Justus Möser
Justus Möser (December 14, 1720, Osnabrück – January 8, 1794, Osnabrück) was a German jurist and social theorist, best known for his innovative history of Osnabrück which stressed social and cultural themes.Having studied law at the universitie
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Justus Möser (December 14, 1720, Osnabrück – January 8, 1794, Osnabrück) was a German jurist and social theorist, best known for his innovative history of Osnabrück which stressed social and cultural themes.Having studied law at the universities of Jena and Göttingen, he settled in his native town as a lawyer and was soon appointed advocatus patriae (state attorney) by his fellow citizens. From 1762 to 1768 he was justiciarius (chief justice) of the criminal court in Osnabrück, and in 1768 was made Geheimer Referendar (privy councillor of justice). For 20 years, he was the legal adviser of the lay Protestant bishop of Osnabrück, Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, a son of George III of the United Kingdom and of his Queen consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
In addition to being a statesman and administrator, Möser was also a publicist, historian, and social analyst. His history of Osnabrück (1768; 2nd ed. 1780; 3rd ed. 1819) was and remains highly regarded. In his Patriotische Phantasien (1775-1786; 2nd ed. by his daughter, IWJ von Voigts, 1804; new ed. by Reinhard Zöllner, 1871) he pleaded for a natural, organic development of the state in place of arbitrary laws imposed by the sovereign.
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