Tönnies, Ferdinand

Ferdinand Tönnies (1855–1936) is considered one of sociology's founding fathers. He studied in Strassburg, Jena, Bonn, Leipzig, and Tübingen where he received his doctorate in classical philology in 1877. His famous Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft served as his Habilitationsschrift in 1881. His father's wealth enabled him to follow his private, especially political, interests and to be relatively distant from the academic milieu. Nevertheless, he was appointed to a chair for economics and statistics in 1913 from which he retired only three years later. He resumed teaching sociology as professor emeritus in Kiel in 1921.

Tönnies took an active interest in the socialist and trade union movements and in consumer cooperatives. He joined the Social Democratic Party, protesting against the National Socialist Movement, which led to the discharge ...