Author: Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel
Hippel, Theodor Gottlieb von, son of Melchior Hippel, rector of the Latin school at Gerdauen, in East Prussia, was b. at Gerdauen Jan. 31, 1741. He entered the University of Königsberg in 1756 as a student of theology, where he became an ardent disciple of Kant, and then, in 1762, turned to the study of law. In 1765 he became an advocate in Königsberg; in 1772, Town Judge; 1780, Burgomaster and Director of Police; 1786, Geheim Kriegsrath and City President. He died at Königsberg, April 23, 1796 (Koch, vi. 301-309; Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, xii. 463-66).
In his writings Hippel's great aim was to popularise and apply the ideas of his master Kant. In his inner life he was a combination of contradictions; on one side of a wonderful fe…
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