Riehl, Wilhelm Heinrich

Riehl, Wilhelm Heinrich
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 culture. In the third volume, Die Familie (1854; “The Family”), he analyzed the family unit as the basis of all social development. He developed a systematic theory of natural forces and conditions as molding society and culture. He contended that two forces, inertia and movement, are fundamental to society—inertia from the social conservatism of the peasants and movement from the progressive attitudes of urban dwellers. His theories have been criticized for their unprofessional and subjective generalizations, but they were nevertheless crucial to the development of cultural and social history in Riehl, Wilhelm HeinrichRiehl, Wilhelm Heinrich
Riehl's other works include Kulturstudien (1873; “Studies of Culture”); Die Deutsche Arbeit (1884; “German Labour”); Kulturhistorische Novellen (1864; “Cultural Historical Novellas”); Geschichten aus alter Zeit (1863–65; “Tales of Olden Times”); and several novels.