Carl Heinrich Hagen

Carl Heinrich Hagen (also Karl Heinrich Hagen 29 July 1785 – 16 December 1856) was a jurist, socio-economist and, between 1811 and 1835, senior government official (Regierungsrat). From 1811 he was also a professor of jurisprudence and the University of Königsberg in what was at that time East Prussia. Life Familial provenance Carl Heinrich Hagen was born into a well connected family of middle-class intellectuals in Königsberg. His father, Karl Gottfried Hagen (1749–1829) was a distinguished chemist. The novelist Ernst August Hagen was his brother. The physicist-astronomer Friedrich Bessel and the mineralogist-physicist Franz Ernst Neumann became his brothers in law. The royal family were obliged to relocate for several years to the city following October 1806. Hagen frequently accompanied his father on visits to the royal court where during 1808/09 his father tutored the Princes Frederick-William and William, two future Prussian kings, on pharmaceutical and related matters. Academic career Hagen studied Law and Jurisprudence at the University of Königsberg. He was a student of Christian Jakob Kraus (1753–1807) and of Albrecht von Thaer (1752–1828), whom he later described as an unforgettable teacher and patron ("unvergesslichen Lehrer und Gönner"). On leaving university he embarked on a career in government service. In Prussia he enjoyed a formidable reputation as a result of his writings and in 1809 he was recruited into the Prussian civil service, advancing to the grade of Regierungsrat. At the university he was appointed initially as a visiting professor in Jurisprudence and Commerce. He progressed to the post of full professor, later also taking over the teaching chair of his former tutor, C. J. Kraus. He was appointed Rector of the university for Summer 1834, having served as pro-rector during the summer term of 1826.