics”), in which he emphasized geographical factors, social
conditions, and German local life and